A8 Rear Airs strut

[mariner1]

Howdy all,

I have been silently watching these forums for a long time but today I need advice, hence I finally created an account. I could honestly write a book about this but I will do my best to condense everything for you.

I traded my old A3 for a 2019 A8 with 47500 miles in November. This happened at a non-audi dealer. After two weeks, I got the air suspension fault light. I took it to my local independent shop. They told me the left rear air strut needed to be replaced. They also mentioned an engine mount was going bad. They quoted me just under $3000 for parts and labor for the air strut. I told them to go ahead. They called me back later and said they needed to take $2100 upfront for the part because it was a special order. I gave them the info, and they charged me. After that, they called and said the part would be on back-order for 6 weeks. Then, a week after that, they called and said they could not do the job because the new air strut could only be programmed by an Audi dealer.

Since then, it has been a nightmarish experience. No independent shop wants to touch the car due to the programming and indefinite lead time on the strut. One local Audi dealer basically told me to get bent. The other said they could do it for $5000 without knowing how long they would need the car, and no refund for the part I buy upfront. Some places are saying it will take 10 weeks to get the strut from Germany. One service writer says that Audi Germany is waiting for the sub-manufacturer to provide more, which could be a year or more.

I am a little flustered. I knew a nice car required more money to keep up, but to have such a significant part go at less than 50k miles is very surprising. Adding the fact that only Audi dealers can do anything to the car, and it appears none of these parts exist anywhere in the world right now, is shocking.

I have boiled it down to three options;

1. Sell the car back to the original dealer. Write off the value of my trade ($5000), but stop bleeding cash on the A8.

2. Trade into something else, probably a Genesis

3. Try to fix this car and keep it.

I love the car, but if this is indicative of the next 5 years, I will get out now.

If I have missed anything or if anyone has any suggestions/advice, I would appreciate it.

btw the part number is 4N4 616 001F

Thank you
Mariner1

[A4Qwattro]

To be honest, buying an out of warranty top of the range model from a german car manufacturer ( a 7 series, an A8, an S class) is usually a terrible idea. Every system on the car is complicated and overengineered (not necessarily for the better) compared to the lower models. That means the parts can cost thousands of dollars to replace. $3K for 1 air spring is just a taste of that. The lower models could be had with smaller engines and simple coil spring suspensions that are much cheaper to maintain outside of the warranty period.

If you are trading in to a genesis, make sure there is a warranty involved (CPO or factory bumper to bumper, not the bs third party warranties being pedaled by sleazy salesman). There's a reason that these cars depreciate so much and are cheap to buy from second hand used car lots. You either need to be someone capable of fixing it yourself or have deep pockets to pay for the expensive repairs. Even if you have the money to do as you please, it's a matter of principle to me. Don't let these companies take advantage of you. Generally speaking I always recommend that people set a price target for how much they are willing to spend for a vehicle, and then find a newer car with an active factory warranty that fits into that price target. Buying something without a warranty when you are not capable of repairing it yourself is just a good way to get taken to the cleaners by mechanics, especially if it's german. The only luxury brand I'd be happy to own out of warranty is a lexus.

[mariner1]

I felt somewhat prepared going in. Honestly, $3,000 isn't the end of the world, even at only 48,000 miles. The fact no independent shops will look at the car, and the parts are so hard to get are a real double whammy that I never could have imagined.

Unfortunately, CPO seems to be going the way of the dodo around me. The few cars I find that are certified are priced almost at new MSRP.

I may find a third-party warranty like at Carmax.

Audi's extended warranty precluded air struts, I am glad I did not pay the $12,000 for it.