High miler S3s

[monty77]

Morning all,

Currently shopping for an S3, as a lot of people seem to be, and seen a few highish mileage examples about for what seems like very reasonable money. I'm talking ~100k mark. Now I've owned a car with the 1.8T lump before (Ibiza Cupra) and certainly in my ownership it was very reliable indeed but how does the engine, and other mechanical bits & pieces, on the S3 take high mileage? Are we talking major bills after 80k? Or do they cope very well?

For example:

What's about the average life of a clutch? Expensive to replace? What other big jobs are there?

Maintenance bills dont scare me too much, I drive a Fiat Coupe 20VT+ at the moment after all, but like to know what I may be getting myself into /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Cheers,
Adam

 

[h3msy]

Monty77,
I have a chipped S3 with 60K on the clock - Just recently the clutch started slipping.
I took it to a specialist and they said 8 hour job, £280+vat for labour + part from Audi (said they wouldn't risk putting a cheaper clutch in with it being an S3) The clutch was £190 + release bearing at about £20 (all +vat)
£575 in Total compared to £780 from local Audi Stealer.

Now unfortunately, there seems to be a flywheel problem with S3's and mine too was nacked - This added another £525 to the bill. £1,100 in Total /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked2.gif

I have now taken out an AA warranty incase of any engine/turbo/gearbox/haldex problems.... £220 for the year.

Everything else on the seems fine, no rattles, creaks or anything

Hope this helps mate

 

[jediknight]

will a warrenty cover a car that is chipped though?

 

[monty77]

Sounds ok to me... couple of years parts and labour cover with AA for a bit of peace of mind would only add £200 to that.

Adam

 

[trekbiker]

AA warranty more than that surely? Audi want about £550 for a year!

 

[monty77]

[ QUOTE ]
trekbiker said:
AA warranty more than that surely? Audi want about £550 for a year!

[/ QUOTE ]

https://www.aamembership.co.uk/breakdowncover/join/parts_labour.asp

Probably not as comprehensive as the Audi cover but should give peace of mind for the larger bills - read the T&C though. Clutch, for example, would seem to be covered.

Adam

 

[trekbiker]

It seems fairly basic, and the max for 1 claim is £1k, this may not be enough if something major did go. The S3 i just bought is under manu wty until Jan, then i will probably extend for 12 m, think this is about £550 as mentioned before /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif

 

[monty77]

[ QUOTE ]
trekbiker said:
It seems fairly basic, and the max for 1 claim is £1k, this may not be enough if something major did go. The S3 i just bought is under manu wty until Jan, then i will probably extend for 12 m, think this is about £550 as mentioned before /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think a £1k repair for a car like the S3 is probably pretty rare but a good point nevertheless - it's a LOT cheaper than £550 though!

Adam

 

[imported_rob911]

Reading this scares me. Does no one actually work on their own cars today. I drive an old 85 Porsche 911. Wife has an A3 1.8TQ. I mentain both cars.
I reckon for every £1 spent on the Porsche - I spend £5 on the Audi. Parts for the Audi are shocking but prices can be reduced and almost halved by shopping around - motor factors, Eurocarparts etc.
A couple of prices quoted by main dealers made me stagger in amazement - thing was when quoted - they did not even flinch making me think overpricing was common practice.
A couple of jobs on the Audi that I could not carry out - I spoke to the dealers mechanic - he carried out the job no problem - 2 hours work - £40 cash in hand instead of £75 per hour & VAT!!!!!!

 

[h3msy]

The link above is to add parts and labour to your AA breakdown cover. I actually took out a Warranty, but as my mate with a TT mentioned it looks loke they have stopped selling them.
£220 for the year, £5000 per claim, as many claims in 1 year upto the value of the car. Also give you £25 per day towards a hire car for a week max, or will put you in a hotel for a night if you are away from home.
Covers more or less everything including replacement CAT if it fails MOT.
Got a few things needing doing so off to the dealers i go

 

[jimboA3]

AA parts n labour is a really good product to be fair !
Very reasonably priced ............



Not that i work for them or anythin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif

 

[monty77]

[ QUOTE ]
jimboA3 said:
AA parts n labour is a really good product to be fair !
Very reasonably priced ............



Not that i work for them or anythin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the biggest catch is that any claim has to start off with a breakdown call, so if it's just a light on the dash or some other intermittent problem then you wouldn't be in a position to claim.

Adam

 

[jimboA3]

True - you do have to start the claim with a breakdown call however - your car does not have to be "immobile" to call.

 

[jgrand]

If you're going to buy a high-miler (around 80k), make sure it's had the cam belt done as it is an expensive job. Just had mine done with an 80k service (I've done 73k) and it cost £750 at AmD!

 

[jesters3]

Arvo, just had mine serviced at 76K, no problems. However they mentioned that the bet doesn't need to be changed until 115,000 miles. Asa result I haven't had it changed, any body got any probs from not doing it?

 

[dbm]

115k is the officialy recommended change distance for the timing belt on my car too. If you are planning to keep the car that long then you might as well get the job done at 80k for the peace of mind. If the belt goes it will trash all the valves in your engine as I understand it.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[evotista]

Check out my thread on cambelts

http://www.audi-sport.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=1,10,15,105,200,900,1000&Board=a3s3&Number=100746&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

JesterS3

If your car is an s3 on an 02 plate (your profile)then whoever serviced it is getting confused (and frankly who can blame them). Manufacturing Year 2001 (ie Aug 2000 production and beyond) S3s shold have cambelt replaced at 80k MAX! Whatever you do don't leave it..and make sure you ASK to have the water pump done at the same time. Price is a lottery...shop around the dealers if still under warranty....or have a day trip to Listers in Worcester who were the cheapest in my research out of the offical dealers

Martin

 

[jesters3]

Nice skills, cheers for that. Very intersting the fluctuation in hours and as a result the overall price, I must commend you on your reasearch. Fortunatley the car is still under warranty, the S3 is an 02 plate and the service guy was surprised as well so suggested to come back in and get it done when I need the brakes changed in a 6k miles. it will then bring it within the 80K bracket so hopefully should be inorder. I'll tap up my local stealer to see what the quote it at.

Cheers all.