Not to pick holes in what Richard said, but the £399 I quoted is for the 60K service, 10 spark plugs, filters and a small OPEC countries daily output of oil

19.2MPG WOW and how??
I wasn't getting that in my ''not proper'' as they say V8.

For me it balances between 9-11MPG and I'm very satisfied with the figures +++

If you are thinking about S8 because of its performance and little extras you wont get on other 8s, but MPGs are equally important then buying one would be a mistake and you wouldn't enjoy it to the full potential as MPGs will always hold you back.
It's like buying an Aventador where 5-6th gear is where you want to be around the town +++

Maintenance
This is so difficult to estimate. For example in one week full service plus few extra bits came to £2800 ish so there you go, don't buy a car you will work for from 1st to 1st each month.

Lots of good advice on here.

It will ruin your enjoyment of the V10 if you're constantly trying to get mid 20's off the trip computer, but likewise if you want something a bit special and sporty, then the sootchucker could leave you equally unhappy.

I work from home a lot, so my main journeys are 2/3 hours of motorway with a bit of B road either side.

Every V10 I've had (even the RS6) was hitting 20 for that journey.

However, the 'problem' with the V10 is that it really is a joy to drive. Sounds great too. It will make you want to drive it harder, and if you're not doing mainly motorway miles, then your MPG will suffer.

The 4.2 Tdi (avoid the 4.0) is a superb all rounder and once above 5 mph it'll show tail lights to most things, but with big blocks and turbos comes turbo lag and along with its nose heavy weight distribution makes it feel far less sporty than the nicely balanced S8. But it will do high 30's on MPG which for many makes that lag all worth while.

The D4 is an interesting beast. Its the most comfortable, refined, highest quality A8 ever built, but unfortunately they have virtually eliminated any sort of sporty feedback that would make it 'fun' to drive. I can do hundreds of miles in one and arrive fresher and more relaxed than I set off, but I found little grin factor behind the wheel.

The D4 is more about spec than any of its older siblings. Lower spec examples of the 3.0 Tdi are getting cheap - because nobody really wants them, and although its a good car, its a shadow of what you could have spec wise for a few pennies more. There is a bit of a surplus of lower spec D4's around, pushing the values down, and D5 due shortly, so be prepared for heavy depreciation if you go down the D4 route.

They say its better to have loved and lost, than never loved. The S8's have very good residuals at present. If you played your cards right, you should be able to hoover one up and run it for 6 months with little servicing and depreciation. Xmas is coming, cars get cheaper in Winter and pick up again in summer.

'S' cars always hold their value better than 'A's - Factor that into your man maths and get one bought +++

Hi There,

1781cc - What are you using for all that data etc???

Having a read through this is interesting. I started with a facelift D2 S8 and loved it, alas it died at 230K after 3 years and 100K with me. It had a prins LPG kit and was a GREAT car. I got ~18MPG on it and LPG made it about 30 equivolent.
I had a cheap PF S8 for about 5K miles as alas it developed a gearbox fault, so not much data, though was just petrol, so 15-20

I've now got a D3 A8 4.2 petrol. On paper it's 0-60 is a touch better than the D2 S8, though I swear it doesn't feel like it or surprise passengers pinning them into the seat if you "accidentally" hit the loud pedal too hard. It's effortless to whatever speed you choose and probably is quick. It just doesn't feel it like my old S8. It's pretty good off the lights and most things disappear in the rear view mirror quickly, just no lurch, more a zoom.

Between this and the 4.2TDI that i was also considering, given ians comments, I think the petrol probably suits me better. I'd have liked a V10 D3 S8 and they were dangerously affordable, however i wasn't sure about LPG on them (may be possible, but...) and I went the "sensible" route.....Maybe next time ;)

The V10, like most petrols now is FSI. Prins have supposedly got an LPG kit that will work with FSI engines, but not sure how good it is, if there are downsides or whether it would work well on the V10. A D3 S8 on LPG would be lovely, but it speaks volumes that I've never, ever seen one....

I'm a big fan of LPG, and now more than ever, it makes sense as there is a good 60 pence per litre cost difference. My gut feel though is that LPG fuelling as a solution is in decline. I don't see very many modern cars at all being converted, and as old ones are scrapped, the business for the stations is in decline.

I also can't recall any new LPG stations for some time, and in fact one of my local ones the tank was damaged during floods and they elected not to bother fixing it and removed the pump.

I also agree that whilst the D3 4.2 on paper is faster than the S8, it doesn't feel it. Its the short gearing on the S8 that gives it the urgency and the A8 is just not set up for that. It is no slouch though, and the V8 sounds lovely.

The D3 W12 is the last big Audi engine that is relatively easy to gas convert, but that lump comes with its own servicing issues that I'm sure can only be compounded by installing yet more kit under the hood....

Its an app called Road Trip HD - you can get a free iPhone version but its fairly basic, does the job of tracking fuel,, but I bought the iPad one and can track the lot, business mileage trips, backup to dropbox, etc

You can use fuelly online for free though.

Android user here...dammit!

try this: http://www.fuelly.com