gibbo37

I had a 2004 d3 A8 with the standard seats and I have to say they were the most uncomfortable of any car I had ever driven. They seemed to offer no under leg support at all or for that matter no support anywhere. The best seats I have ever had were in a Volvo S80 and an XC90. I could drive for hours in either car and still feel fine at the end. With the comments about Saab seats above, it seems the Swedes could teach the Germans a thing or two about seat comfort!!

I strayed in to Lexus ownership late last year after owning a number of Audi's, the last one being a D3 A8 that was plagued with problems, the final straw being the multitronic box giving up just out of the three year warranty at 90,000 miles. Audi couldn't have been more unhelpful and only grudgingly (after numerous calls, letters etc) made a minor contribution to the repair. I replaced the A8 with a Lexus GS450h which is the hybrid version of the GS saloon and I have to say it's a stunning car with breathtaking performance, 0 to 60 in less than 6 seconds, yet still returns 36 to 38 mpg on a run, cheaper car tax at £210, congestion charge exempt. Yes it does feel a heavy car especially when cornering but it's a small price to pay. The customer service both from Lexus UK and the dealer has been far superior to any that I have received from Audi, for example I noticed a very smal paint bubble on the leading edge of the bonnet about the size of my small finger nail. I thought they might send round someone like 'chips away' to sort it but no, they took it in and replaced the bonnet!! All four alloys were replaced without me even mentioning anything whilst it was in for a service. I could go on but my main point is don't write off all Hybrid's without trying one, my car isn't going to save the planet but I get near enough super car performance at standard saloon car prices which is great by me plus total peace of mind from a manufacturer that stands by it's products...

I just sold a 2004 D3 3.0 Multitronic with a 100,000 miles on it, which I owned for just over a year. In that time I had problems with the gearbox which resulted in new clutch plates at a discounted cost of £1,200 at an Audi dealer..It should have cost a lot more but I kicked up a fuss with Audi UK and they subsidised the repair. I also had a knocking noise from the front suspension when going over bumps, which no one could get to the bottom of despite changing various parts = £'s...!! Apart from the above it was a fantastic car with loads of room for the kids and surprisingly economical for such a big car, 35mpg on a run but bloody awful around town. There are some very cheap D3's about now but I still think if you are buying a car that costs around £40 to £50k when new, the running costs are going to be relative i.e you can't run a champagne car for lemonade money. I guess the costs will come down as more and more become available at affordable prices and I think that when that happens there will be a lot more advice on how to look after the car on forums like this. If I bought one again I'd go for as new a model as I could afford with some Audi warranty left on it.

It's Lexus, Bury New Road in Manchester - They arranged for Lexus UK in Essex to deliver the 'Hybrid' to me in Swindon and are collecting my car from the Lexus dealer in Swindon, either today or Monday. They've kept me fully informed every step of the way and are doing their utmost to resolve the situation. It's good old fasioned customer service at the end of the day and I have to say after my bad experience with Audi, I'm really impressed.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to reply. Just as an update Lexus UK have delivered to me this morning a brand new 'Hybrid' GS 460H that is mine until they have either fixed mine or sourced me a new one. I also have the personal guarantee from the dealer principle that if they can't get to the bottom of the problem with my car, they will source me another one and are already in the process of looking for one. I'm really pleased with the way they are handling this so far and it certainly hasn't put me off the brand and the way they have treated me so far, is night and day compared with Audi UK, when I had gearbox issues with my 'just out of warranty' A8 D3. I think the only problem is going to be their's, when they try and take the 'Hybrid' off me ;-)

Thanks very much for all your replies and I think you have just confirmed what I was already thinking, but it's always good to see what others think. If I was to ask for a replacement how close to the original do you think the new car should be in terms of age, mileage, value, colour etc ? I want to be fairly reasonable with them as they seem to be handling this pretty well so far. I spoke with the technician at the local dealership and he said that he has never had or heard of any similar issues with a GS 300 before and in fact said that out of the Lexus range it's the one car they have the least issues with - I guess I'm just unlucky.

Hi all and apologies for the long post.... I'm just after some advice as I'm not really sure what I should do? Basically, two weeks ago I took delivery of a new shape Lexus GS 300 2005 on a 55 plate, which I purchased from a Lexus dealer. The main reason for buying from a Lexus dealer was that I managed to get an extra two years warranty and two years servicing included in the already reasonable purchase price plus I get peace of mind. Everything has been fine with the car up until last Sunday when a number of warning lights appeared in the dash and the car then wouldn't lock !! I took the car to my local Lexus dealer (not the dealer I bought the car from as they are 150 miles away) who spent the rest of the day trying to diagnose what the fault might be. They kept the car overnight and rang me yesterday to say that it could take days or even weeks to discover what is causing the fault and that this isn't the first time the car has had this problem. When they looked into the warranty claims they discovered that the car has had over £6,000 spent on it and the three different wiring looms replaced (the car only has three in total), trying to resolve the problem. I contacted the supplying dealer and they have agreed to collect the car from my local dealer and supply me with an equivalent loan car whilst they try and get to the bottom of the problem. The car is still within the 30 day or 1,000 miles no quibble exchange policy so I can reject the car if I want to, but my question is would you allow them to try and fix the car and if I do, do you think it will affect my right to exchange the car if I'm not happy? Any advice on any of the above would be really appreciated and if you think there is anything else I should be doing or asking for, please let me know - As a caveat to the above I have to say that they are being really good about it all and the dealer principle is looking after this himself, he has said that if they can't fix it they will find me an equivalent car.

*BUMP* Now sold.

Thanks A8 Doc - It is a lovely car but unfortunately I have to sell it as I've changed jobs and it comes with a company car. Hopefully once the lease is up I'll be able to run my own car again and would definitely buy another A8, especially at these prices !!

New company car forces the sale of my D3 A8. Details and ad here: Audi : Audi A8 3.0 Multitronic Petrol Please let me know if you have any questions - Thanks

*Bump* This car still hasn't sold and I really need it gone now as my company car has arrived and it's taking up space on the drive. I've reduced the price and open to offers, surely this would be a great car for someone? Link: Audi : Audi A8 3.0 Multitronic Petrol

1. Gninnam - 2000 4.2QS West Yorkshire - Nr. Leeds 2. IT_S8 - 2002 S8 and 2000 A8 4.2 Quattro - Harrogate (last time I looked anyway!) 3. AndrewG - 1995 A8 4.2 Quattro 4. Ska - 2.8 30V A8 Middlesex 5. LostKiwi - 1995 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport - Lancaster 6. JUGGA - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport 7. Gibbo37 - 2004 A8 3.0 Multitronic - Swindon 8. Botang - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport - Wellingborough 9. Botang/Tobes49 - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Track Spec - Wellingborough 10. Craigyb - 2007 4.2Tdi Quattro SE (SWB) - Manchester 11. Msey - 1997 4.2. Quattro Sport 12. treetotreef - 1998 S8 13. PaulW - 2001 S8 US of A 14. Rickbee - 2002 S8 Final Edition, Cheshire 15. Zip - 2002 S8 Final Edition 16. Sven S8 - '00 S8 4.2 40V - Les Pays Bas 17. Figure 11 - 98 S8 LPG Edition 18. PsYcHe - 98 A8 4.2QS - Blantyre (Glasgowish) 19. DJStrange - 2002 S8 20. Harpersimon - 1998 A8 V6 30v - me 'n ska's private club! - Morecambe 21. topgolfer1-1998 2.8 Sport- Bristol 22. A8_Tony - 2000 A8 4.2QS (Low tax that is ) - Pocklington (Nr York), centre of the universe 23. mkoneman-2002 final edition S8 + 3/4 of a 97' A8 4.2QS 24. Abs - 2002 S8 Final Edition 25. fenn - 2000 S8 26. ghemmings (hayne) - 1997 A8 4.2QS LPG 27. MICKPSU - 2005 W12. These fuel prices are killing me! - Cheltenham 28. Essate - 2005 A8 W12# 29. MikeeB - 2006 4.2Q SE 30. NikW - 1999 A8 4.2 QS 31. RichardW - 03 A8 4.0 Q soot chucker 32. thenamesross - 97 S8 33. Alexsr6-1998 S8 34. Lusso - 2004 3.0 tdi 35. Mofri - 1995 4.2 QS 36. JimS8 - 2001 S8 37. EddyH - 1998 S8 - Pontefract 38. Sapphire1616 - 2002 S8 39. Bazagrand - 2002 S8

1. Gninnam - 2000 4.2QS 2. IT_S8 - 2002 S8 and 2000 A8 4.2 Quattro - Harrogate (last time I looked anyway!) 3. AndrewG - 1995 A8 4.2 Quattro 4. Ska - 2.8 30V A8 Middlesex 5. LostKiwi - 1995 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport - Lancaster 6. JUGGA - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport 7. Gibbo37 - 2004 A8 3.0 Multitronic - Swindon 8. Botang - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Sport 9. Botang/Tobes49 - 1996 A8 4.2 Quattro Track Spec 10. Craigyb - 2007 4.2Tdi Quattro SE (SWB) 11. Msey - 1997 4.2. Quattro Sport 12. treetotreef - 1998 S8 13. PaulW - 2001 S8 14. Rickbee - 2002 S8 Final Edition, Cheshire 15. Zip - 2002 S8 Final Edition 16. Sven S8 - '00 S8 4.2 40V 17. Figure 11 - 98 S8 LPG Edition 18. PsYcHe - 98 A8 4.2QS 19. DJStrange - 2002 S8 20. Harpersimon - 1998 A8 V6 30v - me 'n ska's private club! - Morecambe 21. topgolfer1-1998 2.8 Sport 22. A8_Tony - 2000 A8 4.2QS (Low tax that is ) 23. mkoneman-2002 final edition S8 + 3/4 of a 97' A8 4.2QS 24. Abs - 2002 S8 Final Edition 25. fenn - 2000 S8 26. ghemmings (hayne) - 1997 A8 4.2QS LPG 27. MICKPSU - 2005 W12. These fuel prices are killing me! 28. Essate - 2005 A8 W12# 29. MikeeB - 2006 4.2Q SE 30. NikW - 1999 A8 4.2 QS 31. RichardW - 03 A8 4.0 Q soot chucker 32. thenamesross - 97 S8 33. Alexsr6-1998 S8 34. Lusso - 2004 3.0 tdi 35. Mofri - 1995 4.2 QS 36. JimS8 - 2001 S8 37. EddyH - 1998 S8 - Pontefract 38. Sapphire1616 - 2002 S8

7. Gibbo37 - 2004 A8 3.0 Multitronic

Nope, sorry it's the petrol version and I have seen as much as 39mpg in the display, sticking to 70mph for the same journey

Just to depress you even further, did a 200 mile round trip to London yesterday all on the motorway (M4/M25) and according to the display averaged 36.2 mpg at a steady 70/75 mph in my D3 3.0 petrol !!

I had the same issues with my 2004 A8 with a multitronic box. Basically after my Audi dealer twice diagnosed the wrong fault they eventually replaced the clutch plates which cured the problem (mine juddered when pulling away). I did get Audi UK involved and they made a goodwill gesture after lots of complaining/threats from me, even though the car was out of warranty and had done 100,000 miles, and I ended up parting with £950.00. It's totally transformed the car and it drives perfectly now.

*Bump* I can't believe my car hasn't sold yet?? It's great value for someone surely, but to date, I've only had two enquiries and no one has even come to look at it yet !! Is this a sign that big cars aren't wanted anymore or is it just too expensive??

It really is a great car and I would definitely be keeping it if my circumstances were different - still my loss and someone else's gain I guess !!

The time has come to sell my A8, great car and will be sorry to see it go but company car forces sale. Full details here; http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/320782.htm Any inspection welcome.

According to my in dash display I managed 38.4 mpg on a recent 100 mile trip to North London along the M4 and M25. I wanted to see how much I could get and drove fairly steadily at about 70mph apart from the 50 mph road work sections. I usually get about 34 mpg driving at my more usual 80 to 85 mph. I think that's pretty impressive for a big car. The car is a 2004 D3 3.0 ltr, non quattro. Mind you driving it around town and I'm lucky to get mid 20's !!!

[ QUOTE ] The second issue is that there seems to be no air coming out of the vents for the rear seat passengers [/ QUOTE ] Not sure if this is the problem but you can control the airflow of the rear vents through the MMI. I can't remember exactly where it is but I think if you press 'Set up' on the heating controls you can access this menu from there.

I know I'm not comparing 'apples with apples' but the parking sensors (front & rear) on my D3 turn off when you reach about 5 mph, the doors also lock at this point. The parking sensors don't work again until you stop and select reverse gear. I hope this helps.

Hi all, I have a question about my 2004 D3, it's a 3.0 multitronic with 92,000 miles on and it's the best car I've ever had..... The question relates to the gearbox, sometimes when pulling away from a standstill it feels like it's "grabbing", it only last's momentarily and doesn't do it any other time. I bought the car in July and I know that back in February of 2007 it had a replacement valve body fitted (described as a hydraulic control unit on the invoice) - Could the fault be anything to do with this? I alos know that at the next service, just before I bought the car, that the gearbox oil was changed again. The thing is it's not a massive problem and I'm quite happy to live with it, particularly if it's going to be expensive to fix..... Any thoughts you might have on this would be gratefully received.....

Just to add when I told my wife that I'd bought it her reply was "that's a fat, old man's car".....Needless to say I'm now in the market for a new wife !!