First time buyer!

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ben lenton

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Hi, I'm very much a newbie and would appreciate any advice that people can offer on buying my first A3 Sportback.

Basically I've been looking at 2007/08 S Line 170 spec cars and have been offered what looks like a good one (80,000, full service hist, cam belt done) for £7,990 with a 6mth warranty. The decision that i need to make is whether to go for something like this or stretch my budget to around £11 - 12000 and go for a newer car (2010/2011) with similar mileage and spec (maybe black edition, semi automatic).

Ive done a fair bit of research and looked at a few cars; however, as you can probably tell I don't know a great deal about these cars so any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Ben
 
To be honest if it was met would put a bit more to it and get a black edition s tronic
 
Thanks Yolo, is that purely due to the look of the black ed and it being s tronic or are the newer cars (2010 onwards) generally better?
 
It's probably because the black edition will have most likely everything you can want on a a3 rather then a standard one and if not it won't be much to add the little extras that ain't on it like sat Nav which is quite common .
I know you may say you don't have plans to start adding things but it does happen

And as for s tronic it's a good choice for the 2.0 TDI they go well together
 
Hi Ben, welcome to audi-sport.net. You will find the guys all very friendly and helpful in here. Hope you enjoy the forum. :) x
 
Thanks for the advice, maybe I'll have to view this tomorrow then:

Audi a3 Sportback, Black edition, 2.0tdi 170 bhp, 71700 miles, 2010 Full Service history, Bose sound system, Half Black leather s line seats, Flat bottom Steering Wheel, 2 Owners, had 2 new Michelin pilot sport 3 front tyres fitted last week £13,000ono.

It's a private sale which makes me slightly uneasy but it seems a good price compared to what is on offer with the dealers.
 
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ben lenton said:
Thanks for the advice, maybe I'll have to view this tomorrow then:

Audi a3 Sportback, Black edition, 2.0tdi 170 bhp, 71700 miles, 2010 Full Service history, Bose sound system, Half Black leather s line seats, Flat bottom Steering Wheel, 2 Owners, had 2 new Michelin pilot sport 3 front tyres fitted last week £13,000ono.

It's a private sale which makes me slightly uneasy but it seems a good price compared to what is on offer with the dealers.
Click to expand...

Have you got the link to the advert?
 
def the newer car, but it seams over priced for the mileage.but then again I am a bit Scottish
:unsure:
 
Thanks Silvio, I def prefer the look of the newer car but do you think from a practical perspective the newer one would be the better choice (more reliable, less likely for something to wrong etc)?
I know it's done a fair few miles but for the spec it seems reasonably priced compared to other i've seen down here with most in that price range having about 95,000 on the clock.
 
ben lenton said:
Thanks Silvio, I def prefer the look of the newer car but do you think from a practical perspective the newer one would be the better choice (more reliable, less likely for something to wrong etc)?
I know it's done a fair few miles but for the spec it seems reasonably priced compared to other i've seen down here with most in that price range having about 95,000 on the clock.
Click to expand...
Both way over priced by the looks of it the older one isnt even worth looking at and the new one is ok till i seen its a manual i may be wrong but when i was looking for one the s tronics seems to be holding there value more i think that newer one is worth no more the 12250 max

is it a 170 only one your after??
 
Really, I've been looking on ebay, auto trader and loads of other sites and I thought the prices for both looked comparable. They also seem to be below Parkers valuation. The guy from the garage also described the older one as being in MINT condition and said he'd refund my fuel costs if I travelled up and thought he'd wasted my time. With regards to the newer one the guy has said he'd accept £12,500 and whilst i quite fancy the s tronic i don't mind manual. Thanks for your input though, i totally appreciate your experienced view.

It doesn't have to be the 170 but from what I've read its a better drive??!
 
where in the country are you located fella?
 
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Thanks Jonny, so you'd go for the newer version (2010 onwards) with 140bhp?

I'm going to view the ebay car later this afternoon and then line up a few 140 versions to look at this week end i think. I just can't seem to find a black ed with mileage below 90,000 for under £13,000, especially not from a garage.
 
At the end of the day if you are going to spend money on a car, make sure you don't regret it 6 month down the line thinking that you should of want for the newer model as I guarantee you that every signal time you see a car that you could of bought but didn't it makes you feel crappier about the car you have.
 
If I were spending over 10k I'd be at a dealer. The risk of something major going wrong on cars nowadays shouldn't be underestimated. I know you can buy privately and then take out a warranty but I'd feel uneasy spending that much money from a private buyer unless it had full Audi history and owner had a genuine reason for sale.
It sounds like you're after a certain car and your budget has expanded within a big range £7k to £12k. For me I decide what car I want. Then the budget dictates how new (or old) a car you get. So I'd advising setting out exactly what you're after. Then go searching based on your budget.

For me I'd start at www.audi.co.uk and look at the used car section. It allows you to really narrow down the search for a car. You'll then get some idea what sort of car you can get for your money and if its realistic.
 
Hi there, I've got a 140bhp and plugged in a tuning box which has put 20-25bhp on it. It drives superbly well.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1413912617327096
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1413912690050393
 
Just viewed the private sale and apart from a few minor stone chips it looks great.

I just need to decide whether to go for the 170 version for £12,300 (private sale) or the 140 version with 14k less on the clock for £12,700 (independent garage with 3 mths warranty). The garage one will prob have a long MOT too.
 
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I don't know where but I heard thay had a few issues with the 170s or was that older cars?

And the post regarding audi website in my eyes is not good advice as how can you get a relistic car for budget when your looking at inflated dealer prices?

I buought a 59 1.9 tdie with 64k on the clock and pain 8400 for it Privetly. I would not find a car for that price on audi used cars.
 
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One thing to consider if you go for a 140bhp BKD engine is that the Turbos are a bit weak. I only found this out when I bought mine with 65k miles on and two weeks later it went. If you decide to go for a 140bhp BKD, just make sure there is no whine/police siren noise between 1-2000 rpm, as the Turbo is spooling up :)
 
Thanks for your input guys, so would it be the 140 bhp BKD engine on a 2010 A3 TDI? Which is generally considered to to be the better on this age TDI...170 or 140....or does it just depend on pref?

Pluves, I'm set on the S Line and would pref it to be the Black Ed. I'd rather spend around £10k but willing to pay up £13k if it looks like a good deal. Hopefully one of these 2 cars will do the job.

The garage has offered the 140 Black Ed for £13,000 with a 15 month warranty. Whether thats good or not i'm not sure.
 
Thanks for the link Jonny, it looks great, shame it's so far away.

Ive decided on the 140 black edition from the garage, it's 2010 with 57k on the clock so hoping it's a good one. Should be able to pick it up in a few days :)
 
ben lenton said:
Thanks for the link Jonny, it looks great, shame it's so far away.

Ive decided on the 140 black edition from the garage, it's 2010 with 57k on the clock so hoping it's a good one. Should be able to pick it up in a few days :)
Click to expand...
Hope it's a good one
 
Cheers mate, and thanks for all your help!!
 
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No, they won't have it in until thursday or friday but they say it's in very good condition etc and will send pics as soon as it arrives. I have it reserved but if it's not as described or i'm not happy with it for what ever reason then i have no obligation to go through with the deal.
 
Good stuff, crnt wait to see it fella what colour is it?

And im guessing you are going to be looking into a remap once purchased?
 
It's black and should look good with dark alloys etc.

I'd like to get it remapped at some point but over the last few years i've changed from an Aprilia RSV1000, to a Golf GTI and then a C1 and Fiesta 1.4 so I think even as standard it's going to be a nice step up.
How much is it likely to cost for a remap?
 
Hi mate, it has arrived at the garage and they're going to refurb the alloys ready for me to pick up next week at some point. I can't wait!! These are the pics they sent through last night.
 

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Looks decent mate am sure you'll be happy that you decided to go for the black edition all you need now is a rns e
 
That'd be nice but i've been told that all my pocket money has been used up for the foreseeable future!
 
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