any Audi A3 owners on here?

[kiggles]

Hi anyone on this forum owned an Audi A3 petrol or a desiel?


since having ANOTHER bike accident and breaking me collar bone, and trashing another bike think its time to update my car.

I want to get a small 5 door car with tow bar and Audi A3 pretty much my choice of car. anyone got bad/good reviews on them? I am looking at either a 1.6 petrol or the 2.0 desiel 5 door.

insurance for my fiat punto is £416 comp and for the Audi its £600 comp and i rather drive the audi

[Falconbobb]

Had an 86 cs5000 quattro turbo. Put 252,000 miles on it before i sold it. Loved/ hated. It did EVERYTHING right except let you keep your wallet closed. When i sold it the only thing that did not work was the heater in the driver seat. Sold 10 yrs ago for $4000.00 orignial clutch and turbo, absolutely no engine, clutch, trans, or driveline problems just nickeled and dimed its way to $11,000 in reciepts on little things. Audi / porsche are VERY proud of their parts.... Would i buy another audi ? Yea i think im in better financial shape to own one now. By the way no other mechanic touched this car but me from 80,000 miles till i sold at 252,000.
Currently own 3 ford explorers 1 ive had for 12 yrs put 178,000 miles on with NO expense except spk plugs, shocks, ball joints thats all. Kinda skews my view on german engineering.

[Wideboy]

Its just a re-badged golf.

[punyXpress]

Its just a re-badged golf/Skoda/Seat?.
Welcome to the real world.

[Luckypants]

I guess the question is which model year are you looking at? The brand spankers are quite different to 5 year old cars.

[L3nny]

Get the 3.2 V6 I have the same engine in my TT and it's a beauty. In A3 mode they are a real bargain.

Expect under 25 Mpg though, but the smiles make up for it :)

[Nobbylad]

I had a 59 plate 1.6 diesel....worst car I've ever had. Under-powered and low specc'd.

Luckily, I only had to stick with it for 3 years (company lease car).

I drove newer versions with bigger engines when mine was being serviced, they were better, but I still didn't get on with them. Space is limited too.

[Haircut]

It could depend on the age gar you are looking at the new A3 Sport back (2013-) onwards is much better for space then the old as it has an extended floorpan, the 2.0 Diesel is nice to drive plenty of poke and you can get very good mpg as well.

[Luckypants]

<snip> low specc'd. <snip>This is what I've found recently. I'm looking at a company lease car and was surprised how low the lease payments were on an A3 sportback, they were similar to a Golf estate. Then I looked at what you get for your money and you need to really raid the options list to get the same spec as a Golf and that puts the price up A LOT. The A3 has the same chassis/engine/transmission as the current Golf/Octavia/Leon so if you like the way it drives look at those for better VFM in my opinion. The Golf is very well spec'd and has a nice interior. I'm now tending towards the new SEAT Leon because of bang for buck factor of toys given that the mechanicals are the same as a Golf / A3.

[Red Herring]

What Luckypants said. We went for the Fabia diesel as we didn't need a big car. If you do look at diesels try and get the older 1.9td rather than the new 1.6 version. We bought a 10 plate 1.6 but had no end of issues with the DPF and the way it made it drive, in the end we swopped it for an 09 plate 1.9 and it is miles better (both metaphorically and literally, like we get 60+ mpg now against under 50 from the 1.6)

[andrewsmith]

What Luckypants said. We went for the Fabia diesel as we didn't need a big car. If you do look at diesels try and get the older 1.9td rather than the new 1.6 version. We bought a 10 plate 1.6 but had no end of issues with the DPF and the way it made it drive, in the end we swopped it for an 09 plate 1.9 and it is miles better (both metaphorically and literally, like we get 60+ mpg now against under 50 from the 1.6)

Your the second person that I know of that happening to. The one was 50 miles on the clock and it fell apart.

Depends on the budget. But I'd go for the equivalent Skoda or Seat as the spec is a lot better and cheaper. Old man went for the Seat Leon on a 63 plate as the same age golf with double the miles was about £3k more

Talking new (I know this through contractors and a friend ). The top spec Skoda Octavia diesel (non VRS or 4x4) is the same price as a low spec Golf estate and base spec A3 sporthatch

[kiggles]

okay so I am definitely going to get a 1.9 or a 2.0 diesel. but what milage is too much? i dont particularly want to spend more then £4000 and more realisitcally more around £2500 - £3500 at the low end.

would buying a £2500 diesel with 190,000 miles on the clock bad idea? Audi A3 2.0 FDI sport 2005 model 5 door version. I not a driving person just be nice to have a nicer interior/ exterior then a 2000 reg punto mk1. After all for £4000 i might as well go buy a 2008 honda fireblade with 4000 miles on the clock!!!!!!


I want to minimise my loss in value in the car but still get probably a good 30-40 miles out of it. I plan to replace the following service parts:

- brakes pads and discs
- oils and filters
- and if its bad the clutch and any bearings that are easy to get to that might cause issues. but like i said i plan to keep the car 3 years and spending double the money on the same car for a lower millage seems a bit stupid

[Essex of Essex]

I had a 5 door and now run a cabriolet, both with the 2.0 diesel, they drive well and give excellent fuel consumption I like them a great deal.

[cb1000rsteve]

IMO audis etc aren't worth the extra money. A few blokes in work have them and although they look nice on the out side inside they are basically a ford popular spec!!! My focus ghia has better spec and cost a 10th of the price of there's (there's are 09 and 10 plates). the new family car zafira tourer is fully loaded with every extra and cost £14k. You couldn't buy a basic german people carrier on the same year with base spec never mind all the extras comforts!!
Car sales teams have pulled a blinder and have brain washed everyone into thinking a certain type car gives you status, respect etc etc. To me they just say they decided to take a bigger loan out

[rowdy]

okay so I am definitely going to get a 1.9 or a 2.0 diesel. but what milage is too much? i dont particularly want to spend more then £4000 and more realisitcally more around £2500 - £3500 at the low end.

would buying a £2500 diesel with 190,000 miles on the clock bad idea? Audi A3 2.0 FDI sport 2005 model 5 door version. I not a driving person just be nice to have a nicer interior/ exterior then a 2000 reg punto mk1. After all for £4000 i might as well go buy a 2008 honda fireblade with 4000 miles on the clock!!!!!!


I want to minimise my loss in value in the car but still get probably a good 30-40 miles out of it. I plan to replace the following service parts:

- brakes pads and discs
- oils and filters
- and if its bad the clutch and any bearings that are easy to get to that might cause issues. but like i said i plan to keep the car 3 years and spending double the money on the same car for a lower millage seems a bit stupid
Bad idea. Firstly, steer clear of the 2 litre diesel, the 1.9pd unit is far better when it comes to reliability. I would be worried at 190k, your looking at knackered fuel injectors, diesel pumps, dual mass flywheel. Any one of that lot and you could be looking at near four figure bill to put right.
Being an Audi, the electrics will not be all they are cracked up to be.
Seriously, look at a seat Leon 1.9diesel if you really must go VAG and diesel.
The second generation Leon used exactly the same dashboard as first gen a3, you will get a lot more spec, newer, less miles than you will for the same money, and it is for all intents and purposes the same car albeit with a different body shell.

[L3nny]

IMO audis etc aren't worth the extra money. A few blokes in work have them and although they look nice on the out side inside they are basically a ford popular spec!!! My focus ghia has better spec and cost a 10th of the price of there's (there's are 09 and 10 plates). the new family car zafira tourer is fully loaded with every extra and cost £14k. You couldn't buy a basic german people carrier on the same year with base spec never mind all the extras comforts!!
Car sales teams have pulled a blinder and have brain washed everyone into thinking a certain type car gives you status, respect etc etc. To me they just say they decided to take a bigger loan out

Totally agree with that, although I now own an Audi it's reletavily well specced and a proper sports car (even though it has a Golf chassis)

Before that I owned a 2006 BMW 3 Series, that had a worse spec than the 2000 Peugeot 306 D-Turbo I owned a few years before it. It wasn't even that nice to drive.

Japanese cars are the way forward, they have very little in the way of options.

[Heorot]

What length are your journeys going to be? Diesels use more fuel when cold because of increased friction inside the engine. Short trips are also bad for economy because of start/stops. Those are really bad for economy.

[Heorot]

I agree with L3nny. Japanese all the way. I bought my first Jap car, a Nissan Silvia in 1987. It never went wrong. Since then I have had a further 3, two Nissan 200SX's and currently a '98 Subaru Impreza Turbo bought new in 1998. Nothing went wrong with any of them apart from needing a replacement starter motor on the Subaru when it was 15 years old. All these cars are, or were, high performance for their time.

[rowdy]

I agree with L3nny. Japanese all the way. I bought my first Jap car, a Nissan Silvia in 1987. It never went wrong. Since then I have had a further 3, two Nissan 200SX's and currently a '98 Subaru Impreza Turbo bought new in 1998. Nothing went wrong with any of them apart from needing a replacement starter motor on the Subaru when it was 15 years old. All these cars are, or were, high performance for their time.

Agreed, we've had our '03 impreza wrx for seven years and are loathe to get rid of it. Only needed a new rad and top hose in that time (touch wood!). . . Oh and a new battery.

[Heorot]

The problem with owning an Impreza is that anything else for the money is second best for day to day driving. That's why I still have mine and its 16 years old.

[rowdy]

The problem with owning an Impreza is that anything else for the money is second best for day to day driving. That's why I still have mine and its 16 years old.

Yep, that's why we still have ours, and the newer ones are shyte.

[Heorot]

You can still get a '98 model like mine for under £1500. A great buy if you can afford the petrol. Insurance on mine fully comp with Aviva is only £225.00. But I am old.

[rowdy]

Yeh we were offered £1500 as a trade in against a 57 plate gb270. Needless to say they could go swivel for that.
A lot of people will tell you a subaru is expensive to run. Yes, dealer prices and servicing is steep, but if you are buying a car for 2500-3500, I doubt you would visit main dealer. Fuel consumption, calculated over a week using it to commute to and from work and for social purposes, not caning it everywhere but not going slow either, 29 to the gallon. Fully comp insurance with direct line, £190 (38 year old). The lack of things going wrong probably makes it the cheapest car I've ever had to run.

[L3nny]

You lot are making me want to buy an old Impreza now

[kiggles]

took one for test drive today i liked it but yeah i guess i could look else where for a better car mehh

[rowdy]

Model, spec, mileage etc?

[Heorot]

Mine hasn't seen a main dealer since the factory warranty ran out after 3 years. I'm lucky that we have an old fashioned garage in the village and the owners actually race Evo's. All the locals with high performance cars take them there.

[kiggles]

was 2005 190k milage. not interested in that car but i liked the way it drived and features its got. but £4000 for a good condition one with 100k? think will keep my 2000 reg punto mk1 with 80k for that price

[nikon70]

Audi A3 1.9 TDi !! Had it for 18months good car! Shame I had to give it back :(

Glad you all mended now mate.

[EssexDave]

Mother has an A3 diesel; something like the 1.9 tdi. Just had an issue with something in the fuel system that apparently needs replacing around 70-80,000 miles (and occasionally earlier). Total cost for part and fitment at Audi garage is £1,900.