A3 S line or S3 Quattro

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Zoowatch

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Hi guys,

I have been following this forum for quite a while and I am going to place an order for an A3 soon.

However, I am still torn between the A3 5-door 2.0 TDI S-line S Tronic and the S3 3-door 2.0 TFSI S Tronic. When I price up both cars with the options I want, the A3 is £36k while the S3 is £39k.

My annual mileage is 7000, and I use this car mostly for social and leisure. I live in Sheffield, and so I will be driving this car in an urban, semi-urban, motorway environment. Although the insurance group for the A3 and S3 are 21 and 36, respectively, the car insurance premium I was quoted differs only slightly. The road tax, on the other hand, is £30 vs £175.

I am most concerned about 2 things: the runnin cost (expenses on fuel on the quattro) and resell value/depreciation. So, could you give me some suggestions on this, please?

Thanks.
 
What Car have a calculator on their web site to compare the total cost of ownership of a petrol vs diesel. You'll have to make an educated guess about the real world fuel economy of the S3. The S3 will be more expensive in every way though.

I've got to say I'm surprised you are considering those two engines - they are very different. Have you not thought of the 1.8TFSI (possibly in quatro)? There is also a higher power TDI expected some time soon.

Have you test driven any A3s?
 
Given the miles you do (7000) I would be looking at the 1.4 COD, 1.8TFSI...or perhaps waiting for the 220bhp engine expected July/August.

The two cars you list are obviously very different (Diesel 5dr / Petrol 3dr), but I'd take the S3, even if it meant trimming the spec back to accommodate the S3 running costs!
 
audi upgrades
What on earth are you adding to it to get the price that high? I thought I had a lot of options!
 
Hi guys. Thanks for your input so far.

I will be checking the WhatCar? calculator to get some real-world figures. No, I have not test drive any of the A3's yet. But all the reviews I have read have been positive. I will also check out the 1.8 TFSI version.

The S3 is really quite tempting, but I would hate to end up having a beautiful car that costs a lot to run. That's why I have put some serious consideration into the 2.0 TDI A3. I know the 2 cars are rather different, but does both hold their value equally well if the optional extras are the same?

I have spec the cars to have, park assist, hill hold assist, drive assist, tech pack, B&O, variable headlight, heated seat & e-lumbar support, fine nappa, advance key, progressive steering, lane & side assist, pearlesence paint, dimmable centre mirror. Pretty much the bulk of what's on offer.

By the way, this is going to be my only family car (just the 2 of us; no kids yet).
 
Unless your mileage has the potential to increase significatly I'd go for the S3.

Do you really need all those options on either car?

My budgets is not as high as yours, so I've kept my potential S3 spec to a minimum of 'must have' items which for me is B&O and Comfort Pack and possibly a Sprint Blue/Sepang Blue paint job (ok not a must have in everyones eyes - but the blues really suit the S3!).

There is no way i'd spend £36K on a 2.0TDI A3, not when that would buy the S3 with a few less options, but each to their own!
 
Zoowatch said:
The S3 is really quite tempting, but I would hate to end up having a beautiful car that costs a lot to run. That's why I have put some serious consideration into the 2.0 TDI A3. I know the 2 cars are rather different, but does both hold their value equally well if the optional extras are the same?
Click to expand...

If your annual milage is only 7000 miles a year, and S3 isn't going to cost a great deal to run over a TDI. Remember a TDI only makes sense when doing decent miles/Journeys.

Over 3 years, both cars will need the same consumables over that time. Tyres being one. Yet if it's mostly motorway miles, and you don't drive it like you stole it, both cars should still be wearing it's original Tyres.

Does the difference in Road tax really matter that much? Not enough surely to go for a TDI over the S3.

One thing to remember with the TDI, is short Journeys and the DPF filter.

Personally, I'd trim the S3 spec back a bit, and buy that. Better to have a less common top of the range car, than to have a standard very common car. Just because it's a TDI doesn't mean it'll hold it's value better. If there are 100 S3's for sale in 3 years time, there'll be 1000 A3 TDI out there.
 
wab172uk said:
If there are 100 S3's for sale in 3 years time, there'll be 1000 A3 TDI out there.
Click to expand...

True. But the market for the S3 will be much smaller. It'll probably reflect what we see in the new market. I'd anticipate both being fairly similar in residual, with the S3 possibly holding marginally more.

I can understand how you're comparing these two cars. I've done it myself. I wouldn't bother with the 1.8 TFSi (fuel consumption likely to be broadly similar to the S3 but over 100ps less). I also feel you don't see much benefit from Quattro on cars below 200-250ps. The weight gain takes the edge off the performance.

Personally, at 7k pa I'd be getting the keys to an S3.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for your input.

I am now more inclined towards the S3 Sportback 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic with the following specs:

LIST 1

Estoril Blue
Star design alloy (standard)
Fine nappa leather (standard)
Technology package High with Audi Connect
Aluminium roof rails
B&O sound system
Driver assistance pack
Reversing camera
Hold assist
Interior light pack
Advanced key
Variable headlight range control
Auto-dimming rear-view mirror w. light and rain sensor pack
Adaptive headlights with Xenon+ headlights

working out to £38515 or £39335 ROTP

there are a number of optional extras which I have taken out when I originally spec'ed the A3 S line sportback. Things which I think I can do without are

LIST 2

Tyre pressure loss sensor
e-lumbar support
e-adjustable front seats
parking system plus with park assist
Audi side assist

So can I conclude that you guys prefer the S3 Sportback with extras in List 1 rather than the A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI S Line with all the extras in List 1 and List 2, given that the difference in price for these 2 cars are about £3200? I hope this is a wiser choice.

With regards to depreciation, I hope that the S3 wouldn't depreciate faster than the A3 S-line.
 
Last edited:
If you can afford to wait until next year, tyre pressure monitoring becomes required by law in new cars (already is in new models as of November last year) - though no doubt they will increase the prices to match!
 
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