Here Are The Audi R8 Years To Avoid (2024)

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When it comes to Audi, quality and consistency are the watchwords. Audi is one of the rare car manufacturers that seems to offer high-quality releases right out the gate, unlike other manufacturers that take a few years to work out the kinks in a design.

The R8 is one of Audi’s most successful vehicles, including a supercar version that’s a fantastic option if you’re looking for a high-performance vehicle.

That said, it’s worth looking out for the Audi R8 years to avoid if you’re looking for something that’s going to last and meet your highest expectations.

We’ll take a closer look at the Audi R8, the common problems with this vehicle, which models are more reliable (and why those models perform as well as they do), and more.

Here’s what you need to know before you buy an Audi R8.

Audi R8 Years You Should Avoid

When it comes to the R8, there really aren’t any years you need to avoid. The R8 has a reputation for being one of the most consistent releases ever, so that even the early years with the new model still had an impressive performance and high consumer ratings.

That said, there is one year we’ll say is better avoided if you can. There are a few more issues with this release, which is why it’s one of the only Audi R8 years to avoid. In fact, aside from incredibly rare problems with the Audi R8, we’ll discuss in the next section, this might just be the only Audi R8 year to avoid:

• 2008
• 2014
• 2015

Yes, the first year the R8 was on the market is the only year we’d recommend you avoid. Even the 2018 model that transitioned to be a supercar had incredible consistency and durability.

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Common Problems With The Audi R8

Even though the Audi R8 offers impressive performance across basically all metrics, there are still some rare problems that seem to crop up across the line. Every year suffers from these problems about equally rarely, in addition to a few other common vehicle problems common to most cars.

Bearing Failures

Bearing failures are one of the most serious problems you can get in an R8 partially because of the speed these vehicles can reach. When a bearing is starting to wear out and causes friction instead of preventing it, that can lead to other kinds of part failure incredibly quickly.

That’s a big problem on its own. Replacing bearings can also be relatively work-intensive, which means that the replacements can be expensive, or your mechanic may recommend replacing the whole part instead of internal bearings.

Fortunately, this issue is also incredibly rare, and most Audi R8 owners will never have to worry about premature bearing failure.

Wishbone Failure

Wishbone failure is another serious problem that’s known to happen on some R8 models. This involves the failure of part of the suspension that helps distribute weight, control momentum, and keep the vehicle coordinated.

However, wishbone failure comes in a wide variety of different problems, from basic suspension failures to the part actually cracking and becoming unstable. The computer can also cause problems and fail to sync effectively.

Like the bearing problem with the Audi R8, this is an incredibly uncommon issue, and very few Audi R8 owners will need to worry about wishbone failure. That said, wishbone failure can be serious, in some cases dangerous depending on the kind of failure and when it happens, and hard to repair.

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Ignition Coil Failure

Ignition coil failure is one of the least serious issues that Audi R8s can run into. It’s a little more common than the other two problems we’ve listed, but it’s still rare for ignition coils to have premature failure in your Audi R8.

Ignition coil failures can make your engine misfire or splutter on start up or acceleration. That said, the ignition coil is also one of the easiest common problems with Audi R8s to fix. Mechanics can trade out a faulty or damaged ignition coil easily, and it usually resolves the problems right away.

In a few very rare instances, ignition coil failure may damage other engine components, but usually only when you don’t get the ignition coil fixed quickly.

Reliable Audi R8 Model Years

We’ve already talked about the Audi R8 model years to avoid, but what about the rest of the Audi R8 models? After all, this vehicle has such good consumer ratings and professional ratings that there really aren’t any truly unreliable versions of the R8.

Part of that consistency is the fact that Audi doesn’t make a lot of changes between model years. The engineering and parts work, and they work well together, so Audi doesn’t change much more than the surface and a few little features from year to year.

That’s a good thing because it’s a big part of why there are so many reliable Audi R8 models. Here are those reliable model years:

THE MOST RELIABLE YEAR FOR THE AUDI R8

It’s a fabulous supercar, but there are still some years to avoid if you don’t love severe issues. We’ll discuss the best and worst options together, determining the most reliable Audi R8 year and other vital information you should know.

• 2009
• 2010
• 2011
• 2012
• 2013
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019

There are a couple of things to note about the R8’s run of reliable years. The R8’s minimal approach to changes means that this model doesn’t have a high rate of problems or problem years either one.

Thankfully, that also means that any new Audi R8 models that are released will probably be just as consistent, durable, and high performance as previous years.

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Which Audi R8 Models Are Good Used Vehicles?

If you’re thinking about getting an Audi R8, there really aren’t any bad models to buy yet. The 2008 model is still going strong if you’re looking for an older vehicle that’s a great value even used. More recent models have some slight updates, but since there haven’t been a lot of structural changes to the R8, there aren’t as many big differences between older and new models.

That also means that you don’t need to try and get the most recent releases if you’re looking for a more effective vehicle. Even older Audi R8s still offer impressive performance, fuel efficiency, and other features of a high-performance vehicle.

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