[s-cars] 2001 Audi S8 Purchase advice needed (Jay M)

Mon Nov 21 06:14:10 PST 2011

Jay,

I've also got an '01 S8 but only with 104,000 miles.

The achilles heal of these cars seems to be the eventual repair/ 
replacement of the transmission. A properly working tranny is nice  
however, and this coming from someone who always said I'd always  
prefer a manual transmission to an auto. And yes they can be  
expensive to repair.

A great source for general info is the D2 list on Quattroworld as  
well as Audipages.com.

That V8 engine is a beast, its a good thing its my wife's DD, as I  
would likely have had my license revoked by now due to an  
accumulation of speeding tickets. The thing just has an intoxicating  
amount of torque from the moment you press the go pedal.

It is an awesome highway cruiser, it just eats up the miles. I find  
the stock suspension to be a great combination of firmness without  
being harsh. The car feels smaller than it is.

The trunk is HUGE, seriously. I think you can fit 2 or 3 dead people  
inside without cutting off any limbs (just kidding, but it is a  
massively large caboose).

Things to check for:

There are 2 little actuators at the front top of the engine that open  
up the secondaries on the intake. In audi's infinite wisdom, they  
made these out of plastic, and they of course break. Again in their  
wisdom, you can't just but the little plastic lever arm, you have to  
buy the whole assembly, which is about $700 I think (a nice piece of  
negotiating ammo). There is an aftermarket company (gruvenparts.com -  
Replaces OEM P/N 077198327A (077-198-327A)) that makes replacement of  
just the broken lever arms out of real metal for a whole lot less.  
When these things are working you can notice a difference a  
performance. here is the link:

http://gruvenparts.com/website/cart/cart.php? 
target=product&product_id=386&category_id=60

The oil coolers are liquid cooled and prone to leaking (mine is  
leaking right now...again..argh). The rebuild kit is cheap, I think  
$30, but getting to it is a big PITA. Generally speaking getting to  
many of the parts is a big PITA, as you might imagine the size of the  
motor makes it difficult to work on in the engine bay.

I had an issue with my sunroof drains leaking. The routing of the  
drain line was contributing to the water backing up, and the leaks  
ended up staining the A and D pillar trim on my car.

There is a coolant sensor, sim to our MFTS on the urS, that fails  
often, causing the engine to flood and thus unable to start. Part is  
under $100.

There is an air-vent valve on top of the fuel tank that sometimes  
fails and throws a code. (parts

My ground cable near the alternator frayed and failed, resulting in a  
no-start.

I had my rear main seal replaced.

The electric headrests have cables that come apart and stop working.

O2 sensors fail.

I had a transmission rear output shaft seal leak.

There are a ton of aluminum control arms in both the front and rear  
suspension. The bushings will eventually tear. Some have hydraulic  
bushings that will starting leaking their goo. I am actually pricing  
some lower front control arms now as mine need replacement. Roughly  
speaking they list for $300 each, but you can get them for about half  
that cost (TRW, Lemforder) from a Worldpac dealer and or a tad more  
the Miramar Audi/GAP genuine stuff. You can get cheaper than that but  
I'm always a bit leery about the super-cheap stuff. For example:

http://www.bimmerparts.com/item.wws? 
sku=W0133-1836068&itempk=150893&mfr=TRW&weight=4.00

Driveability wise, the only other item is that the accelerator is a  
bit touchy at launch, I find you have to really concentrate to get a  
nice smooth take-off. I don't know if this is a drive by wire issue.  
I've seen those drive by wire signal "booster" things that you plug  
in between the pedal and the harness but don't know if that would  
solve this issue or not.

I don't know if that list will  scare you away, but if this car has  
had any of those items addressed already, you are ahead of the game.  
After all, it is a 10 year old car now, not a spring chicken.

I also benefited for a while from an extended warranty that covered a  
lot of the issues I had,

It really is a joy to drive, the engine performance is awesome.

Good luck.

Manny

95.5 urS6 Avant (RS2'd but headless)
'01 S8

On Nov 20, 2011, at 3:00 PM, s-car-list-request at audifans.com wrote:

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>    1.  2001 Audi S8 Purchase advice needed (Jay M)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:32:47 -0500
> From: Jay M <jaybird002 at msn.com>
> To: AudiFans <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Subject: [s-cars] 2001 Audi S8 Purchase advice needed
> Message-ID: <COL105-W4931C7D0DE2C15D10A53DC98C50 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>
> Hi group,
>
>
>
> I am thinking about buying a 2001 S8 with 150,000 miles on it. The  
> interior and exterior appears to be in good cosmetic condition. I  
> have not taken the car for a test drive yet.
>
>
>
> I am a current owner of a C4 S6 and A6 and do my own routine  
> maintenance such as oil, plugs, brakes, etc. but know nothing about  
> the reliability, typical problem areas and things to look out for  
> when purchasing an S8. I know parts and service for the S8 are  
> expensive.
>
>
>
> Can anybody who has had a 2001 S8 for more than 150,000 miles  
> please advise me what I should look out for when I do my own Pre- 
> Purchase Inspection? Typical mechanical/electrical gremlins  
> inherent to this model year S8 and/or general comments would be  
> greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>
>
> JM
>  		 	   		
>
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