2005 Audi A8 User Reviews

Pros

everything!

Cons

wish mine was installed with the solar sun roof to remove the heat!

Purchased As Used

Purchased last week (10/06/09) A8 W12 22,000 Miles here in Hawaii. for $45,000 including taxes fees license etc......what do you think?
I have fallen in love with this car! I did spend $5,000 on a 5 yrs 100,000 mile warranty for it as this car is loaded with electronics!
It looks so beautiful, rides like no other and .....well yes ok Im in love with my car! Going to do the upgrade to the MMI System so it works better with my Iphone as names/numbers wont download. But apart from that! Yippee! So proud! Gas consumption is not bad for a car of this weight and power and if your light footed...;-) Use the Mazda 3 for shopping trips! ;-)...read morehide

Cons

Unexpected acceleration problem

I have owned the A8l for about 12 months now .About two month ago I was in the car with my wife and 2 young daughters, I had an issue while accelerating after just being stopped at a light. I brought the car to 40 mph took my foot of the accelerator and the car keeped on speeding up all the way up to 60mph until I put my foot on the brake and the car finally slowed down. Brought the car over to the delearship they said they checked it out the car and never found anything.

Today I was in the car on my way to work on Interstate 95 accelerated and brought the car to 70mph same issue expect things got a lot more intense. Took my foot of the acelerator and now the car speed up to nearly 100mph except this time when I pressed on the brake the car only came down to 70mph! took my foot of the brake and the car took of like a bat out of hell! This went for 5 to 6 times. At this point I started to panic because by me applying my foot on the brake I could only get the car to slow to the 70mph. I then applied the emergency break which allowed me o slow the car down to 45 mph, all this while I seem to be driving like a maniac and trying to avoid cars. To finally get this car to slow down I had to apply the emergency brake and push both of my feet on the brake petal as hard as I could, I had my ass of the seat my shoulder blades pushed back against the back of the seat and prayed this was going to be sufficient to get the car to stop! As I pull of the side of the road the car finally comes to a complete stop. The most intense 5 minutes of my life!!! I stuck the car into neutral as soon as the car stopped and the rpm where still spinning at 8000rpms. I slammed the gear box into park, same thing. I kill the ignigtion. Car is finally silent. I wait a couple of minutes turn the car back on and the same thing. Its' like this car had a mind of its own. I turn off the car once more put the hazards on in the car walked out of the car and opened the trunk to let traffic by.I got back into the car and called the tow truck company when I was told it would take 90 min for a tow truck, I decided to try to turn on the car once more. Car ran perfect like nothing ever hapened.
I took the car straight to the dealership. I exlained the situation to the sales manager and the service manager, they offered me a brand new Audi. I told them I woud'nt drive an Audi again if the paid me. I emptied everything out of the car left them the car and told them I dont care what they did with the car but I want a full refund for the car. They said they had to speak to corperate. I am expexting a call tomorrow from them.
I write this letter today because I think it is important for anyone out their who drives A8 or anyone who kows somebody that does to know about this so you are not caught completely of gaurd the way I was. My wife usally drive the car and I drive a Tahoe, I thank god that I was driving the car and not her.
Please pass this info to anyone you may know in a A8.
Good luck God Bless and be Safe!...read morehide

Pros

Superior ride, nimble large sports sedan, very comfortable seating for up to 4 large adults

Cons

Although seating is cavernous for 4, 5th passenger sits on the hump - not very comfortable

Within a few months of owning the car I put over 3500 miles in 10 days - travelling from DC to Nova Scotia, to Montreal and Ottawa and back down to DC. We make an annual pilgrimmage to Canada every year and I bought the A8L with this kind of trip in mind. My son is nearly 6' 3" and I am 6" 2" - more than enough room for him to stretch out fully behind me even with my back seat all the way back. I had heard that a governor had been installed on the car, and after my years of driving in Europe, this was a disappointment. However, while travelling thru northern Maine, I let it out on a long stretch of barren highway and was quickly up to 138 mph will still lots of room to go before my wife noticed we were moving at a good clip. I slowed down to 120 mph to accommodate her and it still felt as if we were only doing 70-80 mph. Note that for a heavy car, it accelerates and handles very well, although gas mileage drops to 15 mpg if you have a heavy foot - I normally get 18 mpg when I behave myself.

I now have nearly 10k on the car, and each time I sit in the car I have a small grin that feels a long way from buyer's remorse.

The main downsides of the vehicle are the lack of a comfortable seating position for a 5th adult, the MMI interface is manageable but still overly complex for basic control changes, voice recognition requires memorization of a number of commands (not very intuitive), and an abomination of a tire jack - even the rep at the Audi dealership indicated that he had seen several cars damaged with its use. I bought another jack for the car, and take it with me on longer rides....read morehide

Pros

Large back seat. Looks nice, rides nice.

Cons

Stupid MMI. Technical problems. Dumb manufacturer.

Audi is paranoid and paralyzed over liability; their vehicle designs are ruined as a result. MMI requires "accept" after 30-second delay. How dumb is that?! The ugly thing opens up every time you start the car. And most MMI functions won't even work unless you stop car first!

I wanted a remote start - that turned out to be one of life's major projects; finally got it worked out at a cost of about $2000.

My 2004 model has a dangerous "dead spot" in acceleration when trying to jump off line following a quick stop. Not good for a 330 HP vehicle trying to greak into the "sports luxury" market.

The company is VERY unfriendly and haughty. I asked for help locating the chime (which goes off incessantly over everything) and they absolutely, rudely refused to tell me where it was (finally found and killed it one night after a marathon tear-down of the dash). They even had the gall to write that they "had noted on my ownership records that I had modified the car" - and this because I killed the stupid chime! (It's at the back of the RPM housing, for anyone looking.)

The rear seat headrests were positively DANGEROUS - blocking 75% of rear vision. Audi refused to take them out. I had to pay an independent garage to tear out the back seat and remove them.

I finally have the car modified so that I can hopefully survive the 5 years I will be paying for it, but no car should be that hard, time-consuming, and expensive to make livable. The car is an over-engineered nightmare in many respects. There's a great deal of info Audi won't even give to their dealers. Some parts take forever to get off back-order. (My local dealership is quite nice - it's the company itself that has problems.)

Except for the back seat, my wife's Infiniti G35X has everything the A8L has and more - and is just as fast.

Any vehicle manufacturer with an attitude like this - who wants to sell $70,000+ cars to Americans - needs to get a clue! Once is enough. Those in socialized countries may put up with such nonsense, but lovers of freedom and independence will do what I intend to do when I buy my next vehicle: RUN from Audi as fast as possible....read morehide

Pros

Car drives like it's glued to the road in all conditions

Cons

Backing up is an accident waiting to happen, visability impared from all sides

First month I owned the car I drove from Dallas to Vail and hit blizzard conditions for the last 300 miles. Couldn't beleive the confidence I felt.... only worry was others sliding all over the highway. Cars handeling kept me out of three accidents.

After 8 month I still like the car, but it does have warts. Backing up in a busy parking lot is "high risk" even with the rear headrests off. Cars leveling system has a mind of it's own, pull up to a stop light and sometimes the car raises 3 inches and sometimes it lower itself. Nav system is a whole other subject. I'll plug in an address that I know is generally east and system will send me west miles out of they way to connect with some main drag.....

Sadly this is my 3 rd A8 with a BMW 7 and a Lexus in between.... Hpoe springs eternal and I do love the Quatro drive....read morehide

Cons

Unexpected sudden acceleration problem

I have had my car less then 3 months and have experienced sudden unexpected acceraltion that could not be explain by the dealership. Would be driving normally and all of a sudden the car is speeding and the brakes do not initally slow it down. Has anyone experience this?

best in the world i have 3 audi it's excellent no car meets audi it's #1

Pros

SUperior Technology and Design, ASF

Cons

Too Many Now Know!

Simply stunning, and leaves the 7 Series and S Class...classless. If you are in the know, then you already DO!

Pros

FANTASTIC DRIVE, COMFORTABLE TRUE LUXURY FROM PASSENGER POINT OF VIEW

Cons

NIGHTMARE SERVICE ISSUES. TOTAL DENIAL REGARDING OBVIOUS PROBLEMS

12800 miles. Service manager at dealership told me which tire was worn when I called regarding tire wear! Said Audi had alignment problem. I insisted upon a service, they weren't interested until 15,000 miles, despite having bald rear tire. Said alignment on new vehicle was only guaranteed for 3 months. Nothing to do with Audi. Could rotated tires on previous versions to avoid uneven wear. Unable to rotate tires on newer models, hence right rear issues. Said Germany wouldn't talk to them about problems without having the car hooked up to the computer, so Germany could see problems themselves. Asked why this was not done, received no reply. Asked why they didn't perform alignment if that was the problem, received no reply. There is obviously a problem here with alignment and tires issues that no-one wants to talk about....read morehide

Pros

GPS comes standard

Cons

Brakes sometimes clank

very good car and i feel it ,my car it's audi
but there is no profissional in iraq to maintance