iRock5150

Hello,

I am planning on purchasing a 2004 A8 (cash). I need some advice interms of price I should expect, most common problems (head aches), best package/options....

If you also know someone looking to selling his/her 2004 A8 let me know. I will pay cash. I'm in Anaheim, CA.

Thanks,

cheybey

Here's a few items fixed on my 2005 A8:

New Radiator
2 Ignition Coils (on road breakdown)
Rear transaxle (major repair)
thermostat (on road breakdown)
sunroof deflector motor
Trunk hinges
Electric Trunk latch
Fuel pressure regulator
Navigation disk reader/drive
Transmission shift chirp fix
Brake switch
Brake Pads at 45,000

Approx $13,000 in repairs in the past 3 years. Nice car otherwise.

pierreb

I wouldn't call that 'common'.

Polidori

I love my '04 and this is my 6th Audi in 15 years, but I would not own an A8 without a warranty. I think I've had an average number of problems with my '04 over the past 2 years, and these problems would have put me in the poor house but for the CPO warranty. However, if you can do all of your own work and have access to good parts without going through the dealer...

bac2h

I can see complaining about some of these items but not the brakes..

Rowlie

Those repairs sound atypical to what I've seen on the site.

I've got my '04 to 75k and have only the thermostat replacement in common.

If I were looking at buying another, I'd check on the status of the timing belt, whether the thermostat has been replaced, and make sure all the recall work has been done. I'd also make sure the MMI was updated to the most recent version. A warranty is probably a good idea if you can get one reasonably priced.

featherpillow

I just purchased a 2005 A8 L on Friday that's still under warranty. I still haven't taken delivery of it yet. I REALLY wanted an '06 but couldn't seem to find one that didn't have more than 60k on the clock. I'm wondering if I made a mistake, though...is the '06 a better car? Should I return the '05 and keep looking?

My previous car was a BMW 740i Sport, 2001 model year (E38). Not a cheap car to own by any stretch, but I didn't find it to be that bad. I spent about $3k in maintenance over the 2 1/2 years I owned it. That's below average, but then again I only drive about 5-6k miles/year. I guess I figured that I would be taking a step sideways in maintenance costs, but maybe not.

theanimala

Don't be worried, there is no difference between those two model years besides the updated grill, well assuming you got a late model 05. You can tell the difference as the late model 05's have Bluetooth, early ones have OnStar. I would not buy on without the Bluetooth integrated. 06 did add the extended thigh support on both front seats, 05's had this on the driver side IF it had the Ventilated/Massaging seat option, which mines does as well.

07 engine changed to FSI, so it's got a bit more grunt, but also lost the free scheduled maintenance up through 45K miles.

I bought my 05.5 model 10 months ago and I have been overjoyed with my car. I would have loved an 06 for the new grill but at the time those were nearly $10K more, which was a 25% uplift from what I paid for my car... not worth it. Good luck and congrats!

tania90

Before I bought my 2005 A6 3.2 I was pricing a 2004 A8 L.
The Audi dealer at Monterrey was asking $24k- with 58K but was CPO.

featherpillow

The dealership delivered my '05 A8 L to me today while I was at work. I was very happy about that. I took it for a long excursion down Lake Shore Drive this evening after dinner (I live in Chicago). All I can say is WOW...this car is an incredible drive. My 740i Sport doesn't hold a candle to it, although I miss the punch that the 740i has when taking off.

I can't wait to get my hands on the VAG-com software to do a few tweaks...coding transmission for sport mode will be one of them.

Unfortunately I discovered that it has no manual in the glove box and no Nav DVD. It took me a good five minutes just to figure out how to open the gas hatch.

I guess I'll have to call the stealership tomorrow and wrangle that stuff out of them.

Oh, and I paid $22.5k for it. Not too bad of a price.