I purchased a 2001 S3 with 80,000 on the clock, last year some time. I kinda knew a few thing were wrong, so got the dealer to knock a few quid off. I had new brakes all round, and a couple of new tires (which i knew about). I then discovered over time a load more problems, 1st off only running in 2 wheel drive. Anyways got a haldex controller from a breakers a hundred quid. got a mate to fit it. still no FOUR wheel drive. Another £300.00 quid and a new haldex pump later, SORTED. The car was awesome around corners but kinda was before, what I'm trying to say is i loved driving it. Front fogs stay on. Checked the forum, and remedied another problem with a switch fix. Also found out a rear spring had snapped, repaired that too. I just can't believe the life that this poor car had been used too, it must have been owned by some kinda mental sadist who kept it locked in the cellar, and only brought it up to thrash the *** off it, SO ABUSED!!! Had a problem with the drivers side Xenon (much to everyones amazement) it stopped working, but while the car was parked up for a while, started working again. And then..... Stopped again. This is my latest fix and fumbling my way through it. Nearly there. The moral of this story is. Be careful who you buy a car off of, no matter how much you fall in love with it... Watch this space.
So many things wrong!!!
- Thread starter Stu'sS3
- Start date
Mate, sounds like you've got off light, thats quite ggod compared to some peoples motors, when i bought mine i had to spend nearly a 1k in the first month just on servicing, that hurt i can tell you.
KB
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i think this is pretty normal for a 10 year old car. ive just spent over 1k on suspension and a new clutch this week! ive only had the car 6 months!
As said above, 8L S3s are now all at least 7-8 years old, and tbh, they are the sort of car you don't buy to drive Miss Daisy around in.
Mine's on 83k now, and in 25k of ownership has cost me the following major items :
Cambelt & Waterpump (expected when bought).
2x rear + 1x front snapped springs. Replaced with the Weitec kit.
Clutch + master & slave cylinders.
4x tyres and about half way through the current ones
Front discs and pads
ABS sensor
All the above are not disastrous, especially for a performance car. Fortunately no engine problems so far, but I think I'll need the cam chain tensioner doing soon, which will be big bucks...
Just remember the smile it puts on your face on a wet roundabout!!
Cheers,
Mine's on 83k now, and in 25k of ownership has cost me the following major items :
Cambelt & Waterpump (expected when bought).
2x rear + 1x front snapped springs. Replaced with the Weitec kit.
Clutch + master & slave cylinders.
4x tyres and about half way through the current ones
Front discs and pads
ABS sensor
All the above are not disastrous, especially for a performance car. Fortunately no engine problems so far, but I think I'll need the cam chain tensioner doing soon, which will be big bucks...
Just remember the smile it puts on your face on a wet roundabout!!
Cheers,
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Mine has been nothing but trouble dude. Everything in the world was wrong with my S3....
lol then he stresses it further by banging an hybrid on........
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I must be a lucky mofo, I purchased one with 152k miles(now154k) on the odo, and it made 251.5bhp on the rollers last Saturday, mechanically brilliant! - Touchwood!
Ummmm, yes. However they only have one cam belt sprocket. They have a cam chain inside the head, connected to the exhaust cam, to drive the inlet cam.
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Owned mine just over a month
so far ive replaced
Timing belt
plugs
air filter
fuel filter
oil filter and oil
thermostat and coolant
3 new tyres
wiper blades
rear indicator bulbs
complete set of matts ( group bye hopefully will be here by this time next week ) cheers Alex n Superkarl
flushed fuel system with bg 44k
replaced clutch switch
cleaned throttle body sure ill have forgot something else
yep cleaned up the pcv valve with carb cleaner and the maf with electrical spray cleaner
small problems that ive since rectified
leaking washer fluid no rear wash
reconnect washer hose coupling at engine trunking and tailgate
new jubilee clips on headlamp washer system
fixed stuck cup holder
greased all hinges
current problems yet to be fixed
air con fan not working and temp rising to 110deg before rad fan cuts in ( possible fix to be investigated re advice from colicabcadam cheers m8)
investigate first fuse on battery for fan control module 2 fan control module, 3coolant temp sensor ,4 rad fan switch
passenger side headlight dosent seem to be self leveling cause cure unknown ??
drivers lower door strip to be removed and repaired good advice in one of the current threads on here cheers guys
wheels need a refurb £££
passenger side front inner arch plastic broken and needs replacing as front bumper not sitting properly in place
passenger side recaro height adjustment not working ( cause cure unknown )
next set of maintainence jobs
change pollen filter it looks like its the same age as the car
change haldex filter and fluid need a cheap spanner anyone help ?
change gearbox oil
change rear diff oil
change hydraulic fluids steering and brakes clutch
once all thats done ill wait for something else to go wrong lol
love the car too bits
so far ive replaced
Timing belt
plugs
air filter
fuel filter
oil filter and oil
thermostat and coolant
3 new tyres
wiper blades
rear indicator bulbs
complete set of matts ( group bye hopefully will be here by this time next week ) cheers Alex n Superkarl
flushed fuel system with bg 44k
replaced clutch switch
cleaned throttle body sure ill have forgot something else
yep cleaned up the pcv valve with carb cleaner and the maf with electrical spray cleaner
small problems that ive since rectified
leaking washer fluid no rear wash
reconnect washer hose coupling at engine trunking and tailgate
new jubilee clips on headlamp washer system
fixed stuck cup holder
greased all hinges
current problems yet to be fixed
air con fan not working and temp rising to 110deg before rad fan cuts in ( possible fix to be investigated re advice from colicabcadam cheers m8)
investigate first fuse on battery for fan control module 2 fan control module, 3coolant temp sensor ,4 rad fan switch
passenger side headlight dosent seem to be self leveling cause cure unknown ??
drivers lower door strip to be removed and repaired good advice in one of the current threads on here cheers guys
wheels need a refurb £££
passenger side front inner arch plastic broken and needs replacing as front bumper not sitting properly in place
passenger side recaro height adjustment not working ( cause cure unknown )
next set of maintainence jobs
change pollen filter it looks like its the same age as the car
change haldex filter and fluid need a cheap spanner anyone help ?
change gearbox oil
change rear diff oil
change hydraulic fluids steering and brakes clutch
once all thats done ill wait for something else to go wrong lol
love the car too bits
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Stu how did you find out you were only running in 2 wheel drive what symptoms did you have were there any diagnostic codes ?
Welcome to owning an S3
My problems:
Main radiator fan gone
Mass airflow sensor recently gone
Thermostat gone
Clutch switch broken
Leaking washer bottle
Xenon level switch broken
Edit : alram siren was broken aswell.
So far ive spent about 350 quid in 6 months but even after all that i love driving it, its the best car ive owned so far even topped my mk5 golf.
My problems:
Main radiator fan gone
Mass airflow sensor recently gone
Thermostat gone
Clutch switch broken
Leaking washer bottle
Xenon level switch broken
Edit : alram siren was broken aswell.
So far ive spent about 350 quid in 6 months but even after all that i love driving it, its the best car ive owned so far even topped my mk5 golf.
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JS1500
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Mine has been pretty good really, or maybe it just seems that way coming from classic cars and a 10 year old A4 that nearly bankrupted me!
Owned mine 13 months and other than consumables and mods i've had (or have) the following issues;
Earthing strap perished (fixed)
MAF shot (fixed on warranty)
Crank position sensor (fixed on warranty)
Couple of split pipes (fixed)
Armrest stuck upright (fixed on warranty)
Clutch switch
Fogs stuck on
Rear washer pipe uncoupled
Owned mine 13 months and other than consumables and mods i've had (or have) the following issues;
Earthing strap perished (fixed)
MAF shot (fixed on warranty)
Crank position sensor (fixed on warranty)
Couple of split pipes (fixed)
Armrest stuck upright (fixed on warranty)
Clutch switch
Fogs stuck on
Rear washer pipe uncoupled
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uh huh
pehaps not so bullet proof as people would have you believe.
Mines had new springs top mounts and bushes, new brakes, breather hoses, new maf, ac cooler pipe, new n75, new dv.
needs a new front arb and a new exhaust when iv recovered from christmas. Plus the stereo is on the fritz
pehaps not so bullet proof as people would have you believe.
Mines had new springs top mounts and bushes, new brakes, breather hoses, new maf, ac cooler pipe, new n75, new dv.
needs a new front arb and a new exhaust when iv recovered from christmas. Plus the stereo is on the fritz
Well Guys... I do feel a little bit more fortunate now, some of these lists are frightening to say the least. Good news though, finally repaired my drivers side xenon this morning, will post a thread for all of those in pain out there... Thanks for cheering me up!!!
rob_sri
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i got pwned by the oil pump and my engine went pop in the first week of owning it.. needing a brand new engine now!
could be worse matey!
Oh and now my hazards are only working on one side and i dont have a scooby whats wrong with it!?!!
could be worse matey!
Oh and now my hazards are only working on one side and i dont have a scooby whats wrong with it!?!!
kin el sorry to hear that dude dunno if you bought it private or what but id be getting my money back one way or another
NoggyS3
Registered User
Had mine around 6 weeks and i am on a mission to get it up to scratch
Little list of things that need doing
Cambelt and Water Pump(piece of mind)
Complete engine flush, Oil and Filter change
Front tyres
Rear window washer doesn't work
Front diff has slight leak
Front nearside shock leaking
D bushes
Recently did the thermostat
Why on earth did i sell my typeR....
Little list of things that need doing
Cambelt and Water Pump(piece of mind)
Complete engine flush, Oil and Filter change
Front tyres
Rear window washer doesn't work
Front diff has slight leak
Front nearside shock leaking
D bushes
Recently did the thermostat
Why on earth did i sell my typeR....
im the same as you mate, ive owned my s3 now for 12months and the thing as been pretty bomb proof, ive had to replace suspension topmounts which siezed and a set of coil packs after i had my remap done, apart from that i think its only temp sensor and thermo stat
the car has covered 120k(lots of motorway miles by previous owner) and been well looked after by two previous owners, i think its one of those things - you can either by a car with 80k and have to get the water pump and cambelt done, and sort all the other issues out that these cars tend to fail on at about 100k - or do what i have done by a car with slightly high mileage however all jobs have been done and the car is very reliable as you would expect from an audi
mind you my previous car would make an alfa romeo seem reliable - i brought a crx SiR mk 1 vtec, i used to have one when i was younger so thought i'd have another one as that first car was amazing...this was my first mistake
the car was brought as a non running project but i wasnt ready for the numbber of problems i encountered - i will write a quick list of stuff i needed to do to the car for you guys to laugh at...lol
new clutch
new shock and spring fit
new anti roll bar bushes
replacing quite a few more suspension bushes
new driveshaft
extensive welding - two new sils, new drivers and pass foot wells and new boot pan
headgasket needed replacing
new thermo stat
new temp sender
new wheels
new rear brake caliper
new fuel line
new brake lines
rear quater panel needed work
new passenger side window
all new brakes
new exhaust system
im sure there were more items i needed to replace, but i think you get the message..haha, oh the gearbox syncro's were on the way out too but i sold it with that problem as i just had enough of the piece of s**te
sold it for a small fortune though and put it toward my uber reliable audi s3
In 3 years of owning mine
Cambelt & waterpump
Both bottom ball joints
4 sets of tyres
2 sets of discs and pads
Clutch and dual mass flywheel
Clutch slave cylinder
Sump x2
Central locking pump
Engine earth strap
Front subframe
Wish bones
Mass air flow sensor
TIP
Loads of vac hoses
Clutch pedal
Cv boots
Thermostat
All this plus normal service parts, I've now got problems with my ABS ECU and they want 1k for a new 1, Looking at getting rid for a car thats a little younger now, 8 years old and at 140k its costing me to much to run
Cambelt & waterpump
Both bottom ball joints
4 sets of tyres
2 sets of discs and pads
Clutch and dual mass flywheel
Clutch slave cylinder
Sump x2
Central locking pump
Engine earth strap
Front subframe
Wish bones
Mass air flow sensor
TIP
Loads of vac hoses
Clutch pedal
Cv boots
Thermostat
All this plus normal service parts, I've now got problems with my ABS ECU and they want 1k for a new 1, Looking at getting rid for a car thats a little younger now, 8 years old and at 140k its costing me to much to run
