[Dezzy]

If you're after a real nice one that’s been sorted then spend your time looking and be prepared to travel for it, and to travel to be disappointed. You’ll want to up your budget as the perfect car with all options that someone has spent time and money on and as late as you want you’ll be lucky to find for 2.5k

I took a punt on my 8, after looking at one other that was local to me and realising it was a nail I walked away jumped into my car and drove 2 hours up the road, had a good look round it with the audipages guide and decided I have a go, I gave less than 2k for it 60k miles ago she’s a bit rough around the edges and would have the purists running away from it, but I park it where I want, stones pinging off the front of it on the motorway don’t make me want to cry, I’m not too frightened to have a look at any issues myself with no history to keep up to date, and I’m never going to lose more than 2k on it. But then it's never going to be a show car or something that draws attention but that suits me.

As for running costs of 2.8 v 3.7 or 4.2 you can’t really buy the biggest Audi they make and wonder why it’s ****e on fuel. It’s ****e on fuel full stop the end. Do you gas it do you find one gassed? If this is a huge issue then spend the 1k you’d pay for gas and buy a derv corsa or similar instead drive that ****e around for fuel economy and then just go back to realising why you bought the 8 in the first place.

A friend has a derv Golf, he rode with me to work and back home around 400 miles I put £100 a week in the tank, he went on to tell me that he could drive up and back twice on that, but then he has to sit in a Golf, clattering away road and tyre noise, seats that I’m sure I took out my Land Rover, plastics creaking and rattling, I could go on but it’s probably alright for running around town in, to the shop but it’s not a car that puts a smile on your face or urges you to keep driving it. Sitting in a car for 3 hour solid I’d rather spend the extra few bucks and ride in a bit of comfort get out the other end not feeling like you’ve been beaten up.

A lot of it comes down to luck doesn’t it? You could find a car with low mileage full service history been garaged and loved, but it still might throw something costly at you or it might not.