A3 1.8t's price drop

camscockle20vT

The stigs ugly brother
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No not a sale thread, just been mooching the classifieds and noticed theres alot of a3's not selling or dropping the asking prices.

Iv noticed a few new comers recently, with the non turbo or 1.6 models, fair play to them, they wont be going very fast but still have a top car :)

Is it the hard times that are putting the nail in for the 1.8t, or is it that these cars are now out dated and out priced for many people, and only for the enthusiast?

To be honest i dont really care, but i feel sorry for these people that cant sell there cars for a price near what they paid, iv been stung on more than one occasion but thats life i suppose lol

Maybe this thread should be in the rant section (some may say deleted lol) but i think its a warrented discussion on what the price should be for peoples cars, maybe a what its worth section putting up(if its not been done and im just stupid and havent found it) somthing for people to gauge what there pride and joy is worth? As its all good adding up what youv spent but another thing what people will pay. And general consensous is always good from people in the know.

Thoughts and opinions on this would be good but il put up with nothing if atleast a few people check out the classifieds for these cheap motors, aswell as the s3's as they are also a dying breed these days.


Thanks ad
 
IMO as a prolific car dealer, any standard or generic (stage 1/crappy wheels and a gay exhaust) modified prefacelift A3 is a 1200 quid car no matter what condition, and any comparable (but not the better diesels) facelift car is sub 2K.

They're cheap cars, simples. If I was putting my car on the market, I'd put it up for a grand and a half.

For me, your standard 100K+ pre facelift S3 is a 3K car, and below is 4K, for a nice facelift S3 with under 100K I'd say it was 4 grand.

Some people are dreamers with their prices, they put their cars up for big money and wonder why they get messers and people bidding them in the ********. If they put them up at a decent price they'd get decent buyers...
 
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You do like a rant dont you! :p

I think these cars are in the position where they are getting on a bit (mine was 14yrs old) but aren't in the position of becoming a 'modern classic' just yet. At the same time i imagine that in 10yrs time the one everyone will want is the S3 and the poor old 1.8T will still not be worth much money.

One of the reasons i bought my RS4 was that i figured it wouldn't lose much value in the next 3 years providing i look after it (possibly a not very well calculated risk i know). I'm also gutted i didnt buy a 'proper' audi quattro at a bargain price 4 yrs ago because those prices have shot up recently!

not sure how much relevance this has to your rant - but i dont care....
 
my Gf bought her 2003 1.8T, 68k miles full service history, half leather etc etc for £2k which i thought was pretty cheap considering cars of similar age with more mileage up for about double that...of course they maybe put up for £4k doesn't mean that actually get sold for that...

all cars are suffering, its when they get older and less common do they really start to climb in price (same for all Marques) look at the toyota AE86, a few years ago you could pick one up for 1500-2000, now you'll be lucky to change out of £7k
 
Some people are dreamers with their prices, they put their cars up for big money and wonder why they get messers and people bidding them in the ********. If they put them up at a decent price they'd get decent buyers...

Too true on the dreamers front, tends to be the s3 boys that have there head in the clouds when it comes to price, i asked for £1800 for my 51/2002 1.8t before the damadge and hardley got a sniff apart from the usually muppets wanting to p/x for vaxhaul corsas and sh*ged bmw's.
 
U cant justify the price on S3 consiering how much goes wrong with them
 
As above I think prices have dropped markedly of late, the best for holding value will always be the S3 pre or post facelift. A good well maintained S3 with uprated suspension etc in excellent conditon i think will become sought after again in a few years time, i wish I had kept the ur-quattro I had 15 years ago as that's another example of a great car that at one time was going for relative buttons but will now command very good money if good condition.
 
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U cant justify the price on S3 consiering how much goes wrong with them


I would say the S3 is a far from unreliable car, if serviced correctly and routinely there is no reason why they shouldn't be as reliable as my A3.
 
If everyone hasn't noticed, fuel prices are getting more expensive and insurance premiums have gone up. Performance cars are no longer priority for a the majority of households who have bills to pay. I still have my S3, despite hardly using it, it was quite handy in the snow last week though...

Won't be putting it up for sale any time soon of course, there's nothing out there I fancy, and it's worth peanuts, I'm better off just keeping it.
 
it's the same with my a3, just made redundant running a 1.8t ain't gonna be easy but selling it is just as pointless as i'll get offered peanuts and would have to buy a complete shed which my a3 is far from. it does have little niggles but thats about it. the more thirsty the car is the cheaper they seem to be going for
 
the more thirsty the car is the cheaper they seem to be going for

For instance, for the first time in my life I can afford a NICE S2. This time last year a good S2 was 5K+, now the same cars can be picked up for under 3K.

A friend of mine picked up a 3.2 M3 the other day, 4 owners, 110K and FSH...Paid 2200 quid and the car is MINT.
 
Well I paid 5k for my S3 few months back with 88k on clock & am very happy with the condition inside & out & the way it drives.......I look at it like this. I'm enjoying the car now as much as the 1st owner did nearly 10yrs ago, and they paid nearly 30k for the privilege so job done and what a bargain :icon_thumright:
 
Well I paid 5k for my S3 few months back with 88k on clock & am very happy with the condition inside & out & the way it drives.......I look at it like this. I'm enjoying the car now as much as the 1st owner did nearly 10yrs ago, and they paid nearly 30k for the privilege so job done and what a bargain :icon_thumright:
I think exactly the same, let the rich guys/finance warriors, prance about in there new cars, in 6-7 years time ..Buy Buy Buy,,,:icon_thumright:
 
i love my a3 1.8t! They have always got to be worth a grand havnt they?! I had a gttdi mk4 golf and must say its a better car than that was allthough they have same running gear ect i just think they are built a little bit better!
 
I think they are only worth what someone will pay
 
lol yeh i no. Still just shows you that cars arnt worth much at all at the moment, To think that 3 years ago i paid 2000 for my a3 1.8t and i got it cheap at that because it had a dint in the rear quarter.
 
God knows what I'd get for mine as it stands. Probably £999.99 :) Actually I think I'm better off splitting it and selling the parts separately.
 
The other issue is that the A3 ran for a fairly long time, and as a result the prices of the later cars hold the early cars up somewhat.

Similarly the 8P has been out a while now, but the older ones of those are now reaching the price bracket of where late A3/S3's were 2-3years ago, and as such the general populations attention shifts to the newer car, and the older model becomes seen as an "old banger" by 90% of the motoring population.

You need to remember that to most ordinary folk, numberplate/age is more important than the badge on the grille. I've had a few friends who had a run out in my brothers R-reg S4, and were amazed at how comfortable/well built and quick it was, because in their eyes it was an old R-reg shed, rather than a 40grand performance saloon that happens to be 13 years old. And yet i know for a fact that S4, or even my mums P-reg A4, is a far nicer car to sit in and drive than any modern small hatch (clio or fiesta or corsa or whatever)

I remember when we got our first A4 (the aforementioned p-reg). At the time the missus had a 2001 fiesta, but we wanted a bigger car for the dog. We sold the fiesta and baught the A4 for £100 less than we got for the fiesta. At the time the missus was going "oh but its 5 years older, i dont want an old car" etc etc. Once she actaully got in it and drove it however, she realised the quality shines thru and the age means little.

You can be sure though, that most people wont think like that.

Fuel could be an issue, but personally i've found that weight matters more than engine size when it comes to consumption, and as a result theres not that much difference between a 1.6 and a 1.8T A3 when driven in a similar matter. Obviously drive the 1.8T about with your foot welded to the floor its going to use more as it has the ability to use more fuel, but drive them both "normally" and you'll find little difference.

Amusingly, when we changed from our 1.3 fiesta to the 1.8T A4, the fuel bill never changed. The fiesta only ever managed 32mpg average, and the A4 returned more or less the same.

I guess tax and insurance might increase though.
 
Ahh good to see abit of a debate going on, iv been chokka at work so havent had much time to input :(boo

But i agree with everyone on your views, sadley as stated many people go gor age when it comes to an everyday runner, and that makes sense.

(Now im touching wood here) but iv only ever had a few occaisons wher my 1.8t was un drivable due to some mechanical/electrical problem.

I had a 146k 1.8t that never missed a beat until i shattered the gearbox( my fault driving like a plum everywhere)

my current one has just clocked 132k and driving better than ever after sorting a few problems related to the cars age and **** poor owners of its past.

Consider that i have a full piano black s3 recaro interior, an s3 back box and back bumper and a xenon conversion with FSH. No clio,fiesta or hybrid thatl do 700mpg and have an insurance group1 and £12 a year road tax would sway me away from the A3 1.8t, i have power and comfort aswel as abit of street cred lol what respect can you get driving a euro s*it box lol

But the moral of the story is i only paid £1800 for the car, needing only a few minor jobs doing to it.

A euro box is going to cost a fair sight more, a mate of mine has a Citroen DS3, now its a nice car, quite nippy for a 1.6turbo deisel aswel, but my god dont he look a spanner lol

15 or 16k for the privledge, and i think my interior is better tbf, not just because i have s3 recaros, ok maybe because of the recaros, but the dash is a mans dash :) no puffy nobs to twist, just buttons as should everything be in a mans life lol

Sorry for the tangent, got abit carried away lol