1998 Audi A8 review from North America
"Great compromise between luxury and performance"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
I had similar transmission issues at 100000 miles as above. I analysed the cost of replacement vs the risk of breakdown and decided to drive it until it wouldnt move the car. I have put 38000 miles on it and it still acts like it did when I started this journey. The trans guy told me that
the output shaft is as big as that on a 3/4 ton
Ford truck. He thought that the trans was plenty beefy to do its job and that this issue had to do with the lock up converter or control solenoids. When the trans hunts for gears I manually pull it down a gear and it stabilizes,this issue seems to always be under light throttle. I think the fluid needs to be changed more than Audi recommends and did not know there were screens in the solenoids until reading a post on this site.
I will continue driving it as is and think there is another 100000 miles in it.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 1998 |
| Year of manufacture | 1998 |
| First year of ownership | 2005 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | 4.2 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 8 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 7 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 98000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 138000 miles |
| Date of Entry | 14th July, 2008 |