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Hello all, looking forward to meeting you on this forum. I would be very grateful for the advice of anyone who knows the Audi W12 well (on the D4 ideally but I guess there are not many of those around). I have been looking for a used luxury car for my family, within a certain budget, with a fantastic stereo. Not a fan of SUVs. Having looked at used 7 series and S class, it gradually dawned on me that the A8 with the B&O stereo has everything on the wish list, with the best bang for the buck. I have now identified a 2014 W12 A8, optioned to the gills, with 50K miles, for about $40K. That is well within budget and allows me to set aside $20K for maintenance/repairs. I would have it fully inspected before purchase / serviced after purchase by an Audi dealer. However, after that, I will be moving to a remote location, with the nearest semi-qualified mechanic nearly two hours away, and the nearest dealer (authorized service center) at least 5.5 hours away. I will not be commuting to work and plan to only use the car twice a month, for extended weekend excursions driving around in places between 2.5 and five hours away (so will probably average only about 3,000 miles a year). I would expect to keep the car for about two years - maybe more if I love it. A mechanic who has inspected cars for me is warning me not to get the car because servicing is expensive and parts hard to find, even for the Audi dealers/service centers in the nearest cities. (He is also trying to convince me to buy a 2013 Audi A8 with a 3.0 V6 of his for a little over $20,000 instead, on the basis that it will be cheaper and much easier to service locally - this is of course true but he may be biased). So...would you recommending pulling the trigger on the W12 or not? I love the interior, power and basically everything about it, but don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a car that can't be serviced / would cost a fortune to service (as an aside, the climate is EXTREMELY hot for four months out of the year). Also, it would be super cool to have such an understated and rare piece of automotive history! Having combed the internet and this forum, I guess the engine is very reliable when properly maintained, but needs to be removed to address minor failures of things like sensors leading to astronomical repair bills, and if the engine itself fails then I am up s*** creek?
Bottom line? The guy that told you not to buy it probably has no first-hand experience. I own some W12s and have worked on a few more. I’ll only say this about the D3: space in the engine bay is very tight. Engine is super reliable but ancillary sensors can fail and they’re difficult to get to. The engine doesn’t come out but you have to be patient and skilled to make some repairs.
Move to the D4 and suddenly the new engine bay design with the new removable false firewall and you can practically stick your whole head between each side of the engine. TONS of room for repairs- not that the W12 needs it.
If you’re driving your W12 6,000 total miles it’s likely you won’t open your wallet for a single repair. I’ve put nearly 50k miles on my latest W12 in the two years I’ve owned it and done a carbon clean, spark plugs (same time) air/cabin/fuel filters, sway bar links, pads/rotors up front and a temp sensor on the sport diff.
I would recommend against the 3.0T as they have occasional chain tensioner issues which is an expensive and time consuming repair requiring special tools and knowledge- requiring that 5.5 hour tow to a specialty shop.
If you wanted to spend some money up front I would do the carbon clean and spark plugs before you get it out to your location. However again, if you only drive 3,000 miles a year it’s not necessary, it would serve the next owner more than you.
The W12 is exceptionally special with only 327 total in the US, 29 for the model year 2014. It’s likely that the one you’re looking at is a 1/1 for the year. Furthermore the engines were hand assembled by Bentley, are the only D4s with fully forged internals (S8/S8+ have only forged crank) and the cars assembled alongside the R8 further separating them from other D4s. There’s only a few options for the W12 as most everything is standard. You mention yours has B&O, on the 5-seater all that’s left is full leather, night vis, W12 sport pack and driver’s assist (also the solar roof but that replaces pano roof so it’s a subtract in my mind). If you want to PM me a link to the listing I would be happy to give you my thoughts on it.
I think should you pass on the W12 you would forever regret the decision. It’s my experience and personal opinion that based on the scenario you give that your ownership would be a great experience.
Last edited by 2turbos4rings; 06-13-2021 at 01:59 PM.
Bottom line? The guy that told you not to buy it probably has no first-hand experience. I own some W12s and have worked on a few more. I’ll only say this about the D3: space in the engine bay is very tight. Engine is super reliable but ancillary sensors can fail and they’re difficult to get to. The engine doesn’t come out but you have to be patient and skilled to make some repairs.
Move to the D4 and suddenly the new engine bay design with the new removable false firewall and you can practically stick your whole head between each side of the engine. TONS of room for repairs- not that the W12 needs it.
If you’re driving your W12 6,000 total miles it’s likely you won’t open your wallet for a single repair. I’ve put nearly 50k miles on my latest W12 in the two years I’ve owned it and done a carbon clean, spark plugs (same time) air/cabin/fuel filters, sway bar links, pads/rotors up front and a temp sensor on the sport diff.
I would recommend against the 3.0T as they have occasional chain tensioner issues which is an expensive and time consuming repair requiring special tools and knowledge- requiring that 5.5 hour tow to a specialty shop.
If you wanted to spend some money up front I would do the carbon clean and spark plugs before you get it out to your location. However again, if you only drive 3,000 miles a year it’s not necessary, it would serve the next owner more than you.
The W12 is exceptionally special with only 327 total in the US, 29 for the model year 2014. It’s likely that the one you’re looking at is a 1/1 for the year. Furthermore the engines were hand assembled by Bentley, are the only D4s with fully forged internals (S8/S8+ have only forged crank) and the cars assembled alongside the R8 further separating them from other D4s. There’s only a few options for the W12 as most everything is standard. You mention yours has B&O, on the 5-seater all that’s left is full leather, night vis, W12 sport pack and driver’s assist (also the solar roof but that replaces pano roof so it’s a subtract in my mind). If you want to PM me a link to the listing I would be happy to give you my thoughts on it.
I think should you pass on the W12 you would forever regret the decision. It’s my experience and personal opinion that based on the scenario you give that your ownership would be a great experience.
If you know what he is saying ( carbon clean, etc.) go for it otherwise just run !
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Sounds like OP had fleeting interest... one post five weeks ago.
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fwiw, there's a couple more there with lower mileage (31K and 56K) that are also worth looking at.
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. A couple good deals...?
Last edited by A8L_New_England; 07-20-2021 at 01:38 PM.
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Not sure I'd want that one, anyway. All the owner talked about was tuning and racing it
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That cheap 56K mi. one has the rear seat package and the 31K mi. one has extraordinarily low mileage. I mean seriously, who puts only 250 miles per month on their car?
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Virtually it’s not possible to price a W12 to market. There’s 327 total of them and early ones are a decade old. The condition is going to vary like crazy.
Lots of people want a W12 but few jump, I don’t blame the OP if he didn’t end up with one.
The Quartz one is nicely optioned but it’s a 5-seater and missing sport diff. You also have to love Quartz, which to my eye exasperates the D4’s bloated body.
A while ago I started a diary of every single NA W12 VIN in hopes of capturing build specifications for all 327 W12s. Very very few (obviously) are fully specc’d despite there only being a handful of options. If you’re getting the W12 chances are options are important so I can see one with every box ticked commanding a premium. At $45k with a warranty, Audi service history and 80k miles I don’t really view that as a premium though, seems reasonable to me. If I eventually get close to all 327 I’ll give percentages for each option.
30k miles isn’t out of the norm for the W12 still either. One recently sold (for nearly $70k) with just over 20k, another a few weeks ago around 35k and there’s currently an Audi exclusive Classic Red Pearl for sale with 39k (for $57,000). 3 examples in a few weeks out of 327 is a large sample. There are a few more currently for sale around $50k miles but all lightly optioned.
As a fun note, there are apparently only 6 NA D4 W12s that received exclusive exterior paint from the factory. So far I only know of two, the Classic Red Pearl and a Brilliant Red
06-13-2021, 10:47 AM
Fully loaded 2014 A8 W12 6.3 five-seater
