Audi S3, 2 days of ownership, complete nightmare!!

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criztal

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Hi All

So its been a long time since i was on here last , so a big HELLO once again!!

In my time, i have owned 5 Audi S3's, all a total dream, so when i was looking for my new car, i fancied a bit of a change and saw an A5 at Stratford upon Avon Audi that caught my eye so thought id pop down for a look, and there she was, parked right next to her, Audi S3, fully loaded and speced, i slowly lost interest in the A5!!!

Took the S3 out for a blast felt right to be in it, so decided to purchase the car!

This is where the problems began!!! Car is on a 2007, 35k on the clock, 1 owner, complete mint car, drove it back to london, slept lightly hoping its a dry day the next day to take it for a blast!!

Took it out, 15mins later engine management light is on, call Audi assist ( thank god i bought from a main dealer) who diagnosed it as a misfire on cylinder 3, tested coils and sparks, all ok, only problem can be the cylinder itself, being a sunday audi was closed, no loan car available :(

Monday morning, called Watford Audi, took the car there, now the engine light is off, but the car is not boosting correctly, and sounds worse than a diesel.

Due to the fact the engine management light is off Audi Watford master tech has claimed they cannot do anything to replace the cylinder under warranty as the fault is not showing even though it is logged on the ECU?

Does this sound right to you guys? i also submitted the audi assist tech notes so they know what diagnostics where done to the car on my driveway when they attended.

I am also getting pretty crappy MPG, ive driven it like a pansy not going over 2k RPM on a 10-12 mile journey and am struggling to get 20mpg? That also does not sound right!!

Any feedback you guys can give would be appreciated, due to collect the car possibly tonight

Thanks in advance for your comments
 
They already have evidence that the problem lay in cylinder 3 from Audi Assist....take it back,and ask for your money back.
 
Very sorry to hear this but as the guys say you are quite within your rights to hand the car back.
Have you spoken to the supplying dealer,they should be able to resolve this for you..
 
Hi

Yes ive spoken to stratford upon avon audi, who also claimed they would take the car back, but to be honest, i dont want to give it back!! I want them to step up and rectify the fault, the car was fully serviced prior to collection also
 
criztal said:
Hi

Yes ive spoken to stratford upon avon audi, who also claimed they would take the car back, but to be honest, i dont want to give it back!! I want them to step up and rectify the fault, the car was fully serviced prior to collection also
Click to expand...
Hopefully they will step up to the mark and get it sorted for you,i would have thought this is the very least they can do for you..
 
Give them a chance to fix it, and get them to warrant the part they fix. Say 12 months.

If not, fack it off.
 
criztal said:
Hi Yes ive spoken to stratford upon avon audi, who also claimed they would take the car back, but to be honest, i dont want to give it back!! I want them to step up and rectify the fault, the car was fully serviced prior to collection also
Click to expand...
I can see what you're saying,but be very sure you want to keep it,and if you do,that ALL of the problems are rectified to your satisfaction first.
 
Ring Audi UK and tell them your issues.

If you don't get the answer you want, hand the car back! It could be one of those where something different goes wrong every few months.
 
a quick update.......

So Watford Audi where i handed the car into do the repair claim there is no fault on the car!!!! Even though it states on the ECU readout missfire on cylinder 3, shocking to be honest! Spoke to the service manager, and the master tech at Audi Watford, wait for it............exact response was the following "as we cannot find a fault on the vehicle, we are unable to investigate this fault any further" i reply with " but there is a fault, have you not read the ECU?? Is this a money issue for you?" the service manager replys " COUGH, well ermm sir, as there is no engine management light on the car, Audi warranty will not pay for the cost of the repair, and within the first 14 days of sale, the car needs to go back to the dealer from where it was purchased" I then asked for a document stating that within the sales invoice and he failed to present it to me. LOL, in essence, afraid they would not get paid and hence did not want to get involved, they are my local dealer, i have used them before, and on every occasion failed to perform, in my opinion, Audi Watford are a complete waste of space.

Back on the phone to Stratford upon Avon Audi, who are now going to go to Audi Watford (240 miles round trip) collect the car from the tools at Audi Watford, replace the injector, along with the "bucket" in the fuel pump (??) and ensure the car is in perfect working order, hats off to them, they are doing all they can to help in the situation.....

In the meantime, ill be writing a letter to Audi HQ, with the details of the complete timewasters i came in contact with at Watford Audi.

I got a cracking deal on this car from a main dealer, my intention is not to give it back, however, i do have that right for the first 30 days, or 1000 miles to return it, previously a one owner car so registered to HSBC bank, well on the bright side, at least its not tax payers money! and the fact it has only 40k miles with 5 stamps from stratford audi, to include cambelt etc even MOTs where done there indicates the car has been well maintained in its time so should not present problems and hope this is just a one off thing.

I cant express enough my complete dismay at the way i was dealt with at Watford Audi, completely dropped the ball on this one.

Do you guys have any feedback on Audi Finchley Road? Any better experiences?
 
When you say cracking deal how good a deal was it? Hopefully the price and these issues wont be related
 
dc240969 said:
cambelt at 35k?
Click to expand...

or at 4 years old - looks like it's been done by the book (by age rather than miles). Guess the car was someone's company car so everything done with no expense spared, can see why the OP wants to hang onto it.

OP - it sounds like it's worth taking 1 day off per year to get the car serviced at the supplying dealer and enjoying the drive. I have to do this to get my bike serviced as the nearest KTM dealer is 70 miles away.
 
Hi Guys

Just an update for you on the car, so, it went back Audi Stratford upon avon, and guess what? Cylinder 3 fault, missed by Audi Watford, actually needed replacing! So parts ordered and hope to get the car back later this week, after 2 weeks of ownership, the car has spend 1.5 days in my hands running like a bag of nails and cant wait to get it back and see what its really like!

Few guys asked what deal i got on it, well its a 2007 model, silver, black leather, sunroof, sat nav, Bose, centre armrest, 40k on the clock, 1 owner, i paid 12300 for it from Audi.

After all the grief ive had, ive also managed to get a free service, and another years warranty out of Audi so 2 years in total, I argued if you are so sure your cars and workmanship is upto scratch after the issues ive had you would not mind extending it by another year, if not, im happy to give the car back, got the warranty lol!

Ill get some pics up when i actually get the car back!
 
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One more thing, im not into slating people, or making negative comments online, however, if you dare walk into Watford Audi, dont ask, or expect too much, they are completely incompetent to the point i actually called them to say why didnt you know what your doing? When Listers Audi knew theyre stuff, id like to speak to the master tech to get his view, i was given nothing but grief for even asking! Full complaint made to Audi HQ, i will be in future keeping well celar of this dealership, and advise you do the same!
 
Glad to hear you have it sorted i thought the supplying dealer would come good.Nice job with the extra years warranty,
sounds like it was 12.3k well spent to me..:yes:
 
criztal said:
a quick update.......

I got a cracking deal on this car from a main dealer, my intention is not to give it back, however, i do have that right for the first 30 days, or 1000 miles to return it.............
Click to expand...

That might be the deal on your Audi warranty, but you have a statutory right to expect them to rectify faults which occur during the first three months as these are deemed to have been present at time of purchase.

This has to be a applied with some common sense. You couldn't expect a two grand engine replacement on a £1000 fifteen year old car, but un this case the dealer should take the car back and refund the price.

You have got a good deal but have paid a lot of money for a high quality, reasonably young car. All faults occurring in first three months should be covered.
 
criztal said:
a quick update.......

So Watford Audi where i handed the car into do the repair claim there is no fault on the car!!!! Even though it states on the ECU readout missfire on cylinder 3, shocking to be honest! Spoke to the service manager, and the master tech at Audi Watford, wait for it............exact response was the following "as we cannot find a fault on the vehicle, we are unable to investigate this fault any further" i reply with " but there is a fault, have you not read the ECU?? Is this a money issue for you?" the service manager replys " COUGH, well ermm sir, as there is no engine management light on the car, Audi warranty will not pay for the cost of the repair, and within the first 14 days of sale, the car needs to go back to the dealer from where it was purchased" I then asked for a document stating that within the sales invoice and he failed to present it to me. LOL, in essence, afraid they would not get paid and hence did not want to get involved, they are my local dealer, i have used them before, and on every occasion failed to perform, in my opinion, Audi Watford are a complete waste of space.

Back on the phone to Stratford upon Avon Audi, who are now going to go to Audi Watford (240 miles round trip) collect the car from the tools at Audi Watford, replace the injector, along with the "bucket" in the fuel pump (??) and ensure the car is in perfect working order, hats off to them, they are doing all they can to help in the situation.....

In the meantime, ill be writing a letter to Audi HQ, with the details of the complete timewasters i came in contact with at Watford Audi.

I got a cracking deal on this car from a main dealer, my intention is not to give it back, however, i do have that right for the first 30 days, or 1000 miles to return it, previously a one owner car so registered to HSBC bank, well on the bright side, at least its not tax payers money! and the fact it has only 40k miles with 5 stamps from stratford audi, to include cambelt etc even MOTs where done there indicates the car has been well maintained in its time so should not present problems and hope this is just a one off thing.

I cant express enough my complete dismay at the way i was dealt with at Watford Audi, completely dropped the ball on this one.

Do you guys have any feedback on Audi Finchley Road? Any better experiences?
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it's being sorted for you.

I bought mine from Whetstone Audi, but Watford Audi are my local dealership & the same franchise as Whetstone - I've not had to use them in 6 months of ownership & I'm worried! I think if I get any issues I'll go back to Whetstone!

You said you've used Watford before? how are they with standard servicing?

Thanks.
 
Artimus said:
Glad to hear it's being sorted for you.

I bought mine from Whetstone Audi, but Watford Audi are my local dealership & the same franchise as Whetstone - I've not had to use them in 6 months of ownership & I'm worried! I think if I get any issues I'll go back to Whetstone!

You said you've used Watford before? how are they with standard servicing?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

They're all part of M25 Audi. At least on the sales side Finchley road Audi they are useless. I got my car from a different dealer in the end and even though Finchley road Audi are a 5 min drive away I shall not be taking it there for servicing.
 
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Reactions: Artimus
Old-Boy-Racer said:
That might be the deal on your Audi warranty, but you have a statutory right to expect them to rectify faults which occur during the first three months as these are deemed to have been present at time of purchase.

This has to be a applied with some common sense. You couldn't expect a two grand engine replacement on a £1000 fifteen year old car, but un this case the dealer should take the car back and refund the price.

You have got a good deal but have paid a lot of money for a high quality, reasonably young car. All faults occurring in first three months should be covered.
Click to expand...

Spot on, except it's six months :)
 
So the fault was #3 cylinder?

Personally i'd be taking it back, but then i would never buy a low mileage car, they're nothing but trouble.
Give me a high mileage FSH car any day of the week.
 
Hi there,

im new to this forum and currently on the lookout for an s3, 08 or 07, for about the same price and miles. I've been trawling eBay, pistonheads, auto trader and some Audi dealerships, but they seem to be charging a huge premium? I've viewed a couple from small back street garages or independent dealers, but I'm not seeing any that give me the confidence to stick my hand in my pocket.

so, my question to the good folk of this forum - anyone seen the car I'm after sat at a main dealer, unmolested, at roughly the same price (after haggling) that Criztal here paid?

thanks in advance for your help.
sean
 
gixerson said:
but then i would never buy a low mileage car, they're nothing but trouble.
Give me a high mileage FSH car any day of the week.
Click to expand...

Are you serious??
Never heard that before.
 
Last edited:
Shwancapstan said:
Hi there,

im new to this forum and currently on the lookout for an s3, 08 or 07, for about the same price and miles. I've been trawling eBay, pistonheads, auto trader and some Audi dealerships, but they seem to be charging a huge premium? I've viewed a couple from small back street garages or independent dealers, but I'm not seeing any that give me the confidence to stick my hand in my pocket.

so, my question to the good folk of this forum - anyone seen the car I'm after sat at a main dealer, unmolested, at roughly the same price (after haggling) that Criztal here paid?

thanks in advance for your help.
sean
Click to expand...

Why not start a new thread instead of posting in this thread???
 
crunchie said:
Are you serious??
Never heard that before.
Click to expand...

Yep.

As with anything in life there are exceptions, but on the whole cars with low mileage are more trouble than they are worth.
In my experience there are 3 reasons for low mileage:

1/ The cars been clocked
2/ The car has been parked for long periods of time
3/ The car has been used mainly for short journeys

All 3 will dramatically affect the car in a negative way, a few examples.

#1 Obvious really.

#2 Cars that sit for long periods especially in damp environments like the UK really really suffer, moisture builds up both externally and internally.
As nothing is bought up to operating temps on a regular basis, things like brake fluid, fuel, oil, silicon seals, tyres etc etc all start suffering, which in turn causes even more problems as even more moisture is allowed in.

#3 Likely to be some disagreements here, but in my opinion this is even worse than the above, as it allows certain components to get up certain temps while others not so much.


Been in or around the car trade for the last 30 years or so and can run a off a list of experiences to back up my opinion as long as a tall persons arm.
Recently though, had a guy bring his 930 series 911 for some work, he was complaining that the car had such a good reputation yet he'd had nothing but problems with it.
I asked how often it was driven and was told around 50km a month.
Told him to use the car as much as possible, he did and the car has been THAT good he now uses it as his daily driver.

Again there are obviously exceptions, but generally fleet cars tend to be used, abused BUT serviced regularly and with no expense spared.

You have to think that at 100k miles most mid 90's onwards cars are barely run in, my MX5 is running 13 psi of boost as is just knocking on the door of 200k miles.
So mileage isn't really a problem, it's more how they are serviced and how they are driven.


To clarify again, there are exceptions, so it's imperative that you check the car over thoroughly and take each car on it's merits.
For me though i would take a regularly serviced (i.e. FSH from a reputable garage) 100k 2007 S3 that was in good condition, over a 30k miles 2007 S3 in the same condition any day of the week.

When i bought my 3.2 A3 earlier in the year i didn't even both looking at anything that hadn't done at least 8k a year.


The op's car has done around 130 miles a week average, or 18 miles a day.
That's either a LOT of small trips or a LOT of the car sitting around doing nothing.

Obviously people are going to disagree, but i don't know anyone in the car trade that would buy a low mileage car for themselves unless it was something pretty special.
 
There are arguments both ways.
My S3 for instance, 58 plate, 24k, garaged always and when it is used it usually does at least 50/60 miles as I have a MK4 Golf for running about in.
I see what you're saying about short journeys, kills the engine as the oil/engine is cold for most of the miles it covers.
I'm usually weary of low milers which is why I document my mileage every month as proof :)
 
audi upgrades
I test drove the op's car,good to see it went to an ASNer
 
crunchie said:
There are arguments both ways.
My S3 for instance, 58 plate, 24k, garaged always and when it is used it usually does at least 50/60 miles as I have a MK4 Golf for running about in.
I see what you're saying about short journeys, kills the engine as the oil/engine is cold for most of the miles it covers.
I'm usually weary of low milers which is why I document my mileage every month as proof :)
Click to expand...

As i say there are always exceptions and each car needs to be judged on it's own merits.
If i saw a 100k S3 with a FSH all from the same garage, in the same hand writing, in the same ink, i'd probably walk away (in fact i have done), likewise if a car is garaged it makes a MASSIVE difference.

For me personally though unless there was something particularly special about the car, i would not buy a low mileage car.
 
I understand the theory, but agree there can be too many variables to condemn a car just because of low mileage! I tend to think that 95% of cars with 20,000 miles under their belt will usually have had any factory issues solved before then! in contrast, a dealer will put light blue smoke when up to temperature down to normal wear on a high miler and not do anything about it.
 
audi upgrades
Thanks for all the input guys. Got the car back from Stratford Audi last night, and have been in it ever since! I must say the power on it now is much better and pulls like a train, replaced injector in cylinder 3 to resolve the issue. One question i did have is the engine to me sounds a little tappety, almost diesely, i did ask the master tech at Listers who told me this is normal with Tfsi engine, would u guys say the same? While i still have the 1000 mile or 30 day money back gaurantee from Audi, i was thinking to take it along to AMD in Harrow to get them to simply have a listen, once again thanks for the input on this guys
 
criztal said:
Thanks for all the input guys. Got the car back from Stratford Audi last night, and have been in it ever since! I must say the power on it now is much better and pulls like a train, replaced injector in cylinder 3 to resolve the issue. One question i did have is the engine to me sounds a little tappety, almost diesely, i did ask the master tech at Listers who told me this is normal with Tfsi engine, would u guys say the same? While i still have the 1000 mile or 30 day money back gaurantee from Audi, i was thinking to take it along to AMD in Harrow to get them to simply have a listen, once again thanks for the input on this guys
Click to expand...
When the bonnets up on my 33,000 mile 2.0TFSI it sounds ****** awful ..wouldn't describe it as tappety, but 'clicky' would be more accurate! I assume it's the high pressure injectors doing their bit & since I've never had performance issues, believe it's normal for the engine! Can't really hear it much when the bonnet's shut, but I'm not happy a petrol engine should sound so ...crap really.
 
gixerson said:
Yep.

As with anything in life there are exceptions, but on the whole cars with low mileage are more trouble than they are worth.
In my experience there are 3 reasons for low mileage:

1/ The cars been clocked
2/ The car has been parked for long periods of time
3/ The car has been used mainly for short journeys

All 3 will dramatically affect the car in a negative way, a few examples.

#1 Obvious really.

#2 Cars that sit for long periods especially in damp environments like the UK really really suffer, moisture builds up both externally and internally.
As nothing is bought up to operating temps on a regular basis, things like brake fluid, fuel, oil, silicon seals, tyres etc etc all start suffering, which in turn causes even more problems as even more moisture is allowed in.

#3 Likely to be some disagreements here, but in my opinion this is even worse than the above, as it allows certain components to get up certain temps while others not so much.


Been in or around the car trade for the last 30 years or so and can run a off a list of experiences to back up my opinion as long as a tall persons arm.
Recently though, had a guy bring his 930 series 911 for some work, he was complaining that the car had such a good reputation yet he'd had nothing but problems with it.
I asked how often it was driven and was told around 50km a month.
Told him to use the car as much as possible, he did and the car has been THAT good he now uses it as his daily driver.

Again there are obviously exceptions, but generally fleet cars tend to be used, abused BUT serviced regularly and with no expense spared.

You have to think that at 100k miles most mid 90's onwards cars are barely run in, my MX5 is running 13 psi of boost as is just knocking on the door of 200k miles.
So mileage isn't really a problem, it's more how they are serviced and how they are driven.


To clarify again, there are exceptions, so it's imperative that you check the car over thoroughly and take each car on it's merits.
For me though i would take a regularly serviced (i.e. FSH from a reputable garage) 100k 2007 S3 that was in good condition, over a 30k miles 2007 S3 in the same condition any day of the week.

When i bought my 3.2 A3 earlier in the year i didn't even both looking at anything that hadn't done at least 8k a year.


The op's car has done around 130 miles a week average, or 18 miles a day.
That's either a LOT of small trips or a LOT of the car sitting around doing nothing.

Obviously people are going to disagree, but i don't know anyone in the car trade that would buy a low mileage car for themselves unless it was something pretty special.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with all this. Just means there are bargains to be had for those 'in the know'. I just bought a 160k car with full vag history at a snip - still runs like a dream, but try convincing the average punter its not all about mileage..
 
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