A3 - 16months & 38,000+ miles update

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A3uk

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As you will see I'm not a regular poster on the forum - but thought i would give my perspective of the Audi A3 140 Sline Sportback experience so far....

I've commented on my first service in another thread http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-...02-first-service-audi-dealer.html#post1728871 and all seemed well other than corrision on the disc shoulders at 7 months, yes Audi repainted them under warranty and at the time i pointed out this should fixed the problem.... guess what @ 38,000 it was back with the calipers now showing corrision....... poor show!

Here are my good and bad points:

+ Seems built well, solid door shuts and plastics
+ Standard S line radio is not that bad
+ Aux works well with ipod
+ Engine best on motorways or 50mph
+ I dont mind tall gearing
+ not used any oil consumption
+ not broken down
+ new A3 dont look much different to mine

- Like to stall when hot (DMF?)
- sounds like bag of nails when hot, say london to bradford drive (DMF?)
- economy could be better (im getting 54MPG)

- eats front tyre at 27k and im not Jenson Button!
- Audi dealer service @ 38k was awful, would not consider the stalling or sounding like nails and 9mile test drive could not show fault
- Would not move off drivway in snow (putting down to front end weigh and sports tyres)
- Poor quality of discs and brake calipers.... seen loads of Audi with same corrison fault

So thats it....... will i be geting another....... most probably not if im honest
 
Only one thing I could say is that front end weight is good for snow - the sports tyres not so much! But still a damn sight better than a BMW in snow. No weight on the rear + wide tyres = trouble!

I've got a 140 and I've not experience any of the problems you mentioned...sounds like you need a new DPF? Mine's just ticked over 72k miles.
 
Riichard said:
I've got a 140 and I've not experience any of the problems you mentioned...sounds like you need a new DPF? Mine's just ticked over 72k miles.
Click to expand...
Did you mean DMF (dual mass flywheel)???

72k miles in what period? Be interesting if you are doing mileage similar to mine
 
Thanks for the update.
I'm not sure what you mean about the corrosion? Do you mean part of the disc was rusty? I assume you don't mean the outer edge of the discs, because that will rust on every car.
On mine I painted the top hat parts of the discs in black high temperature enamel as they're very visible through the wheels.

I've got a 2010 140 sportback S Line Black Edition with 72,000 miles on it and haven't had any of the engine issues you're experiencing either.
Mine's never stalled, and it's been VERY hot lately. It's also always perfectly smooth and quiet. I'd keep on at Audi, because you shouldn't be having problems like that. Maybe phone Audi Customer Services if you don't get anywhere with the dealer, then they can put a bit of pressure on the dealer to investigate it further. Also mention you'd like to take it to a different Audi dealer (if you have one nearby). I did that after losing faith in my closest one, but used the one near my work instead and they were soooo much better. They were all part of the same group too.

As for the snow, my '07 140 Sport had snow tyres on it, and that would climb our road and drive (which is like the side of Everest) better than the Range Rover Sport and Honda CRV at the bottom of the road. I wasn't expecting much from them to be honest, but they proved to be priceless.
 
Almost 30K on front tyres that,s not bad considering they have not only to steer the car but put the power down via them.The old ones may have been a softer compound if so they will wear faster in order to give better grip.
 
A3uk said:
Did you mean DMF (dual mass flywheel)???

72k miles in what period? Be interesting if you are doing mileage similar to mine
Click to expand...

I did actually mean DPF (Diesel particulate filter) - it could be why you are experiencing some problems (mainly MPG)

72k in 3 years and 3 months.
 
Certainly for the noise, I'd be inclined to try and pinpoint it a bit, unless you have and it's coming from the DMF?
And stalling...if it's a temperature issue then it'll most likely be a buff sensor somewhere. Have you checked for fault codes?
 
27k out of a pair of fronts is mental, I've very rarely got 20k on a whole host of cars, and I'm a relatively sedate driver...
 
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Agree with the above. 27k for tyres is great especially on a 2.0tdi.
54mpg is average I get in mine but can get it up to 60,s if I nurse the car at late 50's mph :)
Haven't noticed anything untoward in mine to do with heat.
Especially in this fine weather we have had :)


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If its noisey at idle, try dipping the clutch, and see if it improves, then engage first gear, and see if it improves again.
I had a gearbox replaced under warranty like that.

K
 
I'd love to know what you have been driving before if you think 27k out of a pair of front tyres is eating them! And also 54mpg? figures like that make me want to ditch the s3 and get a diesel!

I think you should buy a Citroen c1 mate
 
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R34nel said:
I'd love to know what you have been driving before if you think 27k out of a pair of front tyres is eating them! And also 54mpg? figures like that make me want to ditch the s3 and get a diesel!

I think you should buy a Citroen c1 mate
Click to expand...


Got to agree.

Even the diesels I've owned(including a number of Citroens) never got to that sort of figure,and the S3 gets through a full set of tyres in around 8 000 miles(and yes,I know it's not a good comparison! )
 
I'd like to know what brand of tyres ur getting 27k from?
Was that the bridge stones it came from the factory with?


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RobbieWebs said:
I'd like to know what brand of tyres ur getting 27k from?
Was that the bridge stones it came from the factory with?


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Click to expand...

I got around 12k from all 4 of mine on bridgestones!!

I stretched them to 14k until the metal braid was largely present on the inside of the tyres. Woooops

27k is seriously good.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lol that's quite a difference from 27k.
I'd have thought the average was about 14k.
Suppose it depends how heavy footed u are tho ;)



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Seriously, I swap my fronts to back, at 17k, I ended up going to 40k before changing the RE050A bridgestones on mine, now on PS3's will they go as long???

K
 
964kevin said:
Seriously, I swap my fronts to back, at 17k, I ended up going to 40k before changing the RE050A bridgestones on mine, now on PS3's will they go as long???

K
Click to expand...

I wouldnt think so.

I got about 8 000 miles on a set and considered myself lucky.
 
danb986 said:
Thanks for the update.
I'm not sure what you mean about the corrosion? Do you mean part of the disc was rusty? I assume you don't mean the outer edge of the discs, because that will rust on every car.
On mine I painted the top hat parts of the discs in black high temperature enamel as they're very visible through the wheels.

I've got a 2010 140 sportback S Line Black Edition with 72,000 miles on it and haven't had any of the engine issues you're experiencing either.
.
Click to expand...

It's funny that it would seem Audi are aware of the issue of the rusting of the disc shoulders and were willing to agree @7months it was not good, but the same at 16months and they are resolute to do nothing.... its very amusing that Merc's and BMW in our office car park are not suffering the same fate and are older.......... actually I checked our Kia Soul and its not suffering the same rusty situation.

To me its poor quality.

The stalling issue is only when its hot, like a 250mile drive and its fine on the journey but when slowing to traffic lights (say in london) it will just die. No its not hte start stop feature as it is permanently turned off with air to front screen. But for clarity its not happening every day.

964kevin said:
If its noisey at idle, try dipping the clutch, and see if it improves, then engage first gear, and see if it improves again.
I had a gearbox replaced under warranty like that.

K
Click to expand...

K, that fixed the bag of nails noises by dipping the clutch, but Audi only give it 9mile drive and that cannot re-create 250mile slog.... so im going to film it next week as proof.

RobbieWebs said:
I'd like to know what brand of tyres ur getting 27k from?
Was that the bridge stones it came from the factory with?
Click to expand...

It left the factory on Conti Sport contact 2's ......... I'm now on Dunlop Eagle F1

My secret is to add +1psi to each tyre and get it filled by proper garage, not fuel station machine.

Most of my drives are motorway based, when i am in urban areas i just go with the traffic flow ......... also to all the S3 drivers who have commented...... try getting 140ps with (what feels like) 2 tonnes of metal to burn out, you just look silly trying and im sure its much easier in S3 :)
 
A3uk said:
- economy could be better (im getting 54MPG)
- eats front tyre at 27k and im not Jenson Button!
Click to expand...

The only way you would get better figures for the two above mentioned things is if you walked everywhere!
An average of 53.6 is SERIOUSLY impressive over 68 fill ups!
27k out of a set of fronts? I'd be happy with half that from a set of rears!
Imagine how much you would complain if you had an S3! :sob:

Saying that, the fact you keep a log of how much you spend on fuel tells me you wouldn't buy an S3 anyway lol.
 
A3uk said:
It's funny that it would seem Audi are aware of the issue of the rusting of the disc shoulders and were willing to agree @7months it was not good, but the same at 16months and they are resolute to do nothing.... its very amusing that Merc's and BMW in our office car park are not suffering the same fate and are older.......... actually I checked our Kia Soul and its not suffering the same rusty situation.

To me its poor quality.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where we mean by "shoulders" but I do know that BMW owners are really kicking off because the hub on the BMW's rust really quickly (like in weeks form new) and BMW don't want to know... it's a real bugbear over on the BMWLand forum... my E90 had rusty hubs almost from the get-go.
 
A3uk said:
........ also to all the S3 drivers who have commented...... try getting 140ps with (what feels like) 2 tonnes of metal to burn out, you just look silly trying and im sure its much easier in S3 :)
Click to expand...

Its not even possible to do a wheel spin in an s3 (this maybe doesn't apply to Alex) never mind a burnout lol! they have Quattro remember.
 
crunchie said:
The only way you would get better figures for the two above mentioned things is if you walked everywhere!
An average of 53.6 is SERIOUSLY impressive over 68 fill ups!
27k out of a set of fronts? I'd be happy with half that from a set of rears!
Imagine how much you would complain if you had an S3! :sob:

Saying that, the fact you keep a log of how much you spend on fuel tells me you wouldn't buy an S3 anyway lol.
Click to expand...

I only keep track of fuel and register on fuelly as its good as the Audi is a company car, and i get a rubbish contirbution for fuel allowance per business mile. Not good being out of pocket.

I guess may target was for 60mpg, which is still million miles away from the Audi brochure. Guess my info shows some real world consumption.

R34nel said:
Its not even possible to do a wheel spin in an s3 (this maybe doesn't apply to Alex) never mind a burnout lol! they have Quattro remember.
Click to expand...

But it is possible to 4 wheel drift a 4WD :)
 
It would be easier to do a burn out in your tdi than a 4 wheel drift in an s3, even a 5k revs launch of the line in the rain won't induce any wheel spin and that's with 360 bhp lol
 
There isn't a car in our car park that doesn't have discs with some degree of corrosion :shrug:
Even the 13 plate 5 Series and 61 plate Boxster have got corrosion there.

Did you get anywhere with the stalling and strange noise when hot? That's what I'd be more worried about.
 
Ah I see, it's the hub that's rusty, not the disc itself (at least form that picture)? You should see BMW's problems with that, they rus all the way round, people paint them with Hammerite and all sorts! And BMW have no interest in the issue whatsoever.

For what it's worth, my hub are pretty clean...
 
Exactly the same car, 2012, just turned 21k. My front tyres had gone at less than 13k so 27k is not bad at all!

My average is 43/44mpg, exactly the same as my previous mk6 Golf 140.

Hubs are exactly the same as your pics.
 
danb986 said:
There isn't a car in our car park that doesn't have discs with some degree of corrosion :shrug:
Even the 13 plate 5 Series and 61 plate Boxster have got corrosion there.

Did you get anywhere with the stalling and strange noise when hot? That's what I'd be more worried about.
Click to expand...

The stalling seems to have stopped since the 38k service, im sure it has something todo with the DMF and its adjustment.

The brakes rusting is really poor show on 7 month old car, and now at 16months they look awful, really awful. Previous BMW's and Merc's have never had this issue...... actually our KIA Soul not got the issue!
 
The Governor said:
Ah I see, it's the hub that's rusty, not the disc itself (at least form that picture)? You should see BMW's problems with that, they rus all the way round, people paint them with Hammerite and all sorts! And BMW have no interest in the issue whatsoever.

For what it's worth, my hub are pretty clean...
Click to expand...

I have read newer BMW's are suffering, but as i have explained precious this was never an issue. I didnt expect it to be an issue with Audi, but the dealer explained unless i got ceramic brakes all Audi's do it.......
 
A3uk said:
The stalling seems to have stopped since the 38k service, im sure it has something todo with the DMF and its adjustment.

The brakes rusting is really poor show on 7 month old car, and now at 16months they look awful, really awful. Previous BMW's and Merc's have never had this issue...... actually our KIA Soul not got the issue!
Click to expand...

Unless the hub/carrier is galvanised or painted etc,they all rust eventually.
 
Either take your wheels off and paint them or forget about it, what do you expect the dealer to do?
 
A3uk said:
I have read newer BMW's are suffering, but as i have explained precious this was never an issue. I didnt expect it to be an issue with Audi, but the dealer explained unless i got ceramic brakes all Audi's do it.......
Click to expand...

Well, I had three BMW's between 2006 and 2012, and they all had the rusty hubs, as do loads of people on the various BMW forums, so it sounds like you were very lucky if yours didn't...

I must go and look at my A3 in a bit, as I'm pretty sure mine aren't rusty at all...
 
A3uk said:
I only keep track of fuel and register on fuelly as its good as the Audi is a company car, and i get a rubbish contirbution for fuel allowance per business mile. Not good being out of pocket.

I guess may target was for 60mpg, which is still million miles away from the Audi brochure. Guess my info shows some real world consumption.



But it is possible to 4 wheel drift a 4WD :)
Click to expand...

You said it is a company car? Does that mean your not paying for it or is it your company? If its a company car I would be getting the people within the company who supplied this vehicle to you to sort the problems on your behalf tbh
 
Also I dont think the 140 TDi brouchure even says that Combined MPG is anywhere close to 60MPG I am sure its 54.7 or something around that mark?
 
Alexthekidd54 said:
You said it is a company car? Does that mean your not paying for it or is it your company? If its a company car I would be getting the people within the company who supplied this vehicle to you to sort the problems on your behalf tbh
Click to expand...

its a company car, but I duly pay for it via tax code / BIK, but unlike other chaps at the office I treat company cars like its my own = spotless! If your referencing to fleet department then that's rather comical as I'm sure even thou we have many Audi they are not bothered. Also I need to use it everyday
 
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