Oh, man..this is a loong-winded reply even for me
But the topic covers a lot of stuff I take interest in.
uniquedetailing said:
It was a joke, but that went down like a lead ballon.......what statement am I making turning up in that vehicle?
Noting that I simply *love* my V8/A8/S8 Audis...the A8 cars do make a statement, and different generations of 'em make different statements. And the black color is a whole 'nother topic in itself.
Last part first- big, dark (especially black) sedans make a "I'm special, and you're not" impression, I mean..."black car" is an actual, industry term! And sometimes, to some people, they also make a vaguely "sinister" impression. Note the scare-quotes, but it's true, especially with certain demographics/ethnicities. When bad people show up in leather trenchcoats and sunglasses at o-dark-hundred, they're often in cars like that; ever watch people from Eastern Europe when they see a car like this cruise by slowly? Just the way it is. Heh heh, why you ya think Mercury Marauders and Impala SSs were mostly sold in black
Big black sedans say "BAD-@$$ guys inside". Big black european luxo sedans also say that those bad guys have money.
A8s in particular- These were originally very expensive cars, and the post-'05 (think that's right) ones all pretty much look the same to most non-car-nuts. So it looks like a pricey car, meaning you look like you have money.
And you'd better *have* money if you own one. Mine cost me thousands on a regular basis, and my Service Manager says I'm really fortunate that I didn't fall in love with the later ones because they're "many times worse". All the techno-whiz-bang features are apparently simply a nightmare to keep working right, and that includes the suspensions. I'm told my D2-series cars are stone-age simple by comparison.
And no, you can't do it all yourself unless you have the dealership's electronic gizmos. Some stuff, sure, but not everything. And I'd hate to *not* be on best-pals basis with the dealership guys
And yeah, only select Audi dealers are authorized to work on these cars, both mechanically (the last local Audi dealer in my area was simply prohibited from working on them period) and, as mentioned, especially with regard to the aluminum body panels. They really do tell owners that certain body repairs mean shipping the car out of state, and that's that.
Having had ours bent a few times, I can say that a) yeah, they're safe in accidents, and b) a big part of that is because the car absorbs the damage so your body doesn't. Aluminum folds up pretty easily, and you don't fix it, you replace it. Or rather, the authorized Audi dealer's bodyshop does.
On the "use for detailing" side, those cars were made for luxurious travel, generally for long distances. They weren't made to haul tools/equipment around. Using one for that might make you look..eh, how to say this, especially without sounding nasty :think: ... well, it could look weird. Heh heh, we don't drive ours when the situation cars for jeans and a t-shirt, we take a "less formal" car for stuff like that.
My choice for your application? A R-series Benz. I honestly think that'd be the best vehicle for what I think you're after, even though it does look like a minivan that won the genetic lottery. But eh, I simply love wagons and I love my Audi dealer, so I'd probably buy an S4/S6 Avant.
