[V8] $500 V8 For Sale

[Roger Woodbury]

Well, folks, I am thinking more and more that we are at the end of this
trail.  The newest V8 is 15 years old.  The cost of general maintenance on
these cars is beginning to be "legendary", and even the person who sees one
that is perfect, and cheap, will likely ask someone about the car, and will
be told that they are terribly expensive, unreliable, prone to sudden
accidental acceleration, and all sorts of other ignorant opinions.  Unless
the person speaks with one of us poor fools, of course.

The truth is that maintenance is not much of an issue, if the car is
maintained.  Most people don't want to do that. Most people don't want to
take it to an independent mechanic, don't know an independent mechanic who
will work on these cars or who knows anything about these cars, or will take
the time to try to find one.  The Audi dealers generally know about as much
about these cars as they do about a Horsch, so franchised dealers are only
good places to hear them ask, "you have a what?".

Indeed, some parts seem to be getting a bit difficult to source, but not
impossible.  Unlike some of the hoses on the 200 20V Turbo that are no
longer available, as far as I know everything on the V8 is still supported
by Audi.  At a price:  UFO calipers are more than $550 each!  Ouch!  (After
market calipers do not exist.  I have been almost everywhere on line to ask,
and NO ONE advertising them HAS them.).

The best of the cars available aren't selling for more than three grand, so
I would have to say that the value of these cars has ended in the market.

So what we have here is a now, very old, very powerful vehicle that nobody
except for a few really want.  While this can be a true, enthusiast's car,
as a daily driver I wonder how much longer critical parts will be supported
by Audi.  Maybe there is some sort of regulation that mandates this?
Whatever it is, I suspect that by the time that the newest of these cars
passes its twentieth anniversary, there will be only us left who know what
they are.

Roger

(About to start to accumulate parts cars....)