Help! Which optional extras?!

[DanKent]

Hello,

I'm new here, and have signed up as I'm now entitled to a company car so have been researching A3s, as I'd prefer one over the other choices (a Leon or Golf being 2nd and 3rd choice).

I'll be going with an Ibis White A3 Sportback Sport 1.6 TDi, but now need to decide on optional extras.

Are there any particular extras which most people go for or come highly recommended or you shouldn't be without?

I was going with the following to begin with:

Adaptive Xenon Lights
Bose Sound system
Flat tyre warning indicator
Storage pack
Privacy glass
USB Console
Leather interior

However I found out this will add another £50/month on to what I'd already paying in tax, so I decided to ditch the Xenons and tyre warning.

I've since found out I'll be paying more base tax for the car than initially quoted, so am thinking of ditching the privacy glass too, maybe the storage pack as well.

Is that a good idea? I'll be left with

Bose Sound system
USB Console
Leather interior

on top of the standard Sport spec.

Any help much appreciated!

 

[macpdm]

If it was me I would have the bose and the USB console and swop the leather for the xenons.Thats just my opinion though.

 

[Ash187]

i would keep...

Adaptive Xenon Lights
Bose Sound system
USB Console
Leather interior

then get the tints done yourself.
the leather interior should either be the half leather and alcantara or heated leather!

 

[Farhan]

defo go xenons
and leather bare essentials
also bose

all the others are fairly easy to retrofit later tbh but car will look stunning with the above

 

[h5djr]

Personally I would definitely keep the Xenons and would ditch the leather interior. I have never liked leather interiors and much prefer the normal cloth interior and certainly would not pay £785/1020/1225 for any of the leather interiors which would also need the £225 heated seats.

I tend to load my car with quite a lot of extras but mine is a private purchase so it's entirely up to me what I spend. I have just ordered a new A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI - 170 and included the following extras:

Metallic paint - Ice Silver metallic

17 x 7.5J 16-spoke alloys - 225/45 tyres

Comfort package - comprising

- Acoustic parking system - rear only

- Cruise control

- Light+Rain sensor package

Symphony radio

Interior light pack

Luggage pack

Dual-zone electronic climate control

No smoking package

Reversible load floor mat

Through-load system

Electric driver's seat

Electric lumbar support

Adaptive Xenon headlights

Door mirrors - folding

Tyre pressure loss indicator But as we always say it's each to his own.

 

[warren_S5]

Options I've had on recent cars, and my opinion of them (I've added a loosely defined key of red / amber / green for how difficult these options are to retrofit after you've got the car - given it's a company car you may not want to anyway. Red is very hard, amber is challenging but doable, and green is easy!):

Adaptive lights: OK if you live in the countryside or travel at night on lots of dark twisty roads, otherwise possibly an excess

Xenons: Love them, wouldn't be without

Leather interior: If you can't pay for heated go without as Dave says, cold leather seat are 'orrible!

Dimming interior / exterior mirrors: Suprisingly good, but probably an extravagance

Comfort pack (Heated washer jets / electric folding mirrors / auto lights / wipers): Really useful, a must. Auto wipers have improved a lot from 8P2 to 8P3 so worth considering as it makes the car feel much more premium and means you have to think less!

Lumbar: Good, but once you've adjusted it you never seem to move it again. Not too sure of it's overall merits if you have to cut back - if you have a bad back then maybe you should

Nav: Hideously overpriced on A3, and outdated vs. competition, but provides a lovely looking OEM dash feel with huge SD card storage for music (64Gb overall), not an essential, but very nice / OEM

Bluetooth: If you make calls this is a must

Bose: If you don't want the hassle of peeling a lovely new car apart to get a better system in place this is a workable alternative, but I'm not convinced it adds a huge amount. My brother in law has standard speakers on Symphony and I have Bose on RNS-e and its quite close as the acoustics of the car are a limiting factor

AMI: Far improved from old iPod connection (where iPod was seen as an ext. CD autochanger). Not an essential if you have other stereo plans, but useful integration option

Tyre pressure monitoring: Considering it's ABS driven (rather than internal sensors in wheel), it's suprisingly accurate and has saved us on 2 occasions where we've had something in a tyre. As an option its cheaper than the potential alloy wheel damage you'd suffer if it went unnoticed.

Cruise control: You can fit this afterwards as a retrofit, so whilst it's nice its not essential

12v socket in boot / luggage pack: Useful as I regularly charge camera batteries and cart a cooler bag about in the summer

Parking sensors: The rear of the A3 is quite hard to judge. I know it's not a big car, but I have it on my latest car and just that sense of security that you don't have a low bollard lurking is quite nice. I have front on this car too for full on screen PDC, but as I can see where the front of the car is it doesn't add much, I just wanted the graphic for the rear.

Boot floor mat: If you carry stuff in your boot this is an essential as the carpets tend to fluff, and mark quite easily so well worth it, but can be added later.

Interior light pack: At these prices it's a travesty you should have to pay for things like this, but they do add a dimension to the interior and make it feel more premium. I've had it in both cars and wouldn't forego it.

Armrest: Mixed bag - useful storage but can get in the way when you're driving in a spirited manner or you want to store a drink in the holders!

Privacy glass: If its 3 door it can be fitted afterwards for £100 cash in hand. Probably cheaper than OEM option unless you do black pack combo.

no experience of USB, and whether iPod data comes on screen.

 

[DanKent]

Wow, thanks for the great responses! They have given me more a lot more to think about.

The main reason for my post is cost. We're looking to put our house on the market in the next few weeks and move, as well as get married in a year or two, so although I've love a whole heap of extras (like parking sensors and cruise control) I have to cut back and go with just the essentials as we want to put all our spare cash into our new place and saving for a wedding. However, I may well buy the car at the end of the 4 years, so part of me wants to ensure it has the main things which make it more sought after when I come to sell it.

Are the Adaptive Xenon lights that good? I guess you have to get the adaptive part too and can't just go for Xenons. They'd cost me an extra £18.50/month.

Half leather and alcantara - I read the alcantara marks and gets dirty easily, which is why full leather is better? Is this not correct?

I also read on some Audi forums, as commented here, that the BOSE sound system isn't that much better than the standard system.

 

[Ash187]

Bose is better on the A3, i hear its pants on the TT though.

Alcantara all the way! i have the dark grey so it doesnt look dirty but so comfortable, no sliding around or feeling really cold, or getting stuck to it on a hot summer day! no need to pay more for heated seats with Alcantara.


Xenons are a must! adaptives are even better! and with the law requiring washers and auto-levellers installed its worth getting them done at the factory.

cruise and parking sensors can always be fitted later and its not that much to fit when you want to.

also mate, good luck on wedding saving! its a PITA and sets you into debt! but i guess its a part of life.

 

[paultaylor]

Heated leather and Bose would be must haves for me, I've always had Xenons on previous cars but as current A3 was second hand I installed Diamond Vision 5000k bulbs and they are brilliant for £30

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2794569/5000k 1.JPG

 

[jagojon]

wouldnt you be better having a black edition, i found it was company car than adding in loads of options

 

[DanKent]

Okay I'm thinking I will go with this, after dropping the leather in favour of the Adaptive Xenons (you can't have just the Xenons, you have to have the adaptive part too) and the Bose speaker upgrade:

Storage pack (storage nets on front-seat backrests, storage compartment under driver’s seat, map compartment in glovebox, net on side of centre console and bag hooks in luggage compartment).
USB Console (so I can plug a nice fat 16GB stick in with MP3s on)
Flat tyre warning indicator
Adaptive Xenon Lights
Non-smoking package (free)
Comfort package (this is made up of rear parking sensors, cruise control, auto-dimming RVM, electric wing mirror which dim and are heated, windscreen sun band, auto headlights, auto wipers, coming home/leaving home function (not sure what this is, controlling an electric garage?) and would be £855 if buying the parts separately but the package is £510).

Thoughts?

 

[warren_S5]

Seems decent choice to me. Only thing I don't like is the nets on the centre console which look a bit manky after a couple of years of use in bro-in-laws car, but then the rest of the luggage pack is really good so it's probably worth it (he has kids, we dont and he needs the storage).

Verdict: Do it!

 

[pjr]

Would definitely pick the comfort pack - It's a lot of kit for not much outlay.

The coming home/leaving home lights are where the front fogs & tail lights stay on for a certain amount of time when you lock the car and it's dark outside (this is the coming home part) and also the front fogs & tail lights light up when you unlock the car in the dark (leaving home) - may also light up the LED DRLs if you have Xenons - I don't so can't confirm, but an A4 courtesy car I had did this.

I like them, although have lost count of the times someone has told me that I've left my lights on when walking away from the car!

 

[Ash187]

comfort pack - yes!
luggage pack - no!
lighting pack - ??

 

[jagojon]

just read my last post, didnt make sense did it?

when I ordered mine, it was pennies more to have a black edition than a sport (about £8 a month actually) i aslo added comfort pack , storage pack , sound pack and no smokers pack,

if you can claim mileage allowance you only get 13p a mile for a 1.6 but a 2.0 is 16p if its a company car. so helps pay the up grade.whatever you order i am sure you will be happy and its still only 13% BIK for a 140bhp manual model

all the best

jon

 

[1inchpunch]

Half leather at the very least will make one of the biggest differences to resale price if you ask me. When I bought mine I wouldn't even look at cars that didn't have this. I also think the Bose system is crap for the money. Haven't ever heard a good Bose system in a car. The ones in the 350z, 370z and gtr are also pretty poor.

 

[jagojon]

Half leather at the very least will make one of the biggest differences to resale price if you ask me. When I bought mine I wouldn't even look at cars that didn't have this. I also think the Bose system is crap for the money. Haven't ever heard a good Bose system in a car. The ones in the 350z, 370z and gtr are also pretty poor.

its a company car mate so i suppose resale prices dont matter

 

[1inchpunch]

He said he plans on buying it after the 4 years is up so would like it to be desirable to the second hand market and hopefully retain it's value for this.

 

[jagojon]

fair cop mate, sorryy

 

[phil_w]

Its tricky knowing what to do for the next company car - I'm in a dilemma over which to go for. I have a 120-ish mile round trip commute every day and have to fund that myself so economy is a must. 1.6TDI doesn't come in a Black Edition so S-line is tops but the Black Edition 2.0TDI is tempting as the economy on paper doesn't seem that far off and you get more as standard. However the BIK is going to change over the lease as the CO2 goalposts are moving and it'll start to make a difference over the 1.6 in 2012/13 and onwards...