Faults:

Nearly nothing!

Apart from:

The parking brake is electric. I was under the impression that the less you use it, the less chance of it breaking down, since I was sceptical about how robust the solution was. I was absolutely wrong using only 'P' when parking the car. It turns out, the less you use it, the bigger the chance that it will malfunction when finally using it. The rear right brake caliper ended up giving misinformation about the retraction of the brake due to a sensor malfunction. A very costly job to fix; the caliper had to be replaced costing (in Norway) nearly £800 for the part + £300 for labour. The dealer was so service minded that they took the whole bill. Fantastic customer service!

Apart from this failure, the car runs like clockwork.

General Comments:

It runs quite well; fast, and with enough torque to give you a good kick in the back.

Its air suspension gives both a smooth or a sporty feeling, depending on the setup.

It has a very good fuel consumption, 0.67 litres/10 km, which is very good considering the weight, engine, auto transmission and four wheel drive.

The interior quality is great, and you feel like you're riding in a tank when it comes to safety.

The trunk swallows quite a lot of luggage. I have two small children with child seats installed, without having forsake leg room in the front seats.

The sound system is amazing; I prefer listening to music in the car instead of the living room :)

A superb car, which I think, if you get a well looked after car, will be quite cheap to run and maintain.

I will keep it for many years to come :)

Faults:

Aircon leaking at about 60000 km (bad problem in this climate).

Carpet on drivers side came off (probably my fault).

Some suspension mountings needed to be changed; kind of expensive.

Rear tail lamp had to be replaced, since it is the whole unit, this is relatively expensive. I had expected we just change a bulb, so the cost was about 30-40 times my expectation...

Plus the usual suspects, like brake pads etc.

Next problem will be the air suspension; sometimes the car lies a bit low now, and humps have to be crossed with extra care. I damaged front spoiler due to the car sinking and the front spoiler hitting the ground, and then careless reversing out of parking space.

In summary, quite reliable, no breakdowns, starts well, but it can cost money when things need repairing.

General Comments:

Choosing the 3 litre option was probably a mistake, the engine has good torque, but lacks somehow the muscle to inspire the overall very satisfying package.

It can go fast, and do so in a very comforting manner; the air suspension delivers a magic carpet ride - rolling along at 80 or 90 km is virtually noiseless, so it is a very good car for city traffic, like inner city highways.

I guess throwing it along twisted roads is not the reason why anyone would buy an A8, especially with 3 litres. Anyway, the steering, which is a bit lifeless, would take the fun out of that.

The size is good, boot big enough, since it is short version of the A8, back leg space a bit limited (not my problem).

Internal fittings are good, even though some buttons look scratched, and one button on the door has come off altogether and cannot be found (panic lock button).

When parts some off, it is interesting to see how light everything is constructed.

Consumption is very reasonable for a car this size, 80 litre tank gives about 600km in city driving, 800-900 km highway (unless really pushing it), and at speed 90 it would probably be 1100km (but who can stick to that)