Gearstick slack - should I be worried?

[Kiwi79]

Hi guys,

I have been looking at a used S3 sportback and am pretty close to going ahead with it but one thing putting me off slightly is the gearstick feels quite "sloppy". What I mean by that is there seems to be a noticeable bit of play left/right/straight ahead when in neutral and when it's in gear the lever has a bit of play side to side too.

Is this easily fixable - just a new spring? or a sign of bad driving by previous owners. I had a test drive and the car felt fine, it seems OK if lacking the precise bolt like changes of my old impreza STi. Car has approx 50k miles on clock.

I realise this probably sounds OCD but it's the most I will have spent on a car, everything else seems fine, service history is all there, price is good, just this slight niggle that there might be something expensive wrong with it.

Thanks

 

[Iceman567]

Depends how sloppy... are we talking wacky waving arm flailing inflatable tube man or a few mill of play ?
The gear knob unit or cables or selector unit are really not expensive to replace and super easy to fit ... Worst case scenario
or they could need adjusting ... Middle of the road and even simpler and pretty cheap scenario .
But if it's a few mill you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
I've had a play in a couple of s3's and own an a3 quattro the gearsticks arnt solid there is a bit of play

 

[Kiwi79]

Thanks Iceman, it has a bit of play certainly not hose like. I've since looked at 2 other S3s of similar mileage dodgy colours though!) and the box didn't seem to have quite so much of this slack in neutral but the actual gear change when stationery felt similar (just with less side to side slack if you like). Hoping as you say it's an easy fix and not something a garage will look at and say yeah can't fix that it's your gearbox. Thing it it drives well and price is good, leaving spare money for a few mods and new tyres! These S3s seem to have held their annoyingly well

 

[Smirky]

Yeah they do hold there value if you look after it ,great cars and can be made super quick so always younger generation will want one

 

[Bazzle]

Have a look at the linkage and springs on top of the gearbox to check for slop. They can be tightened up esp with aftermarket parts.