Faceoff007@gmail.com

Hello,
I have driven Lexus for the last 15 years. I am considering buying a 2021 or 2022 Q8. Please advise 🙏

Q1: Are there big changes between 2021 or 2022? Would you recommend one over the other?

Q2. What kind of mileage would you recommend for a used Q8?

Q3. Do I need to bu extended warranty? If so do I only need to certified pre owned?

Q4.l. What kind of maintenance cost do I need expect for owning a Audi?

Q5. What's estimated lifespan for Audi before encountering major repair costs?

Thanks in advance. Never owned German cars before. So any and all advise/recommendations are appreciated.

tomaszp72

only buy certified.

Luctus

I have owned German cars since the late 80’s. Mostly BMW’s but I switched to Audi several years ago. Maintenance and repair is going to me more than you’re used to. Not because they’re less reliable, but because the cost of oil changes, brakes, etc. is higher than that of a Lexus. Worth it, in my opinion (obviously. Lol) but it’s going to be more.

The advantage of buying specifically a Q8 is that all Q8’s are still made in Germany, so you’ll be getting superior build quality over the Audi’s manufactured in, for example, Mexico (not that the build quality coming out of Mexico is bad, it’s just not Germany).

If you buy from an Audi dealer, the difference between CPO and non-CPO is not huge. You’ll pay more for a CPO car because the dealer has gone through the process of certifying it. For that extra money you’ll get a 6 month (I think warranty) vs whatever the dealer wants to offer on the non-CPO car. I got a 60 day warranty on my 2019 Q8.

I also purchased an extended warranty. I thought the additional peace of mind was worth it. That being said, Audi is making bank on my warranty since the car has only gone in once for minor warranty repair (passenger side rearview mirror control was acting up).

I sold my 2013 Q7 when I bought the Q8 and I loved that car, too. However, I had to replace the rear drive shaft at about 60k miles and the front differential at about 75k miles. I have no idea if those are known issues with the Q7 or just unique to mine. I sold it with 88k miles on it and a spoke to the current owner just yesterday and he’s still loving the car. Only issue he’s had is a noisy A/C fan. I didn’t ask him what the current mileage was.

It’s a big, heavy car, so it’s going to be harder on brakes and tires - and both of those things are expensive to replace. I think I paid around $1200 for my most recent brake job (I can’t find the invoice so I’m guessing). Tires are going to depend on a few things. I have 22” wheels so a set of 4 tires will be anywhere from $2k to over $3k depending on the specific tire. You will also get anywhere from 15k to 30k+ miles on a set of tires depending on your driving and the treadwear rating for the tire.

I hope all that helps.

Rubberbumper

Two other comments:

- We have 57K miles on a 2019 Prestige. Mileage in the summer runs between 26 and 28 on a straight highway run. Around town, low 20s. I've found the highway mileage is exceptionally affected by cooler temps. Yes, all cars get somewhat lower mileage in the cold, but the Q8 drops to the 22-23 range as soon as the temperatures go below 55 or so. Never have experienced such a big change at a mild temp with another car. In true winter cold we drop to 20-21.

- You're probably aware of the alternator/starter issue. Audi is proactively replacing them on certain cars. Don't know the criteria, but ask the dealer if your candidate is eligible or not. If so, they should replace it before you buy. If not eligible, ask about the extended warranty on that component. I believe ours had been extended to 7 years/100K (going from memory). Now that it's been replaced, I'm not sure what the status is on that extension.

Steve

w2ge

Just an FYI: I’ve received notice of a class action settlement suit where the “benefit” as an owner you would receive is an extension of the BSG (starter issue) repair out to 10 years of factory coverage.

Faceoff007@gmail.com

Very helpful. Thanks so much.

Faceoff007@gmail.com

Thanks for this. How much was the extended warranty and the coverage?

Luctus

Extended warranty was $4k. There are levels of coverage and I bought the one that covered the most. It was a 3 year old car at the time and I believe the warranty gets more expensive as the car gets older. Also, you may have some factory warranty left on the car you buy. If you do, the extended warranty kicks in after the factory warranty expires.