3 door v 5 door RESIDUALS?

[max_b]

sorry guys if this has been covered before.....

just trying to gain some views, am pretty much (subject to test drive) going to order a 2.0 tdi sport sportback, but still have the thought of going for 3 door tdi sport version at this stage

what do you guys think will hold a stronger resale value in 2 years time? the 3 door or 5 door?

cheers
max

 

[cdb2]

My views!

I think the 5 door for 3 reasons :-

1) If you buy now, the Sportback is right up to date and has the new grille. The 3 door doesn't get the new grille until next Summer according to Audi UK Customer Services. I'm assuming the current 3 door A3's with the old grille will then suffer a drop in residuals as new grille 3 doors come onto the second hand market. I'd therefore say in 2 years time a 3 door will be worth less than an identical 5 door bought on the same day as it will be the 'old' face of Audi.

2) I think the 5 door will probably have a larger market.

3) Someone said somewhere that the 5 door has historically had better residuals than the 3!

Just my opinions so I won't be donning the flame retardant suit just yet!

 

[yak]

I haven't noticed any difference in residuals with 5-door and 3-door versions of A3, at least not in Finland. This might not be the case in UK.

I'd estimate they have pretty much the same residuals, and other features make the actual difference, while Sportback/3-door difference will only fall to margin of error.

But it's impossible to say yet.

- Yak

 

[bravepilot]

max_b,

cdb2 is I think correct about the Grille on the front of the car (and new Le Mans style rear lights), whether you love or hate them, the fact that they are 'newer' will make them more attractive to future buyers (incidently, I think the new grille is fantastic... looks mean, and imposing).
In terms of residual value, it is true that 5 doors hold their value better than 3 in the UK, but not by any significant margin. General rule of thumb for 5 door prices is to take the value of the 3 door and add £500, but that is the same when buying brand new as well. Try taking a look in Parker's price guides at the old A3, and see the differences there.

If you have a lot of people sitting in the rear of your car currently, or will in the near future I would recommend the 5 door (it can be a bit of a struggle to get out of the back of the 3 door), but if you don't, just go and choose which one you prefer the look of. Personally I prefer the larger back on the 5 door as well.

Hope this helps?

 

[max_b]

agree with all the above views but just playing devils advocate now,
with the older shape a3 model, i dont see as many tdi 130 bhp models available second hand (except the very late run cars which are still fetching silly money esp in quattro form) but with the new shape model the tdi 140 bhp seems to be taking a fairly large share of the sales of the new shape

now (if your still with me) in say 2 years time there will be a LOT more new shape a3 diesels in comparison to now, where i dont seem to see as many older shape tdi's, so even considering both the 3 and 5 door will have the new grill will the 5 door still command the extra premium, or even so will the diesels still command a premium over the petrol(fsi) engines, with so mant more of them being available?

phew! did say playing devils advocate! whats the views now?
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