Preowned Audi A8 or VW Phaeton?

Hello:

Need to get a daily driver (just waiting for my title from the DMV and the Mercedes SL is gone). I'm looking for a 1-2 year old A8 or Phaeton. Checking around a Phaeton can be had for high $40K to low $50K while an A8 is high $50K to low $60k. I've always had a VW in the line-up (On my 7th VW - With the only bad experience being the new Beetle which is probably due to it being assembled south of the border). I'm leaning toward the VW due to the Phaeton being low key, my past experience with VW, and difference in $$$. Any info out there on depreciation/reliability on past A8 models and current experiences with the Phaeton.

Thanks!

 

i've had an A8L for over just one yr now. the only trouble has been the automatic trunk and the seat memory. the trunk won't open and you'll need to manually open it, the seats would be possesed and move on thier own. both have been fixed multiple times by the dealer. now the biggest issue i have is that there is no Audi dealer up here they share with VW, so service can be a pain. wait times on getting an A8 repaired can border on infinity. apperantly just not any tech can work on these techno cars. nigling issues really, rear AC goes on the fritz every so often. key memory doesn't work, NAV MMI won't bootup -restart to fix. kinda like a microsoft product. apparently everything is tied into the MMI, so if it has issues then it screws up other things. my original MMI panel had a TV button, in europe you can get local broadcast and watch TV in the car. when my MMI panel was replaced i lost the button, miss the uniqueness of that.

loaner car service is up to the dealer and we have had to rent cars at 1 month stretches while waiting for the car to be fixed at my own cost. the dealer will when they have them available offer a loaner but it is a A4 that has been well abused, not to mention TINY! personally i hate the A4 the BMW 3 series offers so much more and i don't like BMW so that says something.

aside from that, nothing eats up highway milage like that car. i would imagine that the maybach does it better, but then i could buy a fleet of A8's for one.

depreciation is a concern, i paid 78k for a car that stickered at 110k due to audi needing to really boost sales. but at current market value if i had a loan i would probably be even.

 

I just think on this one VAG shot themselves in the foot...Not because its an expensive VW, but because they come out with one of the prettiest cars around right after they bring out the A8 which IS the prettiest Luxobarge out! If it was a W8 vs V8...No contest A8. If it was the W12 vs V8 A8...Hmmmm...And the V10 TDI(me say hell yes)

I think you would find in 2-3 years, your Phaeton would be worth as much as the A8....Phaetons will hit a price low, where people will start buy them used..

 

I Love Volkswagen. a couple questions.
1 is the PHAETON still in production? or has it been discontinued?

2 does VW assemble cars in the U.S. , where do they assemble VW's sold in U.S.

 

My neighbor owns a Phaeton and enjoys the car.

His only gripe is that the VW dealership has no clue on how to properly service the car. It also takes a long time when the dealership needs to order parts.

I don't think these issues are a deal breaker, but just something to consider.

 

The Phaeton has been discontinued in the US market. The wait times for service for the A8 and Phaeton is worrisome especially with VW not offering service loaners.

What is the deal with the traditional 8 cylinder luxury cars (S500 and BMW 7 series). The reason I opted for the Audi and VW were based on all the complaints I've heard about the 2000+ cars. My Mercedes factory mechanic stated it best - "When the new models are the same price or less than the predescesor something has to give."

 

A8

 

if you're stuck on an A8 or P, make sure you get one still under warranty and think hard about keeping it past the warranty.

doody.

 

I am aware that numerous Phaeton's had problems. I know of at least one forced buy-back first hand, and many others second hand (there was a lawsuit ready to be filed and VW blinked at the 11th hour). Mainly, the problem was that the car was ALWAYS in for service. In fact, I think it was Audi of America's chief who was canned just this year for calling the Phaeton a PoS (I'm paraphrasing). But, he was right.

Also, as an Audi owner (currently just an RS6, but there were others...), I'd recommend the Audi product. The service IS better than VW. Admittedly, the Audis are more expensive to purchase, but does your purchase price include the Audi Certification? This extends the factory (3-year, 50K) warranty to 6-years and 100K (IIRC). Given the cost of labor and parts on Audis, I wouldn't recommend the A8 unless you're covered.

Good Luck,

CW

 

I am shocked to hear no loaners for the Audi or Phaeton...

No wonder they run a distant sales winner compared to premium brands.

Not offering loaners is foolish move by the dealership as well.

Sorry but I wouldn't buy a car that didn't offer loaners when bringing in for service....(and I'm not even a luxury car buyer)

I like the Phaeton value pricing right now. I think the V8 will be had in the mid to high 30's with low mileage. Its a nice car for a very special price.

Ebay's got a few that just keep making the rounds over and over again. People are just not spending the money the dealers are looking for on these preowned cars...

Eventually Phaetons will fall to mid to low 30grand transaction prices..

I would only buy with extended warranties on either of these cars..

The better looking? The A8..The better preowned priced? Phaeton.

For luxury who cares if its an A8 or Phaeton...Both do the Luxury equation very well....

If you only had one car? A8 without a doubt though. More sporting IMO

Since you have a few cars I'd go for the Phaeton for its luxury and lower price

 

yes i figured that with these highend cars trouble would come knocking and after the issues with the 7 i had i picked up an extended warrenty for 100k on the A8. that aside, i'm not sure what the differences are between the A8 & phateon. i can tell you some nice features of the A8 are all aluminum construction keeps it light and agile for a large car. dynamic air suspension makes for a soft or stiff ride depending on your choice. seat massage is really nice, interior fiberoptic limo lighting for city highway or custom is really cool. the choices in the MMI are staggering for how you want the car to be setup. that is probably one feature i can see being cut down due to the ability to screw up something.

for me the selling point over another 7 or the S600 was the Quattro. i go up to Tahoe and Mammoth in the winter and this is a must. gas milage is great on the highway i'll average 36mpg @ 90mph and 38mpg @ 80mph however if i slip down to 65mph it'll drop to 28mpg seems they were ment to fly. around town stop and go city traffic will average 19mpg. interior noise is oddly quite, can't hear the engine and road noise doesn't exist. takes some getting used to.

 

My Audi dealer offers loaners. Granted, they are usually beaters (as opposed to Lexus, who gives you a nice new loaner), but they do have them.

Generally, Audi dealer service (can't speak for Volkswagen) is not that great. That is one reason why there are so many independent Porsche/Audi shops.

 

Yeah...My dads Audi dealer offers loaner too. Where have you heard this ba humbug?

 

I'd go audi

 

phaetons are nice cars....a total disaster for vw....no one is buying it them, even world wide...a 70k vw is stupid, period...the vw dealerships dont know how to service them, parts take for ever, the car is unnecessarilary complicated which has caused quality issues...i almost bought one for 43k, but i passed...i think the car will depreciate futher, and to be frank, the new passat, even with the 4cycl turbo engine and 24k $ has 90% of the refinement of the passat for one third the price and with more dependablity.....

 

this post is the one that mentioned that there was no loaner car available while the car is being serviced.

Quite frankly that would be a deal breaker especially in todays luxury market where the quality of the service is quite important.

JMO

 

i'll clarify the loaner issue. when i went to purchase the car the sales man and the mngr for Audi both said that at anytime that i need to bring in the car i would get a loaner. reality is that you have to make an apoitment far enough in advance to hope to get a loaner as they are first come first serve. no telling when your car shows trouble.

last time they offered a rental and said that Audi does not reimburse the dealer for the cost so i would at best geta 1day voucher. at that point i about lost it, but calmly explained that this is clearly not acceptable. the dealer blames this on having to share with VW ( i say BS) but that it should be better when they open the new Audi dealership in 06'.

there is clearly a misscomunication or bold face lying going on to move the highend car. does the car perform as stated? yes. is it a luxury car worth owning? yes. is the service abismal? most definatly yes! but what do you do. i've sued BMW for far more problems than this one. Mercedes has lost me also after owning 3 cars. service these days is gone.

i do have other cars, so its not a big loss to have the A8 in for service, maybe the dealers count on this and don't care if you're inconvienced. for now i deal strictly with the service manager and i'm very polite and nice, for this i do get better treatment. but it should not be this way.

 

Thank You Everyone!

I'm getting a clearer picture and will be able to make a better decision.

The VW buy backs are giving me flashbacks of an associates lemon law lawsuit/nightmare regarding his new BMW 750IL in the early 90's.

 

This is about the same as my Audi dealer-- they only do loaners on appointment. I've also had them give me a rental car on occasion.

Of course, to be fair, Lexus, while providing a far superior loaner, only promises them on appointment as well.

I'm happy that my Audi is almost out of warranty-- no more hassles with the Audi dealer! I can go to the Porsche/Audi independent who is within walking distance of my house.

 

Not sure why you think there is no loaner with a phaeton-my dealer has a toureg waiting for me when I drop mine off-so far only for scheduled free service. Not a single problem so far-none. Best most relaible car I have ever owned. Fantastic in snow and ice and rock steady high-speed trip car. The doors have weight to them-something I didn't like about the A8.
Some phaetons had electrical issues initially-mostly because the car uses a lot of power sitting still -key on engine not running, and people sat with them on learning how to use all the features.

 

That bad?

 

Seriously, 9 years later??!!

 

How do people find these old threads that are buried?

 

Searches.