2001 Audi S8 from North America - Comments

S8 buyers beware! Do not buy without reading this!!!

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Don't get me wrong, the S8 is a great car, but God help you if something goes wrong.

I ordered my car in January 2001. Six months later I received it and loved it. I had a minor accident and damaged the right front wheel and control arm after 6 months. First the car had to be shipped 800 miles to be repaired (estimated time was 3-4 weeks, tops). The car has been under repair now for 12 weeks. The mechanic has had this car half as much as I have.

Audi's part supply and delivery is a joke. I waited seven weeks for a piece of dashboard wood that was broken when they removed it (they had to take the car almost apart to repair just this area!). When it was finally delivered back to my local dealer, they left off the front fog light cover and the car had no brakes. Audi sent another wrong cover for the fogs. The dealership has yet to even determine what the brake problem is.

This is a nightmare car. I also own an antique Maserati, one of only 100 made. I can get parts quicker and more dependably for this car than I can for a brand new Audi! I shopped diligently before I bought this car. I heard the great stories about Audi. Trust me, hearing them and living them are two vastly different things.

I own an Audi A6 and I have never experienced the problems in which you describe. This sounds like a very dealership specific problem. I work across the street from my dealership and they have been absolutely fantastic at service (which I only needed once and it wasn't something wrong with my Audi after all). I recommended Audi to everyone I have ever known and it is terrible when bad service gives superior engineering a bad name.

To be fair, the dealer probably "advised" you prior to purchase that the A8 (and S8) are only serviced for body damage through a select group of authorized Audi repair facilities that specialize in the repair of the aluminum structure and body panels. Unless you ticked them off, they also give you an A6 to drive while repairs are performed and Audi pays for all transportation cost involved.

It is a shame you cracked up your S8. I have found that the red carpet has been rolled out every time I bring in my A8 for routine maintenance. The only issue I have had was the right mirror came back up too far after "dipping" while in reverse. This was resolved under warranty in less than 10 minutes.

An S8 is 'the car' for 'the man'. The man who knows his cars,

and the man who knows most people don't know anything about cars. An S8 driver has style for breakfast, lunch and dinner, whatever is on the menu. On a more serious note, an S8 is one of the finest cars in the world and I can honestly say owning one brings great pleasure to the lesser spotted car nut like myself. The engine is a work of art with its quad cam V8 forcing a grin on the face even at 6.00 am on a winter morning. Nothing comes close to my S8 for comfort, quality or sheer understated beauty. The fact that I could be driving a Jag, S-class, or lexus seems to phase the less informed and I'm often asked why I choose the Audi, to which I often smile and feel pity on there poor souls.

Yeah OK...

I too own an A6 2.7 and an S8 and I have NEVER encounted the issues that you have. I would (and will) gladly purchase another Audi without hesitation, my service has always been top notch. Granted some parts do take time to arrive from overseas, but it's a minimal inconvenience.