What will 13k get me really

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chrisbond69

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Im looking for a car up to 13k

preferably a tdi/tfsi s line 3 door

what could/should i expect for this money

seems to be so many variations on the net of prices for cars.

Any help and know of anyone selling any would be hugely appreciative.

Im in no rush for one i fly to afghan in jan for 11 weeks.

Many thanks in advance

Chris
 
My friend got a 55reg S-Line 3dr for £11,000 with about 80k on the clock.

I got my 2.0TDI A3 QS 3dr for £8,000 with 113k on the clock so it varies a lot! just have to look around.
 
You probably know that the S-Lines hold a good premium over Sports but they are both heavily affect (as always) by mileage. For the £13k on a private sale or small trader then 56-07 easily attainable with good miles.
 
I got mine from a small trader in June: '07 A3 3dr 1.8T FSi [160] SE, 22K on the clock for £10k albiet it's pretty slim on the trinkets but did come with 18" RS6 alloys
 
If 4wd is not essential then I would be tempted with a MK5 Gti.
Im sure ED30 can be had for that money.

cheers
Paul
 
audi upgrades
My car cost exactly £13k from an Audi main dealer

2006/55 Phantom Black 2.0T S-Line DSG with the extras listed in my sig. it had 21400 on the clock

as it was from an Audi main dealer it had new tyres and brakes, had had all 4 wheels refurbed, 1 year tax and 1 year MOT. it also had a 1 year Audi warranty
 
PaulAr said:
Good shout, `only` 2700 of these iirc so an element of exclusivity, that said, you dont see a lot of 20TFSIs about neither.
Cant go wrong with either cars, nice dilemna.

Cheers
Paul
Click to expand...

if having the old model bothers you then get the A3. if it doesn't then get the Golf.

i test drove a GTI Ed30. it's noticably faster (and is more tunable being a K04'd engine), but it's suspension is RUBBISH. bear in mind that to get this car to handle the way it should you're gonna need to spend some money on decent coilovers

the GTI's seats are lovely to look at, but the A3's are more comfortable. and for that age of car the A3 is probably better built and slightly better looking overall i feel.

tough call. on balance i would (and did) go for the A3.
 
sub39h said:
if having the old model bothers you then get the A3. if it doesn't then get the Golf.

i test drove a GTI Ed30. it's noticably faster (and is more tunable being a K04'd engine), but it's suspension is RUBBISH. bear in mind that to get this car to handle the way it should you're gonna need to spend some money on decent coilovers

the GTI's seats are lovely to look at, but the A3's are more comfortable. and for that age of car the A3 is probably better built and slightly better looking overall i feel.

tough call. on balance i would (and did) go for the A3.
Click to expand...

Never driven the ED30, but never heard bad reports compared to the stock GTi?

iirc when 5th Gear did a hot hatch shoot out, they used an ED30 and it cleared up.

Anyhoo, its close call, but have to agree the A3 has a superior cabin.
Think the Gti is `cooler` and more iconic, and the best Gti for ages and still the base for the currently aclaimed Gti so not that shabby on that score.
When I bought my Gti, the A3 was more money.

Like said, tough call.

Cheers
Paul
 
PaulAr said:
Never driven the ED30, but never heard bad reports compared to the stock GTi?
Click to expand...

i've heard a few. Top Gear, Car, PVW and a couple of others. they all said it handled worse and on balance they'd have preferred the standard GTI. (but that wasn't just because of the performance, that was because the Monzas suit the car better than the BBS Pescaras, the colour coded body kit doesn't look as nice etc. etc.) they lowered it but didn't adjust the damping, and the car's ended up rolling more AND having poorer ride comfort.

i drove them both, and the Ed30 was worse handling. the A3 S-Line handles best of the lot, but that's irrelevant because i've got Weitec Hicon GTs on now, and they'd fit any of the 3 cars and then they'll handle exactly the same.

my point is that i could live with the handling of the GTI V or the A3 S-Line, but not the Ed30
 
Suppose if tuning is planned then 250bhp is enough which comes easy with stage1 on a vanilla Gti.
Cheaper too.
And MonzaII`s look ace.
And some Gtis come with full hide, which although isnt the best quality, adds so much to the cabin feel.
Suppose tuning might affect ED30 value too?

**** me, did I nearly agree with Sub.
Really? Nah, surely not.
Must be the stella:hi:

Paul
 
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If you want 250 bhp and an A3 then get a 3.2 for under 13k, its better than any golf and if the government had not ****** up the tax bands would have been the new S3...:) If not get a really crap cayman for 10k :)
 
I really dont mind im not planning to mod thats what the motox bike is for (an adrenaline rush) if im honest i think id prefer a diesel my friend on camp has a gt tdi sport 07 plate thats not to bad a car
 
beanoir said:
and if I was born pretty I could have been the new Brad Pitt.
Click to expand...

to be fair Paddy's probably not wrong... i reckon the 3.6 from the Passat R36 may have made an appearance somewhere in either the A3 or the Golf range too if not for the same reason!
 
beanoir said:
and if I was born pretty I could have been the new Brad Pitt.
Click to expand...

It was born identical apart from some plastic trim round the edges !!
Thats the problem with Audi S cars. If they had some flair on the arches or a sporty dash...maybe bigger wheels or fatter tires ? you know, something trick about them they would be better but actually they are mostly bog standard these days. Even the bottom of the range TT has all the TT RS bits on it now, you would have to go and look at the badge to see why you paid twice the price for it.
 
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I'm also thinking about an Edition 30 vs perhaps an A3 2.0T quattro with full leather. I know the Ed30 remaps to 300bhp odd, and the A3 only 250bhp but with quattro it would put the power down so much better and would be more usable as a result.
sub39h - how would you compare a stock A3 2.0T with a Golf GTi?

Then there is the 3.2 A3 or R32, but after reading about all the grief people have with their engines on here it's put me off a bit. I love the sound of them though.
 
To me I would take the 3.2 over the 2.0T every time. People think the V6 gobbles juice, but is actually not that different to the 4 pot , it also has more power, better driveability, a nice soundtrack and is also available with quattro and dsg. I do understand the reluctance though with the timing chain issues.
As for the edition 30, I really would consider that myself, but it needs 4wd to take advantage of any extra power that tuning can give. I've had a car with 265 through the front wheels and it gets frustrating not being able to use the power tbh.
As for diesels...................sorry no thanks!!
 
Agree with 3.2 about the benefits of Quattro, it is just brilliant and having a load of power through FWD only really is pants!

As for Diesel.. Take a test drive in an A4 or A5 with the 3.0Tdi Quattro power. I challenge any enthusiastic driver not to like it. Beautiful V6 240 bhp with 500 nm Torque... a peach of an engine (Does NOT sound like a diesel) and 0-60 in about 5.7 seconds + 40+mpg is really achievable, shame it's not available in the 8P but the 2.0Tdi 170 CR Diesel with Quattro really isn't bad at all. Come on Audi give us a big deiesel option in the new A3 rather than all this 1.2/1.4/1.6 stuff please.
 
paul_b said:
I'm also thinking about an Edition 30 vs perhaps an A3 2.0T quattro with full leather. I know the Ed30 remaps to 300bhp odd, and the A3 only 250bhp but with quattro it would put the power down so much better and would be more usable as a result.
sub39h - how would you compare a stock A3 2.0T with a Golf GTi?

Then there is the 3.2 A3 or R32, but after reading about all the grief people have with their engines on here it's put me off a bit. I love the sound of them though.
Click to expand...

like i said, it's a really tough choice.

reasons for the A3 vs GTI V:

1. better looking
2. not the old model
3. nicer interior
4. Audi badge instead of VW badge (if you're into that sort of thing)
5. flatter cornering (but poorer ride comfort as a result)
6. nicer seats (comfort wise)
7. better built interior


reasons for the GTI V vs the A3

1. it'll be cheaper because it's the old model
2. cheaper servicing/maintenance costs
3. better sat nav
4. better looking seats
5. it's got a GTI badge rather than being a stock A3
6. better ride comfort

HOWEVER, i'd have a GTI VI over an A3 so there really isn't much in it.

3.2 Ju said:
To me I would take the 3.2 over the 2.0T every time. People think the V6 gobbles juice, but is actually not that different to the 4 pot , it also has more power, better driveability, a nice soundtrack and is also available with quattro and dsg. I do understand the reluctance though with the timing chain issues.
As for the edition 30, I really would consider that myself, but it needs 4wd to take advantage of any extra power that tuning can give. I've had a car with 265 through the front wheels and it gets frustrating not being able to use the power tbh.
As for diesels...................sorry no thanks!!
Click to expand...

3.2 vs. 2.0T is a tough call too... i had the pleasure of making the choice recently, and i chose the 2.0T. the thing that probably put me off the most was the timing chain - otherwise i probably would have gone for the 3.2
 
sub39h said:
like i said, it's a really tough choice.

reasons for the A3 vs GTI V:

1. better looking
2. not the old model
3. nicer interior
4. Audi badge instead of VW badge (if you're into that sort of thing)
5. flatter cornering (but poorer ride comfort as a result)
6. nicer seats (comfort wise)
7. better built interior


reasons for the GTI V vs the A3

1. it'll be cheaper because it's the old model
2. cheaper servicing/maintenance costs
3. better sat nav
4. better looking seats
5. it's got a GTI badge rather than being a stock A3
6. better ride comfort

HOWEVER, i'd have a GTI VI over an A3 so there really isn't much in it.



3.2 vs. 2.0T is a tough call too... i had the pleasure of making the choice recently, and i chose the 2.0T. the thing that probably put me off the most was the timing chain - otherwise i probably would have gone for the 3.2
Click to expand...

Get a 3.2 06 or newer as they don't seem to have been affected with this timing chain issue. Power delivery is in my opinion so much smoother and coupled with the dsg box is sublime!!!
 
I went for the 3.2 dsg quattro in the end and have absolutely no regrets. Mine is the 55 plate (so about £210 tax per year) with most of the toys and 11k miles, costing me just over £11k recently.
What you might not know is that this car is the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing - as the poster above comments, anyone who is fortunate enough to get a ride in my car is amazed at how smooth it is. It almost feels like it has one gear when driven under normal conditions which has to be experienced to be appreciated.
I went for the sport over the s-line as i didn't need the extra bits of trim and prefer the 17" over the 18" as the journey with sport suspension (vs s-line) it a lot smoother on uk pot-holed roads

Fuel economy isn't great but then if that was an issue i'd have gone for a diesel

It's more of a connoisseur's car... I'm delighted with my choice and the it feels absolutely bullet proof - take one for a test drive and see for yourself!

Just to add to sub39 - how common (realistically) was this timing chain issue? Was it seriously a big enough issue for you to put you off buying the car??
 
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TQS said:
Just to add to sub39 - how common (realistically) was this timing chain issue? Was it seriously a big enough issue for you to put you off buying the car??
Click to expand...

Paddy could have paid £10k getting the issue sorted. i know that's an extreme example but it still costs a few thousand to get sorted if it's out of warranty. i wasn't willing to take the risk.

like anything in life it was a gamble. i didn't think the risk was worth the cost if it did go wrong.
 
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In fairness the problem i had was that Audi could not diagnose the problem so the engine was stripped three times. I actually got a bill for £4300 although Audi said the final total was more than double that. The reason was despite being 5 years old Audi GB extended a massive good will payment.
The normal cost for this work would be about £3500.tell tale signs are a period of about minute misfire on all pots on start and a fault code saying Camshaft set point not reached.

The reason for this fault was that the manufacturer of the cam chain stamped his logo to deep into the chain link side plates and weakened the chain as i understand it.

The plus side is i have a 3.2 with new chains, sprockets, tensioners, sensors and VVT units and it runs like a swiss watch. despite test driving several DSG and manual S3's i,m sorry to say that the 3.2 is the better car. Its a shame they stopped making it because when i replace it i will move away from the A3 because an S3 would be a backward step. thats just a personal opinion and not meant to upset anyone.
 
paddy said:
i,m sorry to say that the 3.2 is the better car. Its a shame they stopped making it because when i replace it i will move away from the A3 because an S3 would be a backward step. thats just a personal opinion and not meant to upset anyone.
Click to expand...

no need to be sorry... i'd be inclined to agree personally, it's just a shame it's not more tunable.

they make a 5 pot now tho? doesn't that catch your fancy :eyebrows:
 
sub39h said:
they make a 5 pot now tho? doesn't that catch your fancy :eyebrows:
Click to expand...

No not in the slightest :) Its a step to far for what is still a small 8 year old hatchback. The 8p is living out its final days in the retirement home IMHO, at £40k+ I would want basics like DAB radio option, touch screen satnav, dynamic cruise etc. as someone else said earlier, for that money you can get a ****** nice 3ltr A5 with 500nm of torque and a modern cabin
 
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paddy said:
No not in the slightest :) Its a step to far for what is still a small 8 year old hatchback. The 8p is living out its final days in the retirement home IMHO, at £40k+ I would want basics like DAB radio option, touch screen satnav, dynamic cruise etc.
Click to expand...

i meant if you replaced your 8P for the 8P's successor. it'll still have a 5 pot RS3 i'd imagine, probably as a launch model too
 
I paid £15k about 18 months ago for a late '06 2.0T Quattro S-Line SE Sportback. I imagine that a 3-dr would easily be around the £10k mark now.

I really think that this is the optimum spec for the A3, if you don't need diesel fuel economy. Mine still only has 19k on the clock and it's a really lovely car to own - Golf GTi+ peformance, but with 4WD, luxury and 5-door practicality to give it a character of its own.
 
I always reckon it's worth adding £2-3k to your budger. Looking on Audi.co.uk (used cars) find one you like and start negotiations... We recetly bought a Golf for a relative for £7500 with a forecourt price of £10495!
 
paddy said:
despite test driving several DSG and manual S3's i,m sorry to say that the 3.2 is the better car. Its a shame they stopped making it because when i replace it i will move away from the A3 because an S3 would be a backward step. thats just a personal opinion and not meant to upset anyone.
Click to expand...

:laugh:Legend.

If I was spending 13K I would seriously consider a 3.2 also.

Cheers
Paul
 
He could get one a darn site cheaper than that Paul. i just re did my insurance and they valued mine at a trade price of £6.5k..I made over double that on the markets today,..lol
 
TBH I would buy a Cayman, which these days comes with a decent hairdressers kit aswell................................
 
paddy said:
He could get one a darn site cheaper than that Paul. i just re did my insurance and they valued mine at a trade price of £6.5k..I made over double that on the markets today,..lol
Click to expand...

I will give you 6K for it:happy:
 
PaulAr said:
I will give you 6K for it:happy:
Click to expand...

They valued it at 6.5....you trying to do me out of 500 quid :).......I didnt like to mention to them they just spent more than that un bending it :)
 
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