Not the greatest of mornings
 

Got the front lower grille/bumper trim caught on a high carpark kerb this morning :-(

I heard the scraping sound as I reversed out but thought it was nothing more than that - scraping. It was only when I saw the front of the car after parking it in the multi-storey near work that I saw the damage. Missing lower foglight grilles and the drivers side hanging off.

I went to leave the car park straight away but I'd dropped the ticket when looking at the damage and it had blown under a parked car. Cue frantic dash to ticket booth for a replacement ticket and a hectic drive back to the car park to retrieve the missing grille pieces.

Luckily I've managed to pop it all back in place but it's not as perfect as it once was. Today's lesson is; Don't underestimate how long the bonnet overhang is.

Devastated for you fella, it's a common occurrence mind, you're not the first and won't be the last

Good job you recovered the grilles mind, they're expensive to replace and second hand items are very rare so I believe.

I've never done this in any other car I've owned, but then none have been as large as an A8. I'm guess I'm going to have to be more aware of the size of the thing.

Yeah, the thought of losing the rare & expensive grille pieces were what prompted me to race back to fetch them! There are two on ebay this morning at an eye-watering £104 each.

I've just had another look and it's not that bad - in fact you can't tell. I've been lucky as it popped back into place with some shoving and swearing. I feel awful as I've only had the car a few days. What a klutz.

Having done that a few times over the years (12 now!) of S8 ownership I soon learned to reverse into parking bays, especially in the dark.

As for multi-storey car parks, I just never use them.

Yep, backwards it is from now on - good idea.

The multi-storey wasn't the problem; it was in a Co-op carpark 30 seconds from my house that it happened. I only popped in to get some teabags and milk for the office…

since when could office boys afford A8's ?

I run a company, I figure I can run an S8 +++

I've done the same, and at £100'ish a pop you can understand why there's a demand for the grills.
I eventually fixed mine in place with cable ties.