Thinking of trading in the Audi A3 8P For an S3 8L

chris.vincent3

chris.vincent3

Own a BMW now, HOWEVER I still own VCDS!
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Hi, after a lot of thought I think it would be a lot easier on my wallet if I swapped my Audi A3 8P 2.0 TDI 140 sport in for an S3 8L, as money I would get my way would take off a year of payments and not to mention the interest on the loan I got for the 8P.

So, my first protocol was to ring my insurance company and see what the insurance was like to swap over, baring in mind it runs out in April, however they where unable to provide a quote on the car, nothing personal to me, just wouldn't insure the car?

So, I was recommended Adrian Flux by a friend who is the same age as me with one less NCB who owns an Audi TT 225 Quattro, so surely they could provide me with a quote, atlas no avail they where also unavailable to provide a quote.

This still hasn't stopped me looking at S3's as I still want one, just gives me time to revert my A3 to standard by April where I will have 3 years NCB and I will be 22 and hopefully get a quote, but i run the risk of the same thing happening and having a stock A3 that I would have to keep.

Has anyone experienced this? Insurance companies not insuring the S3? Or am i punching above my belt with looking for an S3 as my next car? Any advice and opinions would be great to help me out as to what do I do, keep the A3? Or put myself out there and get an S3? Baring in mind my annual mileage is about 7000 miles so I don't need a diesel any more.

Thanks, Chris.
 
Hey Chris,have you tried prestige or sky insurance on here, you may get a competitive quote from them. :) x
 
chris.vincent3 said:
Hi, after a lot of thought I think it would be a lot easier on my wallet if I swapped my Audi A3 8P 2.0 TDI 140 sport in for an S3 8L, as money I would get my way would take off a year of payments and not to mention the interest on the loan I got for the 8P.

So, my first protocol was to ring my insurance company and see what the insurance was like to swap over, baring in mind it runs out in April, however they where unable to provide a quote on the car, nothing personal to me, just wouldn't insure the car?

So, I was recommended Adrian Flux by a friend who is the same age as me with one less NCB who owns an Audi TT 225 Quattro, so surely they could provide me with a quote, atlas no avail they where also unavailable to provide a quote.

This still hasn't stopped me looking at S3's as I still want one, just gives me time to revert my A3 to standard by April where I will have 3 years NCB and I will be 22 and hopefully get a quote, but i run the risk of the same thing happening and having a stock A3 that I would have to keep.

Has anyone experienced this? Insurance companies not insuring the S3? Or am i punching above my belt with looking for an S3 as my next car? Any advice and opinions would be great to help me out as to what do I do, keep the A3? Or put myself out there and get an S3? Baring in mind my annual mileage is about 7000 miles so I don't need a diesel any more.

Thanks, Chris.
Click to expand...
I swaped my a3 8p tdi 140bhp for my 2003 model s3 best thing ever!!!!!
 
I assume u tried the comparison sites?

Surely it cant be that hard to get a quote.
 
I would try a comparison site, not because they will be cheapest but just to give you an idea of price (if any of those will insure you). You could typically knock 10-20% off the quote from a comparison site quote going with a specialist.(again if they will insure you) although it doesnt always happen, some of them seem to be very specific about locations. Im sure theres other 22 year old drivers on here who have got insurance on an S3.

If you still have no joy I would look again at quotes in april once you are 22 and have the extra year no claims.

Also for general information and idea as insurance is figured out on alot more than just age, NCB and car, I currently pay £800 for my S3 8L and I'm 26 with 5 years NCB, however I expect this to almost halve in April when my insurance is up. The reason it was so pricey is because I changed over mid policy to my S3 so didnt get a competitive quote on the car.

comparisons are currently quoting around £500 for me so hopefully Sky will beat that for me.
 
Also you may not have to pay your loan on your 8P but be prepared for some costs as with the age of these they tend to need a bit of cash throwing at them. Bought mine in October and so far its cost about 1200-1400 to get it how i want (mechanically and structurally) needs a bit more but thats just cosmetics which I knew about when I bought it but at least its good running condition now.
 
Keep the diesel and save for an 8p S3 woule be my advice, 8l's are becoming cheap and every man and his dog has one. 8L's were the first a3/s3 they made and as a result have little problems that you could soon get fed up with. However if you get a good one, they are very very good, loved my 8L for 18 months just got fed up with paying so much money on little issues that i could be saving every month for newer better cars. 8P is also such a nicer thing to drive, although Jardo will probably disagree with everything I've said ha.
 
smurfworth said:
Keep the diesel and save for an 8p S3 woule be my advice
Click to expand...

wouldn't agree with that personally, 8p S3 is a about £10k for the cheapest. If you pick up an S3 8L for £4k it should be a well looked after one as they are going for as little £2k that still leaves £6k change on the difference to solve any issues and im not sure of what you had to fix but I can't imagine what would could go wrong which would require that kind of work without blowing up your engine or crashing the car.

Hes also struggling for insurance quotes and buying a car 3x the value but in a similar performance bracket will only increase the premium or reduce the likelihood of getting insurance.
 
However, how much will the 8L be worth in a few more years time? by the time you save for an 8p they will have come down in price even more.

As far as insurance quotes, they are still both group 18 out of 20, and at the age of 21 i get quotes of 940 for an 8p and about 860 for an 8l.

And as much as i enjoyed my 8L the 8P has moved on so much, which personally you could call a waste of money but they are just a nicer place to be in.
 
I see your point but if i was the guy I couldn't imagine waiting a few years to get a car I wanted but think I have a new solution.

Buy an A3 8L 1.8t, similar to S3 and for £4k he could buy one fix a few issues and get it mapped. Then comes your plan of start saving for the S3 8P. Best of both worlds.
 
See, I've wanted an 8p S3 since i was 17, had an 8l a3 1.8T and loved it although it cost me a bomb, now have an 8p a3 tdi and am still saving the money for an 8p s3, however i still have to wait till next year till I'm 21 to get insurance quotes less than 4 grand on any s3, so yeah waiting a few years is sometimes what you gotta do. :detective2:

However i must agree with buying a 1.8t if he is that adamant about getting rid of the tdi, itll go alot better than the tdi for sure.
 
I had a 1.1 saxo from 17 until 21 and then got my S3 and had no problem getting insurance with Admiral.
 
i was 22 when i got mine so you'l be reet.

As for the whole 'what will an 8l s3 be worth in years time'. For a good one, as much as its worth now. Prices have to level off for a car like an 8l s3, just pick a good one. They are getting even more rare with tools crashing and breaking them. Rest assured they will be worth good money allllll day long. Its only people buying and selling dogs for peanuts that ruins it, but one day hopefully there will be no dogs left.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. Reason I wanted an 8L was so I could pay off the loan quicker and save for a house sooner. But as some people have highlighted that there will be some problems with the 8L, however my 8P is faultless, 91k on the clock and only advisories where engine cover fitted and under tray fitted! If that's all they can pick up on my car at MOT time I'm defiantly in a good situation.

Think I will keep the 8P and just go steady on the modding to pay off the loan quicker, its a great car and is not worth the risk trading in for a possible endless money pit. Owned my 8P for nearly a year so I know it inside and out, being a mechanic myself I'm one of few that look after their own cars.

My insurance has gone down £500 in April so that will save me some money each month to put away.

Thanks guys for your time and opinions, looks like I will stay in the 8P section ;) Just don't tell my car I was thinking of trading her in..!
 
You can still save money with a really good example. Also paying your insurance one off is alot cheaper too if you can do it.
 
I have both my S3 and my mk3 GTI with Greenlight. Decent enough to deal with and use a range of different brokers including ones for young drivers of performance cars.

My policy includes all my mods and also includes track use.
 
£740 for the year all mods declared on my S3.
3 years NCB and I'm 24.
 
+1 for Greenlight, they have been insuring me for the past 5 years which all mods declared and covered like for like on my old golf. Were cheapest on my 8l A3 TDIQ.

I think your wise sticking with a newer car, I would love what you have. I only do about 12k miles a year but when I changed to petrol for a few months I felt the hit in my pocket. Then as pointed out unless you know the new car from a close friend you could be in for a world of issues.
 
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