Price plummet

Squirrelofdoom

Squirrelofdoom

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Seems to me that the market value of our beloved S3's has really dropped off recently...struggling to figure out why!

I remember when I was buying mine (about 2 years ago), it was common to see most decent examples up at the £3,000 mark...now it seems like even low milers with FSH are going for £2,000 - £2,500...

No particular point to this thread other than random observation :)
 
Everything always plateaus out at this age, they'll never drop below 2k though.
 
Then find out how much the new owner of a £2000 S3 has to spend within the first 6-12 months to keep the vehicle running and in tip top condition.

The decent examples that have been well maintained and looked after, regardless of cost to buy OEM parts are still around the £3000 mark.
 
TBH they are not much worse than other VAG stuff of a similar age, quite nice to work on compared to other manufacturers offerings too.

Wonder if tidy ones will eventually start going up in value.

Stuff it away in the garage for 25 years?!
 
I expect at some point, very clean and standard examples will go up as they hit "classic" status...but can't see that being any time soon
 
Since you purchased, there has been the 8V introduced though - so that will always have an impact...
 
Totally; I know of at least 3 people that have purchased an S3 in the past 9 months that have all gone down the slippery slope of shelling out on many repair bills and maintenance after buying what they thought was a bargain at around £2000.

You only need to see the amount of threads on ASN during the past 9-12 months that start...

"Hi new owner here and xxxxxx has gone wrong/broken/failed - please help"

I was one of those people some 5+ years ago when I thought I had a bargain S3 at the time of purchase.
 
JimS3 said:
TBH they are not much worse than other VAG stuff of a similar age, quite nice to work on compared to other manufacturers offerings too.

Wonder if tidy ones will eventually start going up in value.

Stuff it away in the garage for 25 years?!
Click to expand...

It's to do with supply vs demand. Demand for these cars are not great ATM, with people looking for more economical ways to get around. How many 8L S3 owners have swopped for a more economical car than to upgrade to the next model up?

There's quite a few for sale now also, and even though there's a lot of dogs about, they ultimately will drag the prices down. I'd still like to think a mint example will fetch better money.
 
I've seen properly mint examples still fetching £5k+...but those are prime, prime examples. As you say, fuel prices up = S3 costs down
 
Think at this age though they really are cars for enthusiasts who are handy with a spanner.

Wouldn't fancy the upkeep bills if you didn't know your **** from your elbow!
 
JimS3 said:
Think at this age though they really are cars for enthusiasts who are handy with a spanner.

Wouldn't fancy the upkeep bills if you didn't know your **** from your elbow!
Click to expand...

You wouldn't want to see my book of invoices on my car :laugh:

I don't even want to add them all up! lol
 
kwistof said:
You wouldn't want to see my book of invoices on my car :laugh:

I don't even want to add them all up! lol
Click to expand...

I can imagine! My folder of parts receipts is big enough and I get free labour, MOT's etc by doing it all myself.
 
I have a spreasheet with all the work that I have done on mine including servicing tyres etc... kills me to look at the total box every time...
 
DarkBunny said:
Since you purchased, there has been the 8V introduced though - so that will always have an impact...
Click to expand...

No it won't.

Not on a 12 year old performance car which has been sub 4k for years which has had a total revision since.
 
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16Klappe said:
No it won't.

Not on a 12 year old performance car which has been sub 4k for years which has had a total revision since.
Click to expand...

I appreciate that there has been a full revision in between, but think of it from a consumer point of view - if you can't buy brand new, you'll go with the version once before (not twice before).

Just my opinion...
 
Was just about to write an advert to put in classified section for our S3 and have just seen this post.I think I may have go reconsider my price though now:-(
But as jojo says the better examples should always be worth more However I may have to wait for a serious buyer although when I look at the cheaper ones most seem to have problems of some sort.
Just a shame I have had everything done and now it is time to sell :-(
 
I have just bought an S3 X reg for £3625, It is in mint condition, except for the steering rack being ********!
 
I bought mine a couple months ago for a "bargain" £2050 since then I have spent over £900 and still going. Just to sort it out. Really should have bought the first one I looked at for £3k
 
JA50N said:
Was just about to write an advert to put in classified section for our S3 and have just seen this post.I think I may have go reconsider my price though now:-(
But as jojo says the better examples should always be worth more However I may have to wait for a serious buyer although when I look at the cheaper ones most seem to have problems of some sort.
Just a shame I have had everything done and now it is time to sell :-(
Click to expand...

The right buyer who knows what they are looking for will pays good money for the right car in the right condition. Patience is key to asking top dollar for a good car. I generally ignore buyers who 'tell' me that the same spec car is cheaper on eBay etc., so I should sell it to them for the eBay price, right? Errr, no! If you like the eBay priced motor so much, jog on and buy that one instead!
In the event of me selling my S3, I hope it goes to a good home, someone willing to part a little bit more for a sorted(I hope) S3, in my opinion, and enjoy it as I have.
 
kwistof said:
Totally; I know of at least 3 people that have purchased an S3 in the past 9 months that have all gone down the slippery slope of shelling out on many repair bills and maintenance after buying what they thought was a bargain at around £2000.

You only need to see the amount of threads on ASN during the past 9-12 months that start...

"Hi new owner here and xxxxxx has gone wrong/broken/failed - please help"

I was one of those people some 5+ years ago when I thought I had a bargain S3 at the time of purchase.
Click to expand...

Market for lemons bud.

Underpriced = Usually something wrong
market value = may or may not be something wrong
over market value = usually in good nick
 
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I bought mine (2000 pre FL) a few weeks ago in the knowledge that a few things needed doing:

Cam belt change could not be proved although known to have been done
Roof rail on one side rust showing through - Im getting this done for £250
2 wheels kerbed and all 4 need repainting.
Headlights need rubbing down and coating.
Haldex service not shown - getting this done next week £60 +labour
Battery cover missing
Radio display on DIS some pixels missing

On the plus side MOT for 1 year and tax for 3 mths, RMC remap, Forge DV and Miltek rear.

Previous owner would not sell for below £2.4k so took the gamble.
I agree that the price for an all up together car is 3k
 
DarkBunny said:
I appreciate that there has been a full revision in between, but think of it from a consumer point of view - if you can't buy brand new, you'll go with the version once before (not twice before).

Just my opinion...
Click to expand...

If you cared about technology and revision; why would you buy a 12 year old hatchback?
 
Yes, low mileage helps but not if things need attending to.
Mine has done 108k, others I looked at were a lot more money, with lower miles but with issues.
E.g non xenon headlights, springs
These would have cost a lot to put back to standard fit.
 
I paid 4100 for a one owner, 80,000 miler, has porsche brakes, nice BBS rims, and new steering rack just fitted. FSH oil changes every 6k miles since new (condition of oil pickup strainer verifies that). But has 2 small dents in rear wing - oh and the blinking clutch started playing up on the way home - grrrrr. Don't think I got a bargain, but would hope to get at least what I paid in 12 month's time with the wing and clutch repaired....
 
I have a example of this a m8 of mine bought a S3 51 plate AMK 225 if i remember correct bought for 2k test drive was good it had a forge tip and induction kit on it drove it home 40 miles into the journey in slow traffic engine sounded terrible and fuel ritch.... engine light came on .... managed to get home a full engine rebuild and 900 pount later found that a piston had a hole in it and scratched up the bore.... its running ok now but the garage would not guarantee the rebuild as they dont know if it will happen again also some parts of interior in poor condition
 
Squirrelofdoom said:
Seems to me that the market value of our beloved S3's has really dropped off recently...struggling to figure out why!

I remember when I was buying mine (about 2 years ago), it was common to see most decent examples up at the £3,000 mark...now it seems like even low milers with FSH are going for £2,000 - £2,500...

No particular point to this thread other than random observation :)
Click to expand...

When I last looked I think the decent examples still hold their value quite well. I got mine 18 months ago. Paid £6,500 for an 03 plate full history low owners and 65K on the clocks. As previously said 2K examples usually are 2K because they need money spending on them. On the whole I think Audis are pretty good at keeping their value.
 
I paid 4250 for mine in september last year, since then ive spent thousands replacing the turbo, clutch, engine, water pump etc and cant imagine it selling for much more than 3k. The annoying thing is i sold a very clean s3 to buy the others s3 only because they were different colours :(
 
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JimS3 said:
Think at this age though they really are cars for enthusiasts who are handy with a spanner.

Wouldn't fancy the upkeep bills if you didn't know your **** from your elbow!
Click to expand...
This is me im afraid and yes it sucks!!!
 
I got my s3 for €2000 and I'd say I've put almost the same in to it since I bought it. They seem to sell for 4-5k here in Ireland. However, by doing all the work to it, I know that it is probably better now than if I had have shelled out 4-5k for one which may have still had lots of problems, and I know it inside and out now too!
 
andy1 said:
I paid 4250 for mine in september last year, since then ive spent thousands replacing the turbo, clutch, engine, water pump etc and cant imagine it selling for much more than 3k. The annoying thing is i sold a very clean s3 to buy the others s3 only because they were different colours :(
Click to expand...

Was it worth it?
 
At least you didn't swap an immaculate 2007 S Line TDI A3 for a 150k 1999 S3 that's been modified to ****, smashed up at the ring and has half it's interior missing then ruin the clutch on it a month later...
 
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