Owners have filed 41 complaints on the Audi S8, covering 2007–2021. The system named most often is Engine (15 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2016, 2014; cleanest: 2021, 2009, 2007. 0 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 7.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Audi S8
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 41 S8 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 15 Read
Turbo failure and positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) failure. Whining noise from PCV and smoke out the tail pipes with no power. Had to pay out of pocket to remedy issues
Only 43,750 miles and the engine is being completely rebuilt. New cam adjusters, new timing chain tensioners, new timing chain guides... This shouldn't happen on a car with such few miles
Was driving on a saturday afternoon down a busy street when my car started sputtering and had very reduced power. I was able to eventually get to the side of the road and shut the car off. Tried starting the car after a resting period and car would not start. Let it sit longer and finally got it to start but car had…
Power Train 4 Read
When started up on 11/17/22, multiple warning lights came on in rapid sequence advising of an electrical system & battery malfunction. Warning was to not drive the vehicle and contact service. I shut off the vehicle and re-started it. The same warnings were displayed. I was about 0.8 mile from the dealer so I…
I started the car last friday, 11/15/2019 and got a bunch of system errors popping up one right after the other. I drove the car to get to a safe parking spot and noticed the steering wheel totally off center about 70 degrees counter clockwise. I am not sure if the two (accident/calibration and the faults) connected…
Water Pump and thermostat has a faulty design that causes coolant to leak either around the O Ring and/or the elbow. I am in my third water pump and thermostat with only 69,000 miles on the vehicle. Issue appears to be common on the EA824 (4.0 twin turbo) engine with hundreds of reports from the complete range of…
Visibility 4 Read
The contact owns a 2008 Audi S8. The vehicle had previously been serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V415000 (Visibility). The contact stated that while driving at 85 MPH, the sunroof glass detached from the sunroof frame. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The…
The contact owns a 2008 audi s8. While driving approximately 70 mph, a sudden booming sound was heard. Through the rearview mirror, the driver could see that the glass sun roof was airborne. After stopping to inspect the vehicle, the driver discovered that the glass sun roof had detached from the roof. The cause of…
The contact owns a 2008 audi s8. While driving approximately 70 mph, a booming sound was heard and the driver noticed that the glass sun roof detached from the vehicle and was airborne. The cause of the failure was not determined. Audi of owings mill (9804 reisterstown rd, owings mill, md) was notified of the failure.…
Visibility/wiper 3 Read
During our recent rains i discovered water dripping on me from the center overhead console at the top of the windshield. This totally distracted me while driving as I was shocked by it's sudden occurrence. The next day, I suspected sunroof drains and proceeded to chase a flexible line thru them in the front drains and…
While driving on the highway my sunroof glass detached from the frame and flipped over to the back. It was still being held by about 5in of glue on the rear part of the frame and luckily it didn't depart the car which would have caused damage to cars behind me. This issue seems the same as NHTSA Recall No. / MFR…
There is a possibility that the sunroof glass may detach from the vehicle's frame, posing a road hazard and increasing the risk of an accident
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
The contact owns a 2014 AUDI S8. The contact stated while driving 60MPH the vehicle began to vibrate violently from the engine compartment; the cabin filled up with smoke and the vehicle tailpipe began producing smoke. The contact was unable to pull over and manually moved the vehicle into the shoulder. The contact…
The contact owns a 2014 Audi S8. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the low oil warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. Upon visual inspection of the engine compartment, the contact observed that the engine oil level was abnormally low, prompting him to add oil to the engine. However, afterwards the…
Vehicle Speed Control 2 Read
2009 audi s8 throttle stuck wide open while accelerating onto highway. Full breaking did not disconnect throttle. Braked hard and pulled to side of road and shut down engine. Had towed into miramar audi, san diego. Audi america brought in and blamed floor mats. I paid $2300 to replace throttle control modules after…
After a period of acceleration on the highway, the gas pedal was released, but the car continued to accelerate out of control. Applying the brake pedal did not stop the car, and the acceleration stopped only after the car was turned off and back on
Service Brakes 1 Read
I started the car last friday, 11/15/2019 and got a bunch of system errors popping up one right after the other. I drove the car to get to a safe parking spot and noticed the steering wheel totally off center about 70 degrees counter clockwise. I am not sure if the two (accident/calibration and the faults) connected…
Electronic Stability Control (esc) 1 Read
I started the car last friday, 11/15/2019 and got a bunch of system errors popping up one right after the other. I drove the car to get to a safe parking spot and noticed the steering wheel totally off center about 70 degrees counter clockwise. I am not sure if the two (accident/calibration and the faults) connected…
S8 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Power Train,electrical System,engine | — | — | |
| 2016 | Electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2015 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2014 | Engine | — | 1 | |
| 2013 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2009 | Vehicle Speed Control | — | — | |
| 2008 | Vehicle Speed Control,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2007 | Electrical System,equipment | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 26 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.6 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.3 years |
A model average of 1.6 hides a worst series at 6. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the S8?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2016, 2014 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which S8 years are the cleanest?
2021, 2009, 2007 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Audi S8 have?
41 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2007–2021. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.