Before my first A3 V6 purchase, please!

[london jay]

Hi there,

I am nearly at the point of buying a car I've admired for years.

Its a 55 plate A3 3.2 DSG Quattro s-line with 56k on the clock. A bloke at works selling it and it has full Audi service history.

I've read through loads of threads on here (including the 26 page 2k rough idling thread!)

The thing that had me worried was the stretched chain threads.

I now know to listen out for the marbles in a tin can noise, but the other thing to check is what I would like a hand with please.

The measuring between two blocks to see if the chain has stretched? Is this a thing that only can be done at a Audi garage or is it something that is easy to do?

Sorry for my ignorance in this, bricklaying I can do but mechanics... thats a different story lol!

Thanks for your time.

Jay.

 

[Sandra]

Hi Jay, welcome to audi-sport.net. Im sure one of the guys will be able to advise you. Enjoy the forum. x

 

[london jay]

Cheers Sandra!!

 

[Chillout]

You can check for stretched chains with vcds to a degree ,obviously its your call on the purchase but mine has 39 k on it and its been the worst car I have owned and would not recommend one but that is only my opinion .

 

[london jay]

Hi chillout, that's disappointing to hear.
Anything in particular thats happened to your motor or just in general?

Cheers

Jay

 

[Chillout]

Hi chillout, that's disappointing to hear.
Anything in particular thats happened to your motor or just in general?

Cheers

Jay

When I got it at 30000 the radiator was leaking ,boot latch faulty and about a month in the pcv valve in the rocker cover went (front end off to replace ) it doesn't idle smoothly even after the update and the coil pack recall ,the gearbox is noisy and the clutch is a bit funny ,loosing coolant again and I can't find the leak even with a pressure test also on the way home the other night the engine light came on with a mis fired on cylinder 5 that I cleared with vcds time will tell with that one .

i might be unlucky but I would go diesel or s3

 

[london jay]

Sounds like you've had a right nightmare mate!

Maybe I should go for a similar reg Golf GTI instead then!!

Thanks for taking the time to post

Jay

 

[Chillout]

Sounds like you've had a right nightmare mate!

Maybe I should go for a similar reg Golf GTI instead then!!

Thanks for taking the time to post

Jay

I would do that instead but other owners might disagree you will get more opinions I am sure.

 

[BradV6]

The only thing I was worried about when buying an A3 was the auto gearbox going wrong, so I opted for a manual, only to find the one i bought had a gearbox failure at 39k and was replaced by Audi at a cost of nearly 3k!

I didn't do any research into issues with the V6 engine as I wasn't aware at the time, but I've done 10k in it now and it has been spot on, now on 70k.

I'm not expecting a chain issue on mine but until then I'm not going to worry unless there is an indication there's a problem!

 

[screechmr2]

They'll be good and bad with every car. Don't always go by problems on a forum - nobody really logs on and says "car running fine" they tend to post when they have an issue.

I've had my 3.2 for a year and the only problem was a dirty throttle body and the small engine fan. Neither issue is a fault specific with the 3.2

 

[london jay]

Hi Screech and Brad,

Thanks for your replies.

I suppose I am being a bit over cautious.

I reckon I am going to go for it. Its a beautiful motor

 

[autolatry]

You can check for stretched chains with vcds to a degree ,obviously its your call on the purchase but mine has 39 k on it and its been the worst car I have owned and would not recommend one but that is only my opinion .

I would second that I'm afraid.

 

[Chillout]

I would second that I'm afraid.

All can really say if you want the car badly test it and listen for gearbox noise,chain noise and check for coolant loss as I have found my car to be a money pit, that said no one really post how good the car is as above .

have you got yours back together and drinking fuel yet autolatry ?

 

[gixerson]

Had my 3.2 for just over 1 year now, 10k miles and not a single problem.

Carried out a full service just after i bought the car, haldex and gearbox oils and filters changed.
Change the oil every 3k, not lost a drop of oil between changes.


Really wasn't a fan of the car for the first 6 months or so, mainly because i was coming from a supercharged mx5, so the 3.2 felt, big a heavy with very little feedback or incentive to drive at a enjoyable pace.

Just over a year on though and i've warmed to it, fitting a new louder exhaust made a massive difference and it STILL makes me grin everytime i hear that V6 chatttering away.

Not sure how i'd feel if i sold it, i believe the E46 M3 is a far better and more involving to car to drive, so i think that's where my money would go.
That's not a V6 specific problem though, it seems that all recent Audi's come with dead steering feel from the factory.

 

[london jay]

Cheers for the input gents.

I really appreciate you taking the time to help out.

Could I please ask, what was the year of manufacture of your cars that have had all the problems?

Regards

Jay.

 

[Customboy]

The way I see it jay it's like the roll of a dice, some cars will suffer straight away just sadly sods law and others may last and live and give you many years of happiness, the way I see it wether your buying from a friend of not always get it checked over mate as a chat with a friend isn't a warranty lol, may I ask why the 3.2? What is it about the car that makes u want it, not that I'm knocking them in any way, just are you looking for power/specs/ or just comfort with no plans to mods, if you are planning to mod and get big power also research upgrades and parts you may need, I personally love big engine cars but current climate of costs such as fuel, tax and insurance made me buy a lovely diesel, either way jay think hard about long term running and if this car is your dream car good luck my friend and worse case just maybe consider buying a warranty from warranty direct and get everything covered and enjoy happy motoring

 

[gixerson]

Fact is there is a chance you'll get problems with any car.

I've seen brand new Mercedes that have spent more time in the garage than on the road and i've seen 20 year old MX5's outputting nearly double their power running without problems for years.

There are a few known problems with 3.2 DSG equiped A3's, but then there are not many cars in the internet day and age that don't have known problems.

Modern higher performance cars NEED a fair bit of money to fix, just because we can buy say Boxsters, S3's, M3's various V engined Audi's pretty cheap is does not mean they are cheap to run, repair and maintain.

My mates Golf recently popped it's gearbox, cost him £1000 to get it sorted.

So if you can live with 22mpg, are not likely to want any extra horsepower (not easy or cheap with the V6), can put up with more understeer than oversteer, are able to have around £1000 put aside in case of repairs (wise for any car)

On the plus side

 

[london jay]

Hi mate,
I have always had fairly quick cars but when my 2nd son arrived I sold my type r and got a jazz lol!!
That was 18 months ago and I've had enough of driving around in an old git mobile.
The site manager at work came in in the said Audi and I mentioned that I've always loved them and his one was dark blue and spotless my favourite colour A3.
He said he was selling it to get a new TT so thats why the 3.2 my friend it just sort of fell into my lap.
When he bought it it had 25,000 on the clock so he's done around 30,000 in 4 and a half years.
Audi have done all the services and the oil and filters have been changed yearly.
I'm not going to mod this one and it will only be used at the weekend.
I think I'll just keep it for a year then get a old git mobile again lol.
The warranty thing sounds like a good idea mate, I'll look into it
Cheers mate
Jay

 

[autolatry]

All can really say if you want the car badly test it and listen for gearbox noise,chain noise and check for coolant loss as I have found my car to be a money pit, that said no one really post how good the car is as above .

have you got yours back together and drinking fuel yet autolatry ?

It still at the garage. I went down Saturday to see what was going on and he had the pistons laying ontop of the block and said he was waiting or his mate who is apparently a Volkswagen master tech to come and look at it! I said just rebuild the ******* like i have told you to do. Getting sick of it now, when its back its getting part exed for an edition 30 or something.

 

[Chillout]

It still at the garage. I went down Saturday to see what was going on and he had the pistons laying ontop of the block and said he was waiting or his mate who is apparently a Volkswagen master tech to come and look at it! I said just rebuild the ******* like i have told you to do. Getting sick of it now, when its back its getting part exed for an edition 30 or something.

Fun and games ,mine is loosing coolant but only seems to drop to the same level and I can't find a leak when pressure tested.

Edition 30 sounds good though

 

[autolatry]

Fun and games ,mine is loosing coolant but only seems to drop to the same level and I can't find a leak when pressure tested.

Edition 30 sounds good though

Thats strange if it was leaking youd expect it to continue leaking until it was empty wouldnt you.
is your oil OK? its not losing coolant through your oil cooler is it? but i suppose a pressure test would have indicated if that was crackered.

 

[Chillout]

Thats strange if it was leaking youd expect it to continue leaking until it was empty wouldnt you.
is your oil OK? its not losing coolant through your oil cooler is it? but i suppose a pressure test would have indicated if that was crackered.

Nothing shows when pressure tested I drove for 60 miles with no heating on no drop then I drove with the heating on for 30 miles with heat and it dropped that made me think it was the matrix and the heating valves were shut when pressure tested but I can't smell antifreeze either and it hasn't dropped anymore.

totally does my head in it also misfired on cylinder 5 then I reset it and it hasn't returned yet ,no wonder vag stopped fitting this engine although Skoda use the 3.6.

 

[dr_skids]

Things occurred on My Nov 2004 DSG since I bought in May 2010 (it had 41000miles then):
anti-rollbar klunking at rear.
knocking from front n/s wing was cracked suspension spring - replaced both.
All round brake disc and pads at 50k
A FOC recall fix to cooling circuit
Holed radiator
Worrying slack in gearbox/clutch for cold hill-start (feels like 18 again with embarrassing kangaroo jumps).

NOTE these have all come along during the 40 months ownership and it has been yearly serviced between 2 dealerships.
i only use it at weekends. 58000 on clock now.

Previous Boxster was not quite as expensive (!) did 120000miles in 12 years.

Dr. Skids

 

[screechmr2]

Before you go getting worried about a 3.2 most of the problems mentioned are not specific to the 3.2. For example dsg, springs, radiator etc I don't get the all round discs and pads being mentioned, that's just consumable items.

For more advice on the engine you're better off looking at the r32 forum.

 

[gixerson]

Things occurred on My Nov 2004 DSG since I bought in May 2010 (it had 41000miles then):
anti-rollbar klunking at rear.
knocking from front n/s wing was cracked suspension spring - replaced both.
All round brake disc and pads at 50k
A FOC recall fix to cooling circuit
Holed radiator
Worrying slack in gearbox/clutch for cold hill-start (feels like 18 again with embarrassing kangaroo jumps).

NOTE these have all come along during the 40 months ownership and it has been yearly serviced between 2 dealerships.
i only use it at weekends. 58000 on clock now.

Previous Boxster was not quite as expensive (!) did 120000miles in 12 years.

Dr. Skids

Apart from the gearbox i'd rake those all up s normal wear and tear.

 

[neillee123]

Don't listen to the doubters mate, I have one and its awesome even tho its had a few problems but thats cars for ya!

Go buy it and enjoy it, these are a nice under the radar car that surprise people daily especially ST2 drivers!

 

[london jay]

Thanks for all the advice and comments guys.
After driving it yesterday, I made an offer and am picking 'her' up on sunday!!

Jay.

 

[neillee123]

Lovely looking car, enjoy!

 

[BradV6]

Exactly the same as mine!

 

[london jay]

Is it Brad?! Nice one mate!!

Jay

 

[Kaibo]

You made the right decision, it may not be the fastest but for noise alone, I can't think of a car sound I'd rather have. I'm guessing you're London, I'm by Heathrow if you want to hear what a non resonated sounds like ; )

Cheers Kai

 

[london jay]

Cheers Kai.
That sounds cool mate!!

 

[BradV6]

Here's mine, this was just after i bought it last year, same picutre pretty much!

[/URL]

 

[london jay]

Quality Brad!!!!