1st post. Looking for an S3

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gadgey

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Hi, just joined the forum and looking for my 1st S3... was going to post a few questions but I can see most of them have been asked already! lol Will be digging around and lurking for a while I think.

Oh yea, I have one S3 in mind at the moment but pm me links to any 'good uns' TBH budget max is 10k... so looking at non-facelifts. Does not bother me too much but an early car with a re-chip and some toys would be nice.

S3's do hold their money well it would seem.. been waiting for them to get to around10k for a loooooong time.

Cheers

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
Welcome to the forum. Keep looking - there are definitely good cars in your budget - you just need to be patient.
 
PM Imola S3 on here, he was selling his S3 that had a lot of work done to it for 10k, don't know if he still has it
 
If I were you mate, I would look at facelift higher mileage cars for 10k. Unless youre planning on doing loads of miles
 
Just bought one myself. Took a while...!

IMHO a lot of S3's are priced aspirationally and will never sell for the money they are advertised on. This is prob because they are enthusiast owned and the seller is loath to part with their pride'n'joy &/or have spent a lot of cash on the car themselves.

If you take your time, you will find there are a lot of cars out there that should sell well inside your budget. Just don't get "oooh shiney car" syndrome with the first one you view!
 
[ QUOTE ]
If I were you mate, I would look at facelift higher mileage cars for 10k. Unless youre planning on doing loads of miles

[/ QUOTE ]

Why????

When I was looking, some of my mates expressed the same viewpoint, some go exactly the oposite way and reckon on going for low miles and older car...!

I simply thought about it in terms of trying to sell the car in a couple of years time and that for me counted out anything over 70k. I reckoned that a 100k+ miler would be a dog to sell....? Whereas there will always be a buyer for a reasonable mileage older example.

Views?
 
Ahh, just thought with them both being in Scotland..co-incidence eh
 
Jedw - my reasoning for this, is:

a) its a newer style, so obviously more desirable. Newer dash and that.

b) although it may have more miles than an older one, the bits are still newer - less chance of niggling faults, tatty bits, etc. Just because it has more miles, doesnt mean it has been used more. Motorway vs crawling rat run traffic.

c) audis are built to last!

d) loads of audis have high mileage, i dont think its an issue at resale. My dad only buys audis with atleast 100k on them. He currently has a an A6 quattro TDI somewhere around the X reg mark, with about 120k on it I think. Granted, its diesel. His A4 had over 160k when he traded that in. (W reg)

When I was buying my A3 1.8T a couple of years ago, I went for W reg with 82k on it vs T reg with 65kish on it. (£8k at the time)
 
also you can consider how many miles you are going to be doing a year. If you do a small amount of mileage then you can afford to go for a car with more miles. Eventually the others will catch up.
 
audi upgrades
Just try to avoid buying one like I did recently, the car itself is spot on, ebony black, RS4 alloys, chipped etc. Then you cthink harder about the mileage and it's due a service including haldex service, plus getting close to cam belt time so might as well get that done plus a water pump while it's in for the job.

Put a couple of tyres on and a pair of Tarox disks and pads, oh and transfer the Tracker registration.

Suddenly my £11K car has cost me £13K.

Still love it to bits mind!
 
And that Tonedef, is the key.... It's all about Service History and miles to the next service. I recently purchased my 2002 (51 plate) 210 model with 67k on the clock, 4 good quality top brand tyres, full history with recent front disks and pads for a very reasonable (IMO) sum. It's currently on 71k and is due the expensive bits in 9K's time, but these were taken into account when purchasing.
As we all know, the S3 is a great car to drive, buy the right one and you won't be disappointed!
 
The miles to next service was fine, it was the months to next one did the damage! I got a 2001 51 plate with 73 on the clock but figured getting the cam belt done now was better than leaving it until 80K as I had a 16v Corrado fail at 57K when VW were telling me it was OK to 80, belts are much cheaper than valves.

Of course when you're 7,000 miles from home and advising your wife what to look for on the phone, you have to accept the odd oversight!
 
Thanks guys, coming from a long line of 'modded' cars I would be looking for an example with some mods already done + must have all the paperwork

VAG cars and JDM cars in the past I've ended up throwing lumps of cash at them in terms of mods... never learn lol

Miles.. yep fair point 100k smoker needing a new turbo etc... hard gasket goes.. Bushes go.. yadda yadda.

Will be looking over the next couple of weeks guys and appreciate support finding one.

I'd rather buy an enthusiast owned car as opposed to an Autotrader job... I figure most good clean cars go well before they hit the trader.

Cheers guys /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Tonedef, you're right. When my service bill comes back and bites me for the things I've missed, I'll only have myself to blame (already underestimated the cost of a replacement key). I am looking for a 'specialist' to complete the 80k service though after comments on this forum.
Gadgey, advice has to be try to buy one with 'sorted' suspension then, as that seems to be the most expensive thing to do.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Tonedef, you're right. When my service bill comes back and bites me for the things I've missed, I'll only have myself to blame (already underestimated the cost of a replacement key). I am looking for a 'specialist' to complete the 80k service though after comments on this forum.
Gadgey, advice has to be try to buy one with 'sorted' suspension then, as that seems to be the most expensive thing to do.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sure, a nice drop of around 30mm would do the trick - too old for coilovers.. me back you understand! had my days of 120mm drops and the like.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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