2009 Audi R8 V10

Our latest auction is for a left-hand-drive but UK-registered Audi R8 V10. Built in 2009 and imported from the UAE in late 2017 by the car’s first diplomat owner, the vendor purchased it in May 2019 in order to commute between his home in France and his business interests in the UK, making him only the car’s second owner.

Finished in Phantom Black, it is also fitted with Carbon Sigma side blades and interior. In his care for the past year, it has a full Audi service history and is still only showing just over 18,000 miles on the clock.

The owner is a dyed-in-the-wool petrolhead who buys cars on a whim when he sees something he fancies. He’s loved his time with the Audi but has discovered that rural France, where he’s made his home, is one of the very few environments where the R8 isn’t entirely comfortable and he’s simply finding that he isn’t using it as much as he thought as a result.

A realist, he doesn’t buy his cars with the intention of making money and so has set a very realistic reserve price in the hope his much-loved R8 will find a new enthusiast owner.

Finished in classic Phantom Black, the R8’s bodywork is commensurate with its age and condition i.e. there’s not a lot to say other than it still looks utterly wonderful and shows only a very few, very minor stonechips to mar an otherwise immaculate finish.

So, as you can see, the flanks are straight and free of ripples, the door openings and shutlines could have been laser-etched, and the general fit ‘n’ finish is every bit as good as Audi’s reputation suggests it should be.

The Carbon Sigma side blade pack looks terrific, as well it might considering it cost the car’s first owner the equivalent of £1,530. The same can be said of the LED headlights, which were a hefty £2,860.

The 19-inch, double-arm, five-spoke alloy wheels look magnificent but the front pair are lightly scuffed. Better news comes with the Pirelli P-Zero tyres, which we are told that the tyres were new in 2018 and 13,991 miles.

They still show very good tread depths and, as we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Problems? Well, we can see the new owner might want to get the front wheels refurbished but other than that the car needs nothing.

The extraordinarily plush, ergonomic and well-fitting interior (and that’s not something you can write about all of its contemporaries…) features the extended black Nappa leather option with carbonfibre trim to the dashboard and doors. No-one, but no-one, does interiors like Audi and this is up there with the very best of ‘em.

Nor is it all show and no go because it, like the exterior, is still almost as new and shows only light creasing and minor colour loss to the edge of the driver’s seat. Everything works too, but then that goes without saying, doesn’t it?

And that would be the end of the interior section but for the fact that (luckily) the list of optional extras that have been fitted is extensive and includes heated front seats (£280) with coloured stitching (£275) to the extended Nappa leather (£2,555).

It’s also got cruise control (£220), Hill Hold Assist (£80), Audi’s Advanced Parking System (£1,275), a Bang & Olufsen stereo (£1,225) and a CD autochanger (£325), a tyre pressure monitoring system (£275), the storage package (£195) and the light and rain sensor package (£485). All-in-all, the total cost of the extras, inside and out, came to £11,580.

It is also fitted with a Meta Trak 5 tracker system which needs it’s subscription renewing.

The front ‘boot’ is very clean and home to the toolkit, tyre inflator and first-aid kit, all of which look to be unused.

Problems seem to be limited to the sat-nav system, which still has its UAE mapping. A set of European DVD discs are included but they will need to be installed by an Audi dealer.

The R8 was last serviced in August 2018 by Jack Barclay in London at 13,991 miles. A health check was carried out at the same time and, as you can see, the car was given the all clear.

Previous services were carried out at 7,000, 8,000, 10,000, 12,000 and 14,000 miles, and both the service handbook and dealer invoices substantiate this.

However, the service light came on the day before the owner left France to bring the car to us, so he hasn’t had time to get that done, but having only done just over 4,000 miles since its previous service its hardly in desperate need and something for the new owner to arrange in time.

The Audi’s MOT certificate expires in September 2020 and the online history shows it has passed all of its MOTs without any advisories.

The R8 also comes with a sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years Including a recent full health check.

It also still has its original owner’s handbook, its OE book pack, the stamped service history booklet and storage wallet, and the two keys.

NB: Some of the R8’s paperwork incorrectly shows its odometer readings as miles when it should have been recorded as kilometres. Some also show it as being fitted with a V8 engine when it actually has, and always has had, a V10 engine fitted. The service book with the car has the original build sticker as part of the warranty which shows the build date, chassis number and engine size correctly. We assume that the UAE authorities have made a mistake when they registered it, a mistake repeated by DVLA here when it was re-registered into the UK.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very good standard.

If you’d like to inspect the car prior to placing a bid – something we would encourage – then please use the Contact Seller button to arrange an appointment.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so if you’d rather not come to see the car in person, please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on.

Or, even better, why not contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call? You get to direct us in real-time, giving you a virtual personal viewing experience while maintaining the lockdown. We like to call it ‘The Market’s 2020 Vision’…

The Audi R8 is a more accessible – and probably more reliable - version of the Lamborghini Gallardo. A genuine supercar in a discreet suit, it dispenses empty autobahns with the same aplomb it navigates cluttered city streets. Utterly untemperamental, many have come to the conclusion that it’s a bit, well, boring.

They’re idiots.

When a driver of Jacky Ickx’s talent calls it “the best handling road car today” you know you are in the presence of something very special indeed; as we heard so often on the American reality show Cops, you shouldn’t mistake the R8’s kindness for weakness.

If this were a right-hand-drive example we’d be suggesting a guide price that starts with a six. But, it’s not and with European travel likely to remain problematic for some time we think the final bid on this one will end with a four, albeit a high one.

And that is astonishing value for a car that can lap faster than almost anything else for the same money, yet be passive enough for your dear old mum to drive it home.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.