Audi A3 1.8 Turbo Buyer- Few questions for you!! :D

[DelBoyUK]

Hello!

I am currently looking at a 2000 X reg Audi A3 1.8 T Sport with 55k miles.(The facelift model)

I contacted Audi about the cambelt and they said that it needed replacing at 80k miles or 5 years, whichever came first, is this correct? The engine code is AUM.

Also as I have never driven a turbo car before, I was wondering if there is any way of checking if the turbo is OK, any suggestions?

Tthe owner mentioned the car is reasonably oil hungry, does that indicate a problem? or is that normal for these engines?

I also see that cars with drive by wire, have more potential for tuning should I wish to go that path, I spoke to my local audi and they said this car has DBW (he asked a techie, but I dont think he was 100% certain) but the data sheet doesnt mention DBW anywhere as suggested by some. Any further ideas on this?

Thanks
Matt

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[AndyMac]

Cambelt is 80k miles, there's no time limit, I don't think even Audi make them out of bio-degradeable rubber.
Definately shouldn't be oil hungry with that mileage, mine never needed oil between 10k services (99 S reg with 67k, silver, black leather & cc, sold it for £6.2k a few months back, had it from new).
How much are they asking?

 

[Markb]

Hmm in my service manual it say the cambelt should be done at 60K?

 

[DelBoyUK]

asking around 7.5k

Thats with Leather, Xenon lights, Climate control, Full airbag option, armrest, Symphony head unit and Bose sound system, Full Audi History, Full Audi tool kit.

However does need two front new tyres (one brand new spare), small dent taken out of left door (im far too fussy).

Is that fair?

 

[AndyMac]

From a dealer yes with a warranty, private sale it's over the odds. Al the kit is standard apart from the £500 Bose "upgrade", leather & armrest.
You can knock £250 off for the tyres, any tax/MOT?

 

[Khufu]

are you sure it is xenon lights?

 

[DelBoyUK]

100% they are Xenon's, even saw the original invoice showing it as an extra, also has the pop up washer jets to clean them /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

The full airbag system was also an upgrade and it was called "side guard" from memory!.

That was a private sale, I personally cant find a facelift 3 door A3 with leather and climate control, in a decent colour (blue, black or silver) for any less than that, with that kind of mileage! Though agree dosh should be knocked off for the tyres e.t.c

14k until it needs a service, comes with 12 months MOT, but will need tax at the end of the month!.

Parkers list it as

Franchised Dealer £ 8710
Independent Dealer £ 8120
Private Good £ 7400

 

[Timbo]

The oil thing sounds a bit worrying - mine doesn't use any at all (97 R 80K miles).

 

[Masterm8fo]

mine is same spec/colour+miles as the one your looking at
it uses a little oil and does need a bit of topping up every now and again
depends on car and how u drive it i think

 

[RichA3Turbo]

Yeah the later one do drink oil a bit more. Yes your car is a DBW... The only thing that makes it more tunable is the fact that they revised the turbo on the later ones so when chipped can product a little more power...nothing drastic though! Bar the turbo, they are actually not as good as the earlier 1.8T the 'AGU'... THey are weaker! But thats only a concern if you fit a big turbo, which 99% of people wont do anyway.

Rich

 

[DelBoyUK]

I think he meant to suggest that he had to do the occasional top up like "MasterMofo". I will try and get more info out of the seller discretely .

Does seem odd though, as my current 11 year old car, uses absolutely none at all :s

 

[Grant]

I changed my cambelt at 55k.

If you are serious about buying the car, tell the dealer to do the cambelt and water pump change and he has a deal!

It'll save you a lot of money in a year or so time.

 

[DelBoyUK]

Its a private sale /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

If it wasnt, I would ask for the tyres to be replaced and the dent pulled out as well, but then I would be paying nearer £8.5k to 9k for a car like this from a dealer :/

Think I can get the car quite easily for 7k, which I think is worth it, especially with all the options it has, but only concern is oil usage, which sounds odd on a 55k car :s

Also I only do about 5-6k a year, so would be good few years before it needs doing, if there really is no age limit on the cambelt and it needs changing at 80k.

 

[paul_brad]

if youre only doing that a year, why dont you save yourself some money and buy a higher mileage one? (or get a newer one for the same money - thats what i would do). I'd aim for 70-80k....

(just a thought)

 

[DelBoyUK]

Good idea, had already thought about it. 80k cars with the facelift and leather, still seem to go for about this kind of price bracket any way. Only cheap car ive seen was a 2000 facelift with 95k miles, but pretty poor spec for 6k.!

 

[paul_brad]

when i was looking for one a year and a half ago, i was looking for a T reg with about 60k for 8k. In the end I went for W reg with 80k for 8k. You've get less chance of 'silly' things having broken eg volume knob on radio. or whatever.

 

[DelBoyUK]

I just went to see the car again, managed to catch him as he was seeing some relatives this weekend.

The car passed its mot and I saw the cert, as well as the emissions test.

The two front tyres have now been replaced and I asked about the oil, we looked at the receipts from Audi and it seems he bought 2 x 1 ltr of oil, 1 of which was to top up the car and the other was in the boot in the audi oil pouch. Does that seem reasonable?

Thanks
Matt

 

[cybrey]

Mine doesn't use any ( that I'm aware of) between services.