If you were buying an S3.....

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slowcoach3

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Hi, I'm looking at a couple of S3's at the moment, just wondering what peoples opinions are.... One is 100% standard, 130k miles, recent cambelt and recent £2500 Audi service full service history etc £4000 or Same price 95k miles and remap, service history, also in good shape, apparantly running 275bhp?
If I but a standard one i'm going to play with it a little, TIP, map exhaust etc, I'm a little worried about buying one that has had quite a lot done to it but I'm also worried that if I buy one with a high mileage it won't be worth a penny in a year or twos time!! What would you do?!
Any advice or opinions greatly appreciated...
 
hmm well i dont have an s3 but do have a a3 quattro next best thing. jojo is selling his s3 on ere which you will know has been looked after.

regarding the other two 275bhp at 95k with no internal work seems a bit dodgy to me although it all depends on the torque figures its showing as the rods in these cars dont like big torque figures if he has a print out ask for the torque figures.

reaching 275bhp on standard is either tip exhaust and stage 2 map or hybrid k04 and tip for over that bare in mind torque kills rods.
 
Cheers Syvo, the mapped one is from a dealer, they claim no knowledge! I'm guessing the guy who sold it returned it mostly to stock...? I like the look of Jojo's S3 but mileage and fixing the Haldex means its a bit of a gamble for me. We all want something thats perfect straight away!
 
Making a decision on that information alone is too hard IMO

cambelt done on the 95K

Clutch change on either and how long ago?

Do you have Vagcom to scan for fault codes?

Audi long life servicing on either of them?

What remap is the second one running? It's worth checking that the fuelling is correct.

Which one has a more complete history, folder of receipts?

Any Rust or bubbling paintwork? stone chipped front bumper?

interior spec and condition? I.e. DIS with no dead pixels, seats in good condition?

Do they warm up to 90 degrees and stay there?

Maf & coilpacks changed on either of them?

etc etc. lol
 
I'd be more worried of mileage than a remap. If you take a car that's been running OEM for 130k miles you are changing the way that car runs and it may start to show shortcomings in the car that won't yet be apparent.

At least with the mapped car you have a true picture of end game.

And yes, worth looking at JoJo's car; seen it at AITP and it looks a very nice motor.
 
slowcoach3 said:
Cheers Syvo, the mapped one is from a dealer, they claim no knowledge! I'm guessing the guy who sold it returned it mostly to stock...? I like the look of Jojo's S3 but mileage and fixing the Haldex means its a bit of a gamble for me. We all want something thats perfect straight away!
Click to expand...

have a word with jojo to see if he could get hold of a haldex and fit it and buy that off him im sure from reading his posts and threads he does look after the car
 
Dane said:
Making a decision on that information alone is too hard IMO

cambelt done on the 95K

Clutch change on either and how long ago?

Do you have Vagcom to scan for fault codes?

Audi long life servicing on either of them?

What remap is the second one running? It's worth checking that the fuelling is correct.

Which one has a more complete history, folder of receipts?

Any Rust or bubbling paintwork? stone chipped front bumper?

interior spec and condition? I.e. DIS with no dead pixels, seats in good condition?

Do they warm up to 90 degrees and stay there?

Maf & coilpacks changed on either of them?

etc etc. lol
Click to expand...

good point dane the list can be endless
 
Both have full service history, both rust free, 95k one had cambelt at 65k. It was more a general question on wether you'd prefer one that is newer but with high mileage ( 2001) or older (1999) but with 35k less miles.... Spec is the same but the older one doesn't have facelift lights which is sad....!!
 
I guess your getting more for your money on the 95K so it would be that one for me I reckon, going on the info
 
Is it hard / expensive to retrofit the facelift lights?
 
different wiring loom and bits need to be taken out of the wing IIRC but do able fo sho
 
I did that on my A3... Not difficult just a little cutting and grinding, I'm guessing you wouldn't need to do that on the S3 though?
 
I'd go with the lower mileage and remap.
Standard remaps are nothing to worry about really.
I betting that the garage has thrown 275bhp out as a random guess, itll probably be more like 250bhp.
Either way with the remap you can take it to somewhere like R-Tech get them to have a look at it and stick a new reliable map on for peace of mind and about 250 quids... Think thats what i would do and once you drive a mapped S3 you wont want to go back!
 
Whereabouts are you located? Mine is possibly up for sale for a sensible price. 91k miles, new clutch at 84k, not remapped. Spec as below.

Cheers,
 
audi upgrades
At that sort of milage on either car then I'd be looking for the oil pick up pipe to have been replaced. An Audi FSH is good to have but really means nothing as my car proves,

Also if you don't have vag-com you could buy a cheap scanner from eBay. I have one and atleast it would show if there were codes or not.
 
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