A3 nothing but trouble

[funguf]

Bought my 2006 A3 5 weeks ago now and its had to go to Audi two times now.

1. Seat would no longer fold properly, 2 days to fix.
2. There was a clunk noise when changing gears, they have just replaced the fly wheel and clutch. 2 days to fix.
3. Heating element for rear window didnt seem to work. Pending.

You would expect them to have spotted all these wouldnt you in their checks?

...and I curbed the front wheel in first week of ownership!

 

[Boydie]

my passenger seat wont move forward anymore when i want to get a passenger in the back - the wire has come loose, i havent been to anyone to see about it yet though!

sometimes checks like that cant be done without driving the car - joys of warrenty!

 

[DIABLO636]

Funny you guys have mentioned the seat problem - mine is going into the dealers tomorrow due to the same fault.
While its there ive asked them to sort the annoying rattle/vibration from the glove box, and there is an unusual clunking noise underneath the car when i apply the brake after ive been reversing.

This will be my first dealings with Cardiff Audi...not too sure what to expect. Bought my car privately. Arranged a courtesy car....£1000 excess should you be in an accident....ouch !!

 

[funguf]

Oh yeah forgot to mention the rattle in the glove box too, they sorted that when they sorted the seat...one of the bolts holding the glovebox up fell out...which isnt good

 

[DIABLO636]

at least there is a fix for it - sounds really annoying - although it only rattles when driving slowly and at low revs.....which isnt very often.
Its the clunking noise underneath wich has me worried...sounds like somthing is loose and is jolted somehow when brake is applied....not good.

the variable servicing is good though - im on 18k now car is 1yr 4mths old....still saying another 5000 miles til service needed.

 

[petewon]

Its the clunking noise underneath wich has me worried...sounds like somthing is loose and is jolted somehow when brake is applied....not good.

I had exactly the same thing on my old A3, a knock when braking, only when reversing though?? Wierd. It went away after a few month, never worked out what it was.

 

[mfspen]

While its there ive asked them to sort the annoying rattle/vibration from the glove box...

I had that on mine, and the dealer failed to fix it after two attempts.

Eventually, I found it was due to the rubber grommits on the glove box surround being too small and soft. They allow the spring loaded bolts on the lid to rattle in their holes.

The solution is simple, just super-glue some bigger grommits to the surround, next to the originals. You will need to use more force to close the glovebox, but the rattling stops !

 

[Boydie]

Since my car is now out of warrenty i will attempt fixing the glove box

but as far as the seat is concerned it might have to go to a dealer

i also have serious problems with my rear lights - bad earthing causing the bulbs to blow

 

[C_Audiboy]

re the seat problem, I had the same thing with the passenger seat. Very annoying when trying to get people in and out of the back. It seems like quite a common issue then.

 

[Boydie]

happens with most 3dr cars

happened in my clio and my brothers 206

 

[C_Audiboy]

To me it seemed like a crap cheap mechanism in the S-Line seats. The Recaros in the 8L S3 felt rock-solid in comparison (although I'm sure some had issues there too....).

 

[newbiecrg]

well mines only tilt they do not move forward... I mean no "easy entry" on the S3 bucket seats... I guess like that it doesn't break...

Pedro

 

[DIABLO636]

Well got car back yesterday afternoon - Cardiff Audi seem pleasent enough to deal with.
Rattle from glove box was a loose housing where the i-pod connection had been put in, tightened back up and no rattles last night or this morning. (Will keep and ear out to see if it returns)

Cable had broken in seat, replaced, works fine now.
(As mentioned seems a common fault on all 3dr cars where this cable is needed)

Cluncking noise from brakes when they are applied after reversing was down the fact that the brake pad 'give a little'. Apparently this happens on all A3's. They said the brakes had been checked and there are no faults with them.
They advised that they actually drove other cars that day specifically listening out for the same noise and it happened on all the cars they tested.
It only happends the fist time you reverse and apply the brake after driving around for a bit becasue they would have moved slightly.
If you try to replicate the sound straight away you normally wont hear it because the brake has settled back to its normal posisiton. (this does seem to match what ive found)

So all sorted then.

I did ask them if i could have the suspension ofs the base spec 1.6 petrol courtesy car they gave me to replace my s-line suspension. Forgot how comfortable a car could be. Very smooth over bumps but still very little body roll etc. S-Line suspension is terribly hard and unrefined....under damped i think and really noticable when driven back to back with another car. 1.6 petrol was fine around town at low speed, terrible and pulling the heavy car along at speed though - missed the kick from the diesel torque.

Anyway hopfully wont be back at dealers until sevice time, on 18k now and countdown says obout 5k to go.....love avs.

 

[Amchlolor]

I did ask them if i could have the suspension ofs the base spec 1.6 petrol courtesy car they gave me to replace my s-line suspension. Forgot how comfortable a car could be. Very smooth over bumps but still very little body roll etc. S-Line suspension is terribly hard and unrefined....under damped i think and really noticable when driven back to back with another car. 1.6 petrol was fine around town at low speed, terrible and pulling the heavy car along at speed though - missed the kick from the diesel torque.

For starters,your car would look daft as it would ride far too high with the S-line wheels
It would look like some sort of off-road hybrid A3.
Secondly,I don't know how you can say there's very little body roll. in the 1.6,unless the car was so new the shocks still had a lot of 'stiction' in them.
I've driven several 'sport' and 'se' versions of the A3 and the body control is compromised without the S-line set-up.
They need much more setting-up for corners and simply cannot be chucked around in the same manner,as the body roll/pitching will catch you out and overwhelm the tyres.

I agree the S-line ride is too hard,but it's not under-damping.
In fact,it's the opposite,IMO.
Too much high-speed compression damping leads to a complete inability in the shocks to react to a bump,so they don't !
They just crash over them.
(High speed damping deals with bumps.
Low speed damping deals with body control)
Ideally,I'd like less high-speed damping and a wee bit more low-speed.
Better ride and body control at the same time.

Bikes fitted with high and low speed adjustment are a revelation.
You really can have your cake and eat it.

 

[mfspen]

Ideally,I'd like less high-speed damping and a wee bit more low-speed.
Better ride and body control at the same time.

Bikes fitted with high and low speed adjustment are a revelation.
You really can have your cake and eat it.

Is this what the new tiTTy does, with it's magnetic ride ?

 

[DIABLO636]

I stand corrected -

Maybe saying i wanted the suspension of the 1.6 was too much of a generalisation. Of course it would look line a lunar module vehicle with it being so high and of course the body role is far less than on the s-line. Wasnt going to go into too much details about it but the ride is crashy on my s-line, and thats what im not the biggest fan of. 1.6 was very smooth, it was a nice change. Didnt have chance to give it too much of a seeing too as only had it for the day and was working most of that. but body role seemed acceptable considering the ride comfort.

On smooth roads in my s-line the handling is great, smooth, quite precise, very little role, just s bit numb on the steering - slightly bumpy and it kicks you all over the place, similar to the rear shock of my bike, i think the ninja's are renowned for it.
I dont think i'd have the knowhow to take advantage of high and low speed adjustment for my bike. Still consider myself a learner.

Anyway - Back to topic - Faults with car sorted and Cardiff Audi on first impressions seem quite nice and friendly to deal with.
And they had a nice new A5 and R8 in the showroom for me to look over while i was there.....A5 much nicer seeing it in the flesh - R8 looks fantatsic !!!

 

[Amchlolor]

Is this what the new tiTTy does, with it's magnetic ride ?

Not really,I don't think.
As far as I can ascertain,all the magnetic ride thing does is use particles in the damper fluid to make it thicker (when magnets are applied) under certain circumstances,thus making the fluid harder to move through the damper rod/holes/shims,thus making the shocks 'harder'.

Merely thickening the damper fluid will just make 'everything' harder though.
Just doing that is a bit of a botch job really,often used by bike racers to firm up the front forks.
It won't seperate high-speed and low-speed compression and it won't cover up any basic flaw in the high-speed/low-speed damping.
Indeed,it can make things worse because the rods/holes/shims will be designed to flow a certain grade of fluid,so merely thickening it can just make things worse and you end with hydraulically locked suspension !

With the ability to seperate high and low speed damping,it is perfectly possible to have a car that rides well but still has good body control.
Unfortunately,Audi still seem to think that everything needs to be cranked up to 'HARD' to achieve good body control,resulting in a ride like a skateboard.

I think the reason seperate high/low speed damping hasn't yet been adopted by the mainstream is the fact that it still needs manual adjustment on the shock itself,using thumbwheels or screwdrivers,which the majority of buyers couldn't be ***** doing.
Wouldn't want Audi/BMW owners getting their hands dirty !
There is the added threat of owners completely cocking up the handling and making the car dangerous,which could lead to litigation.
High end cars offer it though.
I noted the Koenigzeg thing offers fully adjustable Ohlins,like bikes.
You have to lift the bodywork and twiddle manually though.