1998 Audi A8 Quattro review from North America

Passenger's airbag fired during an accident when I was the only occupant DRIVER and no parcel on the passenger's seat. The lock out for no passenger no airbag deployment did not work. The driver's bag did not fire and considering the impact I'm surprised it did not.

The car was taken in for its first service after 18 months (5800 miles) with an intermittant remote control problem. The car has been in twice for a total of twenty three days and there are no clues when it will be ready. Dealer service has been unpleasant and not of high quality.

Audi and I are engaged in an enthusiastic discussion concerning the air bag issues, safety, and two areas of rear vision difficulty. The head rests for the rear seat obstruct vision directly to the rear and the passenger's outside mirror was deprived of growth hormone and is a very small and ineffectual mirror assemby. Audi and the dealership want over $400 USD to install a 1991/2 mirror assembly that has at least 100% greater field of vision than the original. The driver's mirror is marginal. When driving I do not remember owning a car with as many driver blind spots in rear vision as the A8. The sad part is that both the mirror, head rest and very fat C pillers could have been changed in the early to mid 1990s. Audi needs to look at the S class and Lexus 400s to see how to do rear head rests correctly. OR LOOK at their own 1991/2 A4 with head rests for the rear seat that can be lowered into a recess in the top of the rear seat. The A4's rear vision is not bad with new mirrors and modified head rests.