2004 Audi A8 4.2L Petrol · OV54 APX

The Audi A8 currently holds no valid MOT after failing its April 2025 test at 134,848 miles. The maintenance trend is clearly worsening. A car that passed cleanly in 2024 with only a minor advisory on the nearside front anti-roll bar ball joint has deteriorated into multiple failures within a single year. The tester flagged a split nearside front air suspension boot, both inner CV joint boots severely deteriorated or split, worn anti-roll bar linkages on all four corners, a worn front inner brake disc, and illuminated brake pad and parking brake warning lights. This cluster of faults points to a vehicle that has seen little preventative maintenance recently. The mileage progression tells a different story to the failure list. At 134,848 miles across roughly 22 years, the annual average sits around 6,129 miles, which is typical for a large luxury saloon of this age. The record shows steady accumulation from 110,953 miles in March 2021 through to 134,848 miles in April 2025, covering roughly 23,895 miles across four years. No suspicious gaps or sudden jumps appear in the data. The issue is not how much the car has been driven but how poorly it has been maintained during that use. A buyer should treat the April 2025 failure list as a starting point for physical inspection. The air suspension system demands particular attention. A split nearside front boot means the air spring has been exposed to dirt and moisture, and the offside rear bellows was already noted as damaged in 2021, so both corners may need full strut or bag replacement. The inner CV joint boots on both front driveshafts were split or insecure, meaning joints have likely been running contaminated and should be inspected for play or clicking under load. Worn anti-roll bar linkages on all four corners suggest the entire front and rear linkage set is due for replacement. The worn front inner brake disc combined with a brake pad warning light indicates the pads and discs on that side have worn beyond serviceable limits and need immediate renewal. Beyond the flagged items, the structural integrity of the subframes and suspension mounting points warrants close examination given the age and the pattern of rubber component decay. The 2022 advisory on worn upper suspension rod bushes on both front corners was never addressed and may have progressed to excessive movement by now. Corrosion around the inner wings, sills, and floor pans should be probed, as air suspension failures often lead to prolonged running on bump stops, which accelerates fatigue in older aluminium and steel structures. This car has the bones of a well-engineered flagship, but the MOT record reveals a vehicle that has been neglected at a mechanical level, and the cost of rectifying the air suspension, CV joints, and braking components will be significant.