A8 Specific Buying Advice

Evening All

Having owned, and done a fair bit of work on a variety of VWs, A3s, A4s and A6s; I'm going to bite the bullet and go for an A8.

Went to look at a 4.2 TDI today with FSH and 158k miles. Overall a generally good car however I'm after a quick bit of advice regarding some of the idiosyncrasies of the A8 please, and apologies if this has been covered, please point me to the relevant thread if this is the case:

1. Engine/Timing - I've had a number of cam chain driven VAG vehicles (i.e. 3.0 TDI) and recognise the telltale signs of death rattle on these. The car had no rattle as such, it had a small, quiet chatter when both cold and warm which was not louder at any temperature. I presume if there's an issue, this would be very noisy upon cold start?

2. Transmission - car seemed seamless in between changes, both "D+/-" tiptronic on the box and paddle shift worked fine. Presumably if there's no clunking when switching between R/D, there's no immediate worry? (I know this is just a standard auto box query, wondering if there's anything else to look for)

3. Turbo - is it the same story as the V10 TDI in the Phaeton which requires the engine to be removed to replace both banks or can the turbos be replaced with the engine in situ? There didn't appear to be any flatspots or any turbo noise but just for future reference

4. Air suspension - the system displayed no warnings and rose and fell comfortably but did seem to take a while to do so. On the "lift" setting in the MMI, how long should the car take to move from its lowest, to its highest setting?

5. Battery/Charging - does the battery have to be coded to the car in anyway? Car had been stood and was slow to turnover to start with (MMI battery meter displayed only 70%), I have access to VAGCOM, can any battery swap be achieved with this, if "coding" is required? (apologies, have received conflicting information about the battery)


Again, many apologies if this has been covered before, but I've been unable to find the information elsewhere.

Thanks in advance

Dave

Can't give you an answer for all your queries but;
1. Yes normally more noisy on start up.
2. Tiptronic so pretty good. ZF do recommend oil change at between 80 and 100 k kms. Conflicting theories on this in that if it is over this mileage and good then just leave it and others say to change it.
3. No idea.
4. I didn't order air suspension on my A6 as I was bitten before with a range rover but after seeing what the guyts on the A5 C5 forum are doing, I would have one now. Bagpipingandy is very good and makes kits for refurbishing the air compressor. You will possibly get more answers there as the guys are quite active.
5. You can change the battery without coding if it is like for like. VCDS can code the car to the battery if needed.
Good luck with the search.

Which version of the A8 are we referring to here - D3 or D4 as the answers may be a bit different!

My take on the D3 'things to watch out for':

Buying 2008 A8 4.2 TDI