Second-Hand Sense: Once they were a rare sight but now they seem to occupy every bus lane in the capital. One wonders at the enormity of the fuel bill being run up by the fleet of some 40 Audi A8s that has been imported to meet the needs of heads of state, ministers and functionaries as they shuttle hither and thither, ushered by gardaí and incurring the wrath of the mile-per-hour Dublin motorist on a daily basis.
The A8 may not, therefore, be enjoying the positive limelight Audi intended when it decided to become the EU's fleet manager in Ireland. However, do try to think of the car rather than the inconvenience when next you see one, because the A8 is indeed an exotic creature.
Now 10-years-old, it was designed and built as the car that would bring Audi to the top of the heap when it came to competing with the old arch-enemies, such as Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar. Even today a second-hand A8 commands a hefty asking price. A year 2000 2.8 petrol model with 30,000 on the clock has an asking price of €38,950 and a 2003 model with the beast of a 4.2 petrol engine and 13,000 on the clock has a tag of €115,000.
A new 3.0 litre V6 version with 220 horse power would be a far better bet at 87,400 and you might only need to re-fuel two or three times on a hard day's driving to West Cork.
The A8 is a big luxury car that is fast, comfortable and exudes a rather powerful image. But it is not a BMW or a Jaguar and indeed the newer versions of these cars tend to make the A8 a rather dated looking car. The early versions did not have a good suspension set up and the car tended to wander a bit. All those technical safety innovations, however, made one feel very safe indeed.
A recent facelift in 2002 gave the interior more character because the original left one feeling like a visitor to a great cathedral, small and listening to bouncing echoes. Unlike BMW, Audi has a simpler system for using the various available functions and the touch screen system is relatively straightforward. But the original A8s never really invited intimacy. It was a bit like driving a car whose technology would take over if your driving was not up to scratch - and in a sense that it what it did with EBD and ESP.
If you're the kind of person who likes to make a big statement with a car then the A8 will make it for you, but it may not be the kind of statement you intended. For a start, many people will have to be told what kind of car it is! But if you just want a superbly comfortable car with everything loaded then the A8 might make good second-hand sense. Economically, however, it is a very expensive car to run - whatever way you look at it.
And for all its 21st century technology, the aluminium body will not allow you to stick indispensable magnetic fishing rod holders to the roof ! Trust me.