Magnet

Welcome Keith, Tried EBay - or where have you tried so far? Kind regards, Gareth.

Very good question Paul. My opinion, for what it’s worth:- Your last bit first - affect on value? My experience is that unless the service history is recorded on the Audi system by an authorised servicing centre, then the car will be valued as having incomplete service history. In effect, any DIY servicing is not worth the paper it’s recorded on, as far as the trade is concerned. Having said that, how long are you intending to keep it? If not that long, then the investment in an ‘authorised’ service would be worth the expenditure. If you are keeping it for a number of years, then what you propose to do yourself will probably prolong the car’s life to a greater extent than an official service. The answer could include more detail Paul, but the principle (in my book) is as said. Kind regards, Gareth.

Am I allowed to say that it’s somewhat disappointing to note that apart from Dom (and the Admin on here) everyone else seems to have had a puncture in their Christmas spirit, and are not wishing fellow members anything? Come on folks - it doesn’t hurt!

New battery coded to the car? Alternator output checked? Kind regards, Gareth.

Not tried Towsure etc Bryan? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Dom, The best way to obtain a build record is to go along (I wouldn’t do this by E-mail or phone) to an Audi dealer Parts Dept, armed with your V5 or VIN and asking if they would be kind enough to provide you with a print out of the build record - alway nice to have. Kind regards, Gareth.

OK Steve. Here is the situation as I understand it:- Your car should have been on an annual service plan due the low annual mileage covered. It seems it must have been set on a Longlife schedule that would result in it being set for servicing at around 18K or 18 months - whatever comes first. The fact that it didn’t alert you at 18 months is confusing. My belief is the alert you are now seeing could be for a change of brake fluid at 2 years old, and may/ may not, take in an overdue conventional service as well. If it isn’t for that service as well, then you do need to ensure that this over due service is indeed carried out now. Do you have this car on a (monthly) paid for service plan? Perhaps you can come back to us. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Bryan, You could try Towsure. Also a quick glance on EBay comes up with a ‘Deployable’ version for a tad under £600 secondhand, and there are probably others. Well worth doing a Google search if you haven’t already done so. Of course, another A8 owner on here may come up with something. Good luck in finding one. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Steve, Great - so the tyre size you will need is 255/40/19, and you will now be able to work out the cost benefits of buying those tyres rather than 21 inch. Re. the anticipated selling price for your 21 inch rims with road-legal tyres - apologies Steve you could be right in your belief that you can easily sell £900-new rims as secondhand with road legal tyres for £750. Sorry, I’m not sufficiently experienced to judge, so please ignore my earlier comment. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Steve, I’m not surprised 21 inch wheels were not an available option. As has been said, the the bigger the wheel dia. the lower the tyre profile needs to be, and that results in a compromised ride quality. You obviously have a wide choice, but can I ask if you’re chosen 225/40/ is the Audi stated tyre size for the 19 inch rims? ‘…easily sell 4 x 21 inch wheels and tyres for over £3K….’. Um! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Hanees, Thanks for joining, and welcome. From what you describe, I think you are right in suspecting this may be due to a below par battery, and if it were mine, I would be wanting to confirm or refute that possibility, as my first course of action. These car depend heavily on an efficient battery. Take the car on at least a 10 mile run to allow it to have some charging after starting, then drive to a Halfords store and ask them to test the battery efficiency for you. They will test a number of parameters - under load - and give you an overall % efficiency figure. Depending on how quickly you need this sorted, it would probably be best to come back to us rather than getting a new one fitted at Halfords there and then, so just come back to us first if you want to. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Steve, What does your Owners Handbook list as wheel option sizes? There will be tyre widths and profiles listed for each of those options, to ensure the total radius of wheel and tyre profile remains the same for varying dia. wheels. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andrew, Would you please be kind enough to post the price that would be acceptable to you, to minimise the risk of yourself and forum members being messed around with unacceptable offers. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, I’ll come back to you on my return. Meanwhile, what is your annual mileage? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, I think you have just found the downside of increasing wheel diameters - as many do to make it look smarter. Decreasing from 21 inch to 18in is a big jump, and will result in a very much increased tyre profile. I used to get my calculator out and work it out for folks on here, but fight shy of doing that now. There are websites which do the maths for you - worth searching these out. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Ian, A complete stab at it, but any chance this has something to do with having to computer reset? Kind regards, Gareth.

Front or backs replaced Ian? Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks indeed Steve. I’m sure your new addition will be the centre of attraction with everybody. Should be a well deserved great Christmas for you all. Best wishes, Gareth & Family.

Thanks Gideon, What does the screen shot tell you in terms of when services were carried out? The degree of service history will of course be very important. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. No service books for a 2016 Steve - all recorded on the computer system?

Wishing all forum members and their families a very enjoyable Christmas, and I hope 2024 will be kind to you all. Kind regards, Gareth.

But don’t forget, the tyre profile would have to be decreased if the wheel dia. is increased. Doing this, will compromise the ride quality. Are you considering this because 18 inch wheels will look better? If so, it’s worth considering that you can’t see the wheels when you are driving, but you can feel the compromised ride quality! There are websites which inform you what profiles will be needed when you change wheel diameters. Kind regards, Gareth.

I feel that although the forum has tried to be constructive here, no one can advise whether this car would be fine or not - it’s a totally unreasonable expectation. Shame Samanuel wasn’t able to share with us how the ‘blind’ price he needs to pay compares with the retail average, so that he, and forum members can better understand the risk being taken here. Kind regards, Gareth.

That’s good - at least that check has eliminated that as a possible cause.

Suspension leg?? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gideon, Did you manage to check the service history? Kind regards, Gareth.