We had two Nissan QX's one after the other and when the time came to let the second one go there was not much to replace it with except for a big Lexus. The chap I was part timing for already had a Lexus and I didn't want to match him.
Gwen asked me what I wanted and jokinghly said an A8 was the only car that could possibly suit. Within two weeks her and our son Craig began dragging me around Lancashire looking at private sales A8s. None of them matched the sales blurb by a mile.

In desperation Craig searched a dealer and found the D3 smoker that you all loved. Gwen just gave me the cash and said bring it home.


She was a good un, and SWMBO wasn't bad either.

I've owned only a couple of Audis but have the bug. As in my signature I started with an 80 coupe but it wasn't quattro and as only a 2litre not very quick. That led to a lovely purple S4 when my career got better and I was earning more money (and also still singlle!). The two things these had one common theme though... they both suffered from rust.

Roll forward a few years and I'm married with one child one the way, I still have the S4 and my wife has a Volvo V40. She can't manage the heavy clutch in mine and we also could do with a bigger car. Neither of us like the larger people carriers, my wife prefers saloon and I like fast Audis! I remembered the film Ronin with the brilliant car chase and I could only think of one car which fits this bill at our budget and which also wouldn't have a rust problem.

My wife loves the car especially being automatic and not having to wait too long at junctions wondering if she can pull out in the gap in traffic!

Roll on a few more years and we now have three children the youngest born last month and appropriately named Deirdre, although more a coincidence and not based on any film character!

Having had an 80 and 100 in the family, I always had a love for them. Prior to that, as a kid I never knew Audi existed! When the D2 concept came out at the motor show, I remember seeing it in it's mirror finish and I absolutely loved it and wanted one. The S8 then came along and it was one of those 'I will get one when I grow up' lol.

As time went on, D2 prices dropped and the S8 was getting closer to my budget. However, work changed and I had no need for a private car and so didn't buy one. When circumstances change again I was unable to buy one and bought an old W210 E Class estate as I needed a big boot. I kept looking through AutoTrader and was shocked how much D3 S8s had come down. Now the D3 with a V10 seemed like the one to have and I loved the look of it too, but couldn't afford one when my health went south. Fast forward a few years and the E Class was dying. One night I was browsing and saw my D3. It had the best spec I had seen for sale in about 2 years (bar one on the forum). I said to the wife lets go see it tomorrow, she couldn't see what the fuss was about. I loved it as soon as I saw it and went against my own rules of thinking with my heart rather than my head. That night I did some man maths and the next day we picked it up. She said you deserve it after all I had been through and agreed we should put some of our hard saved cash into it.

Now, she appreciated the car for what it is and even today (3 years on), we have not found a car with similar spec and being a facelift with sub 100k miles.

I had an Audi 100 back in the 80's. It was OK but a bit characterless so I let it go after a few months. Then along came an Audi 200 turbo that was looking for an owner at work. That was more fun but the torque steer was horrendous (Front wheel drive), so that went within a month or so.
Roll forward to 2008. Money being tight I was driving a 1995 Lexus LS400. What a car. Quiet, fast, fantastic audio, slippery seats and very limited legroom. It had one massive failing, so after its refusal to enjoy the sublime twisting roads of the Scottish Highlands I resolved to ditch it. But what to replace it with?

I favoured a Jaguar XJR or big Merc but one of my drinking companions suggested the Audi S8. Back in the 90's when Audi were pushing their new A8's I was handed a 3.7 for a long weekend to try against my then BMW 750iL. That was a fun weekend and I was left deeply impressed by the competence of Quatro. Admittedly he Beemer was a low target (LOL) but even so, the thought of that four wheel drive transmission putting down 360 horses was compelling.
Auto Trader turned up a 2002 S8, 70k'ish miles for around £4.2k. It had lived on the street and been thoroughly keyed and dented but otherwise mechanically sound.
I got the bodywork sorted and discovered I had a car full of character that ate the miles, loved bends and flattered my limited driving skills.

This car took me to my first A/S8 meet at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire where I met the other compelling benefit of owning an 8 :D

Nicely put Nick +++. I think there's something about the character of a car that (tends to...) attract matching personalities, which I'm finding more and more the case with my other cars and their owners. And the 8 is a "good bloke" (or lass +++) - as is the case, almost without exception, with the owners :D. I can't recall ever having seen an 8 driven badly - which is not the same as fast!

I'd had numerous cars over the years since gaining my licence in 1981 and had no particular favourite brand, despite working at a Ford dealership for a few years.

I bought an early S4 in the early 2001 and loved the quattro experience. The bloke I bought it from said "I know the perfect car for you" given that I'm 2 metres tall and not exactly an athlete. Fast forward a couple of years and I walk in to his showroom and he shows me the car he had in mind, an A8 4.2 QS in silver with black leather. I was hooked immediately.

Fast forward to 2014, drove down South to Harrogate to view IT's D3 S8, that V10 seduced me. She died due to a clown but I replaced her with a better one :)

Well, I had known The Laird a few years and he had got an A8 2.8 which i had admired for a while when he announced his intention to get an S8 which at 4.2 litres I thought was rather excessive. But when he'd got it and I had been for a few drives in the passenger seat i could see what he was getting at. So did SWMBO who thought the heated rear seats were the bees knees. About a year(?) later The Laird announced hi intention to buy a certain FE S8 but would need to sell the Ming Blue one first. At time he mentioned this we were having a few convivial drinks with our respective other halves at the local when SWMBO suddenly said "well, why dont YOU buy it" :love:.....and we are still together years later :ROFL:

Mine started because of my old man, I had a saab 9000 because he had one, then he changed it to a c5 a6 2.8 it was the basic spec but a lovely car, then out of no where he decided he wanted an a8, so we went to look a w reg 2.8 sport fwd in green, deal was done he part ex the a6, I got to drive the a8 and I always loved them, so it was only a matter time before I go one, maybe buying my d2 could of blew up in my face, but thanks to mikki it didn't, I love it more everytime I drive her

As David says, my first ‘8 was a crystal blue 2.7 QS which I traded in my diesel A6 avant with Ranger’s goal keeping coach. He lived in Ayrshire, and even the 2.8 was too thirsty for his daily commute. Then I went to a meet and saw, what was then, James’ S8 and fell in love!
But it wasn’t for sale at the time, so I went looking for a 4.2 or an S8. I bought, what is now David’s S8. And then James’ S8 came up for sale, David magically bought my first S8, allowing me to afford to buy James’.
And we’ve been together ever since (eight years or so, I think - I’ll check later).

My First venture into Audi's was in 2002 after a fit of anger at my local BMW dealership. Being a contractor in the construction industry had a M3 (E36) as a site to site runaround (pretty beaten up due to the work environment) and an E39 M5 (angel eyes) for 'days out'.

M3 due a service. Duly popped down to BMW, sunny day so wearing shorts and T shirt:cool:, parked up by entrance and wandered in...... Maybe it was the duds I was wearing or the M3 looking a little 'tired' but (cue the 'ghost town music') absolutely no recognition from the service reception staff at all. As time ticks by I was getting a little uncomfortable and had the feeling that I was as much interest to the 'BMW Dudes' as the "brown sticky smelly stuff" that could possibly be on ones shoe. A few ahemms later a glimmer of recognition, but the damage is done. Within the air of disinterested customer service from BMW I left with a hint of both embarrassment and annoyance:mad:.

Get home, vent my spleen to the Mrs and she suggests I jump straight into my shiny black M5 (same shorts and T shirt) and go back to said dealership. Arrived, parked in same spot (fortuitously), walked in and IMMEDIATELY greeted by same indifferent crew with happy smiley faces this time. Annoyance level still bubbling around DEFCON 2.5 I pointed out to the service manager (Technical Warranties and Testing - Dept) that I had been at the dealership 30mins before and was totally ignored, he feigned ignorance but had the same line of site to the parking spot my now shiny M5 is sat in. Explained that I was made to feel like an 'inconvenience' and vowed never to cross his threshold again (mind you my daily driver since 2014 have been BMW's so I didnt hold a grudge too long:ROFL:) - maybe its me but I find some dealerships a little 'up themselves'.

Anyway I digress and you are probably glazing over at this point.

Left BMW dealership and next door is AUDI! OK I may as well take a look. Parked out of site, wandered in and immediately greeted by a very helpful chap - Seems they used to have a professional 'greeting team' at this dealership. Told him my story, looked at said M5 and offered me a nice new shiny A6 Avant 2.7T and a 2000 TT for the missus! Now I do not know who got the better of that deal but the Avant handled everything I threw at it - it even cleaned up well for the weekends. Yes it was not an animal like the M5 but as soon as I sat in it I was hooked.

Oh the A8's? Well on my 2nd visit for a service I am sat in the reception, looking through the glass onto the forecourt there is the best looking backside I have seen on a car, it was a 2002 A8 in for service. After that all I could see (although fairly rarely) was D2 backsides which I managed to differentiate from the A6 of the time quite well;). Always fancied one but the Avant was too practical. The image though, like Raquel Welch in 1 million years BC, stayed with me.

Forward to 2008 and I am project managing in the UAE. I am driving a Chevy Tahoe, managed to ditch it one day. The repair shop put me in an "sorry its old sir" 2002 A8 4.2QS and I now got the chance to thoroughly enjoy the car from the inside. I had to be pried out of that car when the Tahoe was fixed. Projects over, returning to the UK in 2009 and decided that I needed an A8. Much searching turned up a car that is still very much alive and on these forums (but didnt like the internal colour) but subsequently lead to a buddy of mine putting me in touch with a guy who was retiring from his taxi business and letting his daily driver go. This car is still with me today, has spent a lot of its time on the drive in various stages of 'fettling'. Came close to getting rid a few times but it saved me during the first lockdown of 2020:love:. It is now a slow 'working' project and keeping me sane.

And in another twist I bought another 2.8QS as a donor car only to decide it was too good to break. So now I have two in various states of repair!