I traded it out of concern it would become a money pit. I went to the service department for a couple of other things in a short time period. Never had to visit Lexus as frequently in a short time period. Know someone else who has poured $5k into maintenance on her A6. Don't have details on her issues. I totally agree that the A8 is beautiful and mine was fully loaded. My decision was based on the value of my time and peace of mind. Also, overtime the LS will be less expensive to maintain.

 

I agree the A8 is more expensive to maintain. Particularly if you just drop it off at the dealer out of warranty. Audi dealers are more expensive then Lexus. Parts wise it's about the same. More complicated of a car to work on. If you are a diy guy like many are I would say don't be scared. You might have to buy a few new tools but the suspension, brakes, battery, tune ups are pretty straight forward.

 

My local foreign car service independent mechanic, who specializes in German cars, advised me to stay away from Audi and other German makes when I started my search for my first luxury car. Of course, he's biased: he drives an older LS.

 

Good advice. Here's an interesting article about the myth of "German Engineering". A myth that i fell victim to.:http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...gineering.html

 

I too one time had tires from TireRack put on a car at a VW Audi specialty shop, I chatted with the owner and he told me never to buy a VW or Audi. Now, things have improved since then, but still if you're going to keep the car for 100k+ miles I would skip the Audi. 3 year lease? 5 year ownership? Sure.

 

The A8 is definitely not as reliable as the LS. I don't think any luxury sedan is but if you have not driven one you don't know what you are missing. Just take a little time someday and drive one and you will see why Consumer Reports rates Audi at the top. And I think the best interior in the market. Neither the 6 or 7 model compare. The 8 long wheel base is their best.

Personally, I am willing to give up some reliability for the return of a finely engineered automobile. They offer plenty of cpo's and extended warranties just like Lexus. That is how I got mine. 2 year 50k warranty cpo. It's a much nicer car then the 460. Audi is the most reliable German manufacturer. I was about to buy a 2013 460 until I test drove my A8. Something else. And you can also turn an A8 4.0t into an S8 with a tune / downpipes. Incredible horsepower if you are into that. Like nearly 700 hp on 93 octane for about $2500. It's almost ridiculous.

 

The dealer I worked for for 22 years sold Audi, Volvo, Hyundai, VW, and Mazda. Audi was the absolute worst money pit car by far. The Audi techs made bank because they were always broken and everything took an ungodly amount of flat rate hours to fix. They always had the highest hourly rates also. VW was next then Volvo. Hyundai and Mazda were about even as the most reliable and economical cars.

 

I have driven the A8 several times, it's a nice car. I prefer the LS, and if I was going to buy German it wouldn't be the A8, it would be a 7 Series or S Class.

I'm glad you like your A8 but remember this is a Lexus LS forum. We're here because we own and are enthusiastic about the Lexus LS.

 

Glad you're happy with your A8L, however I don't know where you're getting the "Consumer Reports ranks Audi at the top" from. As the attached screen shot shows, the A8 is ranked #4 out of 7 in Ultra Luxury Cars, with an overall score of 82,and a road test score of 91. Predicted reliability and owner satisfaction are both better than average.

The LS460 is tied for first with the Tesla Model S. Its overall score is 87, the road test score is 89, predicted reliability is much better than average, and owner satisfaction is better than average.

One can debate about CR's rankings -- IMO the Tesla MS isn't an ultra luxury car -- but at least for 2017 (and I think for prior years), the A8 isn't at the top of the ratings, whereas the LS is at or near the top of the ratings in that category. If one just looks at the road test score, the A8's score isn't at the top, either.

IMO, the A8 is a beautiful car. I don't doubt the quality of the materials or its fit and finish. As with the LS, you will pay for the really cool options. The A8 has certain options that aren't available (as yet) on an LS. How important those are depends on the individual. The A8 might be more of a driver's car than the LS, but let's face it: as a freeway cruiser, I doubt that would make much of a difference.

i'm happy with my LS for now.

 

Historically, Audi hasn't done too good on reliability. It's only the last couple of years they've been off the worst used car list (and several still are still on this list - check out the rest of CR's April edition). More recently, Porsche and Audi have fared better than Volkswagen but this could be a flaw in the survey methodology (selection bias).

Time will tell. In the meanwhile, there's no doubt that a brand new Audi is a very nice car. Now, if they can only stay the course.

 

In overall score.

http://www.consumerreports.org/media...d_report_card/

 

I was going to point that out as well, because that wasn't how I recalled any reviews from CR. They may be the better of the German brands, but that certainly hasn't always been the case as Keith pointed out. When I bought my POS BMW 7 series, I also shopped for A8's. I only looked at 3 of them, but all of them had one issue or another, and in all cases the dealer were selling "As Is". That was enough to make me walk away. Unfortunately, my BMW was probably worse than the A8's would have been, but at least I could drive it off the lot. I do realize that Audi is now seen as reliable, but I'm not convinced until I've seen long term use and assessments. I certainly didn't expect my 7 series to spew blue smoke at 50k miles and needed a bunch of engine cooling issues addressed when I bought it. All told, fixing those issues at a a BMW dealer would have cost upwards of 15 - 20k dollars, with no guarantee that the issue would not return sometime later.

 

I see the issue. You're talking about brand score. I'm talking about car score

 

I have a friend who owns Euro Car Center, a Audi/German car repair facility. The guy is an excellent tech and an outstanding alternative to the dealership (he was an Audi factory rep and still teaches to this day). This guy will repair anything German...Porsche, BMW, Mercedes...it's his thing. But he has warned me about those cars - he doesn't speak bad like normal people do - instead you have to read between the lines with him. When he says, ahh they're not too bad (with a little hesitation in his voice), he will then go on to tell me their problems. A little thing to him is tearing half an engine apart, and if you walk into his shop that's what you'll see...Audi's apart in a million pieces...parts all over the place, wires hanging out, fluids. These things have some major issues. He tells me to watch out for timing chain stretch and oil consumption, well that's enough for me. No thanks.

When he sees my LS he says...I've never worked on one of those things. And I say, yeah no one really does.

 

Inside pics...