Hmmm....Do I buy this A3?

[S3 HODGE]

Hey all, I havent really left the forum after selling my S3 to be honest but ive already got my eyes on a cheapo A3 as a daily runabout.

BUT, heres the story...

Basicaly ive found a Treg, 69k, White, 1.6 Audi A3 for sale fairly cheap. The only problem with the car is the headgasket Hence why its so cheap. Its in really good condition in and out and looks like it has been very well looked after. The headgasket I can get from TPS for £60 and im paying my friend £40 to help me fit it....So £100 gets it fixed on the road and ive got myself a bargain! But, I was wondering what kind of money im looking at if the heads fecked due to the headgasket being gone? He told me that since he knew of the headgasket going he only drove it about 15 miles? He seems like a genuinely nice bloke but cant tell knowerdays..
Any thoughts or help would be much apprechiated.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[sulaiman]

Stay away from the 1.6, very underpowered and as a result thirsty on fuel. Look at a 1.8 20v non turbo if you want a petrol run around.

 

[S3 HODGE]

Ive been looking at both 1.6 and 1.8's....Reason to sway towards a 1.6 is that its alot cheaper to insure then the 1.8.

 

[emery1990]

I probally wouldnt trust him, or find out whats involved when a headgasket blows to try and find out how much it would cost to fix in the worst scenerio possible, if its still much cheaper than a normal healthy 1.6 then go for it. Why not go for a tdi as daily run about, the 90bhp tdi will probally be a better drive than the 1.6, giving 100bhp i think. then could get the tdi remapped to 115bhp or something.

 

[S3 HODGE]

I probally wouldnt trust him, or find out whats involved when a headgasket blows to try and find out how much it would cost to fix in the worst scenerio possible, if its still much cheaper than get a normal healthy 1.6 then go for it. Why not go for a tdi as daily run about, the 90bhp tdi will probally be a better drive than the 1.6, giving 100bhp i think. then could get the tdi remapped to 115bhp or something.

Thanks Emery but the TDi's are a far bit more expensive....The worst case scenerio is the head would need skimming im guessing? Which wont be a problem because i know Engineers that could do it on the cheap. But its in WHITE! i love the white ones and there like rocking horse **** in this condition with fairly low milage for age. Plus i may have some BBS's in my room ready for it

Adam

 

[emery1990]

Yer they are very dear the tdis!. Id go for it, if its cheap, cant the rods( or pistons, heard it bends something sometimes) bend or something if the head gasket goes?

yer thats proper cheap for what you could be potentially be getting, get it done cheap and maybe able to sell it on when need be for more.

Get them bbs on asap though lol!

 

[S3 HODGE]

Yer they are very dear the tdis!. Id go for it, if its cheap, cant the rods( or pistons, heard it bends something sometimes) bend or something if the head gasket goes?

Yea to much money the TDi's. Ive just found a good friend who works at a VW Dealer and he said hes up for comeing to look with me so i will keep you all updated.
But still please give ideas.

 

[tim-igoe]

i have a 1.6 and havnt had any problems with it so far and its got 145,000 on it. It also has no sign of the headgasket going. If I was you I would go for it mate. As you say the worst it could be is the head needs skimming.

 

[Gops]

I read somewhere that the 1.6 engines were not the ones to go for but the 1.8 ones were? Now not sure how true this is, i mean there are some people here with 1.6's and kept it immaculate, but the ones with those problems would have probably thrashed and will have other problems with it too? You may be thinking its a good bargain but just check it out first and make sure that its only the headgasket thats gone on it. Happened to me when i bought my first mondeo, it was the cambelt tensioners that broke, ended up replacing the tensioner, cambelt (valves were ok) but then ford gave me newer shorter valves, then i had to get thicker valve shims and then i had a juddering problem (coilpack) then the clutch wasnt well. Ended up spending 4 times more than i wanted to! I know they're dagenham dustbins but id never buy a cheap car unless it was well inspected. Hope that helps!

Gops

 

[ajda3]

. But its in WHITE! i love the white ones and there like rocking horse **** in this condition with fairly low milage for age. Plus i may have some BBS's in my room ready for it

It seems to me like you've already made your mind up lol.

 

[S3 HODGE]

Hmm, What are other peoples opionions on the 1.6? Are the 1.8's better?

 

[jojo]

Hmm, What are other peoples opionions on the 1.6? Are the 1.8's better?

Not sure why everyone has a problem with the 1.6, it's not that bad, really. I've driven a 1.6 and 1.8 20v, and there's not much in it, on paper, 25bhp, but driving around town, I doubt the extra performance will be noticeable, the 1.6 has enough torque low down, but feel thrashy at higher revs, the 1.8 20V likes to rev in comparison. Obviously, with the 1.8, it would most likely be higher spec' out the box.

Can't offer an opinion on purchasing the car you are looking at though, but you are right, 8L A3's in white are rare as.

 

[S3 HODGE]

Not sure why everyone has a problem with the 1.6, it's not that bad, really. I've driven a 1.6 and 1.8 20v, and there's not much in it, on paper, 25bhp, but driving around town, I doubt the extra performance will be noticeable, the 1.6 has enough torque low down, but feel thrashy at higher revs, the 1.8 20V likes to rev in comparison. Obviously, with the 1.8, it would most likely be higher spec' out the box.

Can't offer an opinion on purchasing the car you are looking at though, but you are right, 8L A3's in white are rare as.

Thanks Jojo, Its not so much for the performance im after...Im after a cheap run-around so the Bora doesnt have to be my daily :S. An A3 TDi would be perfect but theres none that are in my price bracket unfortanatly. Im hopefully going up to look at this A3 on Wednesday, so fingers crossed as I have got some rather nice BBS splits to go on and will buy a friends set of coilovers all to be put on at the weekend along with a full service (Including Green cotton panel filter ) and obviusly the headgasket issue.

 

[Broken Byzan]

The 1.6 is very old technology being an old 8v over the 20v on the 1.8. However if it was cheap enough you could buy it and fix it. Run around for a bit, if it doesn't suit you,sell it on..

As long as you are not expecting it to be a rocket ship or that much more economical than your old S3 then why not

 

[S3 HODGE]

The 1.6 is very old technology being an old 8v over the 20v on the 1.8. However if it was cheap enough you could buy it and fix it. Run around for a bit, if it doesn't suit you,sell it on..

As long as you are not expecting it to be a rocket ship or that much more economical than your old S3 then why not

Thanks for your input Mark, Im not expecting it to be a rocket ship as the Bora has a 2.3V5 and is really slow...Choseing the 1.6 over the 1.8 because of the differance in insureance....Not forgeting im only young lol