BUYING A USED R8

Jonathon Parker from fast Audi specialist Redline Specialist Cars in Harrogate reckons an early R8 is a seriously good buy at present. “Look around the £37-38,000 mark and you can now buy some very nice cars,” he says. “However, I advise against getting one with an R Tronic gearbox. They wear out clutches fast and even if you don’t mind that, you have to lift off the accelerator between shifts if you’re to be at all smooth, in which case you might as well have a manual.” He says cars with R Tronic – an expensive option when new – will be hard to sell on, a fact likely to be reflected in residual values. Otherwise he’s heard no horror stories, even on high-mileage cars.

That said, watch for corrosion on the leading edge of the bonnet if stone chips are left unattended or poorly repaired (R8s are mainly aluminium but not entirely rotresistant). At the rear, that glass screen allows a great view of the engine but means that if the car is left outside, condensation on the inside of the screen can rain on the engine, causing unsightly but not structural corrosion.