Tag: Audi S8

Last week, I blogged about the 2015 Audi S8 unicorn above. Here’s the link. As I published it, I wondered when I last wrote about an Audi S8 and searched my blog archives. Almost exactly a year ago, another 2015 Audi S8. The 2015 S8 above is selling for $35,998 and has 40,000 miles. The last one I wrote about was selling for $39,998 and had 38,000 miles. It gets stranger.

Here’s what I wrote last week about the one above:

CarMax reports it was in one accident in 2021, with severity “unknown”. Must have been a doozy. The details in the Experian AutoCheck Report note:

Accident or Damage Reported
Left Side Damage or Repair Reported
Right Side Damage or Repair Reported
Rear Damage or Repair Reported
Damage or Repair to Bumper Reported
Damage or Repair to Wheels Reported

If there was damage to the roof, I’d be wondering if they rolled it! How do you damage both sides and the rear? It’s buyer beware, though the accident was years ago, and you have to believe it’s rolled into the price. If you want it as a bargain to drive it until it’s not worth anything, maybe you don’t care. If you’re worried about resale, maybe you do.

And here’s what I wrote a year ago on that 2015 S8:

Oh yeah. It’s a single-owner car, and in 2018, the single-owner crashed into something in Georgia. The Experian Auto Check Report notes:

Accident or Damage Reported
Moderate Damage Reported
Right Side Damage or Repair Reported
Front Damage or Repair Reported
Damage or Repair to Bumper Reported
Damage or Repair to Hood Reported
Damage or Repair to Radiator Reported
Damage or Repair to Grille Reported
Damage or Repair to Fender Reported

My immediate thought was, “Oh hell – I just wrote about the same car twice, a year apart!” and I was annoyed that I had invested a couple of hours writing all for nothing. Yeah, I wondered why the same 2015 Audi S8 was back on the market a year later with just a few more miles and for a few thousand less, although it wouldn’t be the first time a car was resurrected by CarMax. That’s not the mystery, though.

The screenshot above is the S8 from a year ago. It’s a different color, and because I’ve been tracking Stock Numbers and VINs, I was able to verify that these are two different, but nearly identical 2015 Audi S8’s. The mystery is the almost identical, horrific damage to two Audi S8s of the same year. Not a mystery, but embarrassing, is how similar my write-ups were on both cars. Maybe I’m just running out of automotive creativity? I’ll try to be better. Anyway, wondering if CarMax buyers are on the prowl for damage-depreciated Audi S8’s?

Happy belated New Year! I haven’t forgotten my CarMax collaborators. Will explain the delay in writing in a bit. But first, a unicorn I don’t want to miss – a 2015 Audi S8. Bargain price and low miles. Low profile. Fast. Luxurious. Tempting.

(The reason for not writing here is that I day-hiked the Grand Canyon Rim-to-River in the fall and spent weeks writing about it. If you’re into hiking, the Grand Canyon, my shameless links to my other webpage adventures are at the bottom of this blog.)

This is a third-generation, facelifted S8. The folks in Audi World are highly confident that only 697 S8’s were sold in the USA in 2015, and only a few thousand over the years. A rare bird.

The Audi S8 comes fully loaded – heated, cooling, and massaging seats, auto cruise control, heated steering wheel, heads up display, adjustable suspension, Bose audio, and all the safety stuff, including Cross-Traffic Alert.

Here’s a weird deal breaker for me. At 6’4″, my head is usually at or behind the B pillar in most cars, including this big Audi. Yesterday I tried to slide into an Audi S8 and an Audi S6 at my local CarMax, and bruised my butt in the process. Both cars have this protrusion, and I hit it every time I got in. I asked my favorite CarMax Car Dude Guru Service Rep Ryan about it, and he thought it might be a side airbag housing. Google AI agrees with Ryan. The photo below was mine from the Audi S6. The only way I could own an Audi, I guess, is to have my left cheek reduced. My insurance won’t pay for that.

The rear seat doesn’t look as spacious as I’d like, with the driver’s seat probably all the way back. Nice powered window shades, though.

Enormous trunk. Nice road trip car. Motor Trend thought the fuel mileage was excellent at 27mpg highway in a 500+ horsepower big sedan. Gives you almost a 600-mile range at normal speeds. A tradeoff for sure, given the sports car performance lurking in an S8. A “regular” V8 Audi A8 gets 30mph highway – a V6 only 29!

This 10+ year old Audi is not without imperfections, and CarMax has included photos of some nicks and scratches. These are the things that would not bother me for $36k, but would drive me crazy in a higher-priced car. Battle scars. But there’s more to the story. CarMax reports it was in one accident in 2021, with severity “unknown”. Must have been a doozy. The details in the Experian AutoCheck Report note:

Accident or Damage Reported
Left Side Damage or Repair Reported
Right Side Damage or Repair Reported
Rear Damage or Repair Reported
Damage or Repair to Bumper Reported
Damage or Repair to Wheels Reported

If there was damage to the roof, I’d be wondering if they rolled it! How do you damage both sides and the rear? It’s buyer beware, though the accident was years ago, and you have to believe it’s rolled into the price. If you want it as a bargain to drive it until it’s not worth anything, maybe you don’t care. If you’re worried about resale, maybe you do.

Above is the heart and soul of the S8 – a twin-turbo V8 making 520 horsepower. The A8 V8 pushes 435. With an eight-speed automatic and AWD, the S8 rockets to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is 155 mph, governed. Remarkable for a 4,600-pound luxury sedan. Below is some dude’s video of the motor and a quick fast getaway.

The 2015 Audi S8 sold new for at least $115,000. It’s less than a third that now, leaving room for a must-have MaxCare extended warranty. It’s currently being shipped to CarMax Capitol Expressway in San Jose, California. Here’s the link if you want to track it.

StockNo: 28161877 VIN: WAUK2AFDXFN011633

Bonus: if a high-performance Audi S8 isn’t for you, for just $4,000 more, you can get a more refined, four-year-newer A8 with a V8! This is a fourth generation, so you also get the dash with multiple flat screens, and not the pop-up display in the 2015 S8. And this one hasn’t been crashed. It’s here in Sacramento.

Stock No: 27817906 VIN: WAU8EAF89KN024307

Continue reading “Quick Hit – 1 of 697 2015 Audi S8 Sleeper and Legit Unicorn”

Pain meds and some knee pain (you’d think it would be one or the other, but not both?) have me up most nights doom-scrolling or shopping for CarMax unicorns. Last night, I was pleasantly surprised to see an old-school Audi S8 reasonably priced and with low mileage. Thought I had better post it before it sells. (This one is a 2015 model, but if you’re feeling wealthy, here’s a 2023 for $90k!) This is a third-generation S8, the high-performance version of the flagship A8. The only Audi sedan that is bigger and better is the Audi A8 W12, which is no longer in production.

Inside, the car is fairly well equipped with auto cruise control, the driver assistance package with cross-traffic alert, lane departure, and blind spot warnings – things pretty standard nowadays – as well as heads-up display, navigation, Bose audio, and seat massagers. No night vision or heated steering wheel.

Just a big old comfortable family car with a giant trunk that would be as comfortable as anything on a thousand-mile drive.

The heart and soul of the Audi S8 is the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8, making 520 horsepower. With AWD, it will out-accelerate a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the Ford Mustang GT500 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and hit a governed top speed of 155 mph. Motor Trend says the positives are “Surprisingly good fuel economy, drives smaller than it actually is, and great performance and handling.” The downside is the “Steering lacks feel and is prone to understeer.” I’m unsure how to reconcile the great handling against the steering description.

Oh yeah. It’s a single-owner car, and in 2018, the single-owner crashed into something in Georgia. The Experian Auto Check Report notes:

Accident or Damage Reported
Moderate Damage Reported
Right Side Damage or Repair Reported
Front Damage or Repair Reported
Damage or Repair to Bumper Reported
Damage or Repair to Hood Reported
Damage or Repair to Radiator Reported
Damage or Repair to Grille Reported
Damage or Repair to Fender Reported

That sounds like a lot. On the other hand, this was once a brand new Audi selling for $115,000, and it is now under $40k. Driven just over 4,000 miles a year. The Experian report says no frame damage, but it might be worth it to buy the car, get it fully checked out by an independent shop, and if it isn’t right, return it within the 10-day full refund period. I’d throw in maybe $5,000 for MaxCare for the next five years and up to 125,000 miles of no major repairs. This car is currently here in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Stock No: 26644769 VIN: WAUK2AFD4FN014348