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2001 Audi S8

Sometimes it’s not what a car is that I find interesting, but where. From Porsche 924s that appear at random second-hand dealers in the ‘hood to a S-Class Mercedes-Benz trade in at a Nissan dealer, a fish out of water always is worth a head scratching double take. Finding a 2001 Audi S8 for sale isn’t a hugely unusual event, though their numbers are beginning to thin. That it would be selected in a rare color also isn’t massively abnormal, though today’s Melange Metallic example is a very infrequently seen color. On top of the color is the very low mileage, as few of the S8s you’ll come across today have much less than 100,000 miles on them – never mind only half that amount, as this one does. But to see this mint condition oddity residing in a sea of Ford F150s at a dealer named “Truck and Van Country” is…well, strange. This dealer has ONE foreign car in its inventory, and that one foreign car is the best condition Audi S8 I’ve seen in a long time:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Audi S8 at Truck and Van Country


Year: 2001
Model: S8
Engine: 4.2 liter V8
Transmission: 5-speed automatic
Mileage: 54,276 mi
Price: $17,950 Buy It Now

2001 Audi S8 Quattro this is the high-end sport addition of the A8 54k Miles!!!!! One careful owner and it shows this is the textbook definition of a show room condition time capsule car absolutely no disappointment The leather is soft and supple and in unbelievable brand-new condition heated seats both front and rear navigation Bose audio rear sunshade’s non-smoker and odor free clean title clean Carfax with maintenance records two sets of keys and all books and manuals runs and drives as it should this is a no hassle/haggle price so it is our best price

Perhaps this was a car of the proprietor? Maybe someone traded it in on a brand new camper after they had a near-death experience and decided a shitty van would be better than a beautiful luxury sports car? Either way, this must certainly be the best 2001 Audi S8 for sale in the country right now. It may be the best D2 for sale in the country overall, as it really does appear nearly new outside of some light creases on the driver’s seat – but importantly they’re the sport rather than comfort seats. As I see it, there are only two downsides to this car; one, the color combination is one of my least favorite. But condition trumps color, and you won’t find a nicer D2 S8 today. The second, though, is a doozy – the $18,000 price tag is over double what a pretty nice 2001 S8 trades for today. Some of that value may be placed in the condition which is near impossible to repeat. But at a price close to the ask on some E39 M5 models, this car will be a hard sell. I could see it trading hands in the low teens, but it’ll take a substantial price drop for this sweet Melange missile to find a new owner.

-Carter

10 Comments

  1. Bryan
    Bryan March 25, 2016

    Subtract $5,000 and then I might be interested.

  2. Poorhouse
    Poorhouse March 25, 2016

    Wow that looks good. I could be perfectly happy with that color.

    I’m sure there is some room in the price, but I doubt $5k.

    If it were mine I wouldn’t let it go for less than $15k.

  3. UrSDriver
    UrSDriver March 25, 2016

    I clean low mile D2 S8 with sport seats is a rare and highly desirable bird. If Audi AG sold these stateside with a manual it would be one of the all time greats, sadly they are plagued by characteristic ZF transmission failures. These cars handle superb at high speed, pure understated performance and luxury, the proportions are perfect in my opinion.

  4. John
    John March 25, 2016

    Nice find! As you say been a long time since we have seen one with such low mileage. Would be curious to see what the carfax shows regarding maintenance.

  5. Christian
    Christian March 25, 2016

    Yea, color is killing it for me. And price. If it was black, or any other color, I could see writing a check for $10K+. But Lexus beige is a bad color no matter what car it is on. Well, I guess for the right price, I would live with it. I wonder how negotiable they are?

  6. Tim Mosso
    Tim Mosso March 26, 2016

    Ok, the elephant in the room… it’s a 15 year-old highly complex high-performance car being sold by a dealer that’s clearly selling a vehicle well outside this company’s product wheelhouse. Despite the claim of maintenance records, there’s no mention of any transmission service (if not by mileage, due by this age) or belt replacement. If the original belts remain in the car, that’s a 15-year old time bomb that could blow the first time you crank the engine.

    Because the only real way to complete the timing belt idler and tensioner replacement, serpentine (accessory belt) replacement, water pump, thermostat, and cam seals is to do it while the timing belts are off and the front of the car is in pieces, this is nearly $2,000 that would be required at the time of purchase (unless you’re cool with leaving those other time bombs untended while replacing the timing belt). $18,000 is way out of line for this car unless they have real receipts and itemized invoices for service of the above items. I just bought a 87,000-mile 2003 and did all of the above plus transmission fluid flush, fluid replacement, seals, and filter for peace of mind. My car cost $13,600 shipped, and the preventative maintenance about $2K.

    A real service history with all of the above might justify the asking price of this 2001, but absent that, the next owner should just assume two grand of service upon delivery. The seller’s semi-belligerent statement, “this is a no hassle/haggle price so it is our best price,” is a bit of a turn-off considering the lack of scanned invoices or a free Carfax inclusion with the listing.

    Best,
    Tim

  7. ED
    ED March 26, 2016

    Carter,

    I do enjoy your website a great deal, I read it almost daily. I do not normally write about such things, but this is so blatantly stupid and irresponsible on your part, I had to call you out on this.

    “924’s in the ‘hood??? What exactly does that mean. That it its extrodinarily exceptional to have a black person driving a Porsche? In the hood, what exactly does that mean? Certainly, as gifted as a writer as you are, was your illustrative self not working when you starting writing this article.
    A big fan, who is disappointed.

  8. Carter
    Carter March 26, 2016

    @ED;
    First, thanks for reading, and thanks for your comment. Regarding the tone of the comment, no – it wasn’t aimed at drawing the conclusion that a specific race or ethnicity would be unable to purchase or be interested in purchasing a Porsche. I think if you don’t read too much into it and instead rolled by a dealer in a “‘hood” and saw a Porsche 924 sitting there, you’d probably also see it as a duck out of water, which was the intent of the line. I live by some such dealers in Providence, and yes, one time there was a Guards Red 924S for sale. I found this exceptionally odd, since the 924S is an obscure car even by German standards, but then to see a pretty pristine 25+ year old one sitting in the middle of the city in a fenced in lot full of dilapidated Maximas, Camrys and a few SUVs, yeah – my reaction was that it was out of place.

    Maybe too much of an inside joke in my mind, but it was the first thing that came in to my head when I saw this similarly very much out of place S8.

    It had nothing at all to do with race.

    Thanks again for commenting and following, and I hope you can appreciate my point of view on it.
    Best,
    Carter

  9. Jeff
    Jeff March 27, 2016

    Price is relative.
    Can you find one as nice as this one for less money?
    If yes, then this one is overpriced.
    If no, then the price is probably justified.

  10. Tim Mosso
    Tim Mosso March 27, 2016

    Hi Jeff, I think you’re missing my point. You don’t really know how “nice” the car is without more vehicle history and maintenance background info from the seller. In selectively revealing low-res internet images, it looks “clean” and “nice.” But detailing is cheap compared to fixing 40 crashed valves; proof of a belt change is the bare minimum that should be scanned into the listing.

    Drivers who have the kind of niche/specialized interest in owning a D2 S8 also know that the transmission and inaccessible front side of the engine carry huge (and mandatory) service expenses if one of these cars reaches its 15th birthday without proof of work performed. The idea that original tranny fluid, filter, timing belt, idlers, tensioners, water pump, thermostat, coolant, and cam seals are still sitting in the car should give pause to anyone considering this car at its listed price.

    From the perspective of a multi-D2 owner, “niceness” is purely a measure of how much corrective maintenance the car will need upon delivery. A higher-mileage S8 with full books and current maintenance of sensitive systems is “nicer” than unsupported claims of the same in a low-mile car. Even when I look at the Autotrader listing for this 2001, I don’t see a link to the “clean” Carfax or a scan of the claimed maintenance records.

    In short, I’d encourage the seller to add scans of the service history and the Carfax. If everything presents as promised, the car could be worth the seller’s ask. But if not…

    Best,
    Tim

Comments are closed.