S3 mileage ??

[Kris]

Hi guys, just wondered what kind of mileage S3 drivers do and a) what would you consider high mileage in an S3? b) more importantly what sort of mileage would be detrimental to the resale value of the S3? I'm guessing the S3 may be more susceptable to depretiation with high miles than other A3's??

The reason i ask is that i've been lucky until now as my daily commute has only been a few miles although that will change as i'm just about to start a new job. I'm in construction so have no fixed place of work so mileage is pot luck. My choices are as follows: a) have a company car and keep the S3 for private use (bit excessive) b) Use the S3 for work and just take the hit on miles c) sell the S3 and just run a company car (don't really want to go there!)

Decisions decisions!

 

[phantom]

I'm firmly in the camp of get your self a cheap 307 Derv as a work horse and keep the S3!

My cars on 8500-ish and will be one in late June.

It would be more if i didn't have access to another car/van which IMHO you need as i wouldn't/don't do " tip runs " and " B&Q " visits in the S3.

p

 

[newbiecrg]

So far I have used it just for leisure and in one year I managed 11000 miles...

But I am start using it to commute to a job and will be doing 300 miles weekly which for me is ok. Afterall I bought the car to enjoy and to drive...

Concerning resale... i didn't bought it with that in mind otherwise would have bought a second hand one... so don't really care... I will use it until I change it for another thing, whenever that will be...

Pedro

 

[Deleted member 22276]

done over 19k in 8 months.

 

[marriedblonde]

I'm guessng if you have the option of a company car then they are also offering an opt out scheme where they will pay you a car allowance?

What sort of company car are you allowed and what is your allowance? Do you get a fuel card?

If your doing business miles you can fill in a self asessment and claim the business miles back from the tax man. I'm guessing if they are offering you a car allowance that they will be paying you a mileage allowance (probably about 14p a mile) you can then claim the rest back off your tax at the end of the year (40p -14p = 26p per business mile)

You can use this to offset the depreciation .

Any mileage is going to effect the value of your car but if you start to average over 20K a year you will take a massive hit!

On the plus side there are a lot of high mileage S3's around on dealers forecourts - i.e. 6months old with 18K for example and they are still fetching good money. So I would say initially it wont make a massive difference.

But hey come resale or trade in time they are going to screw you regardless of the mileage!

Personally I try to change my cars before they are 2 years old or they have done 40K miles, whateve3r comes first. As soon as they hit 40K I seem to find the value plumments!

The other way to look at it is I'm gussing the fact you have change from a local commute to doing x amount of miles a year you have had a pay rise. Look at the depreciation as the price you have to pay for your payrise.

To put things into perspective, I bought my car last march and if I was to trade it in now i've lost around £1K a month in depreciation. I can offset this as the I have saved over £10K in taxes. The petrol and running costs are the hit I have to take for doing my job!

You need to ask yourself do you want to drive around in a rep mobile or something decent. If you want something decent your going to have to pay!

J.

 

[mitch78]

:thumbsup:

 

[Kris]

Food for thought, thanks guys keep it coming.

Phantom: not a bad idea getting a cheap run around although i'd have to check with the company as the have restrictions on age and type ..... company image and all that ********.

siu00adg: what can i say ...... jeez, you get about

MB: yeah, i can opt out and take the allowence and 15p per mile which is what i was doing up till now. As you say, i really need to be claiming the extra 25p back off the tax man. I've not had the car list yet but for example i could have a new A3 2.0 TDI with fuel card although i'd feel like i was taking a step backward. On the plus side, with a fuel card i could get confused and tank the S3 up!

What i don't want is an immacualte S3 all polished sitting in the garage which does a couple of thousand miles per year. I could afford to take the company car and keep mine as the salery is more although this seems a little excessive. To start with i'll be using mine as the mileage is low so can off set future excess miles for a while.

 

[phantom]

Food for thought, thanks guys keep it coming.

Phantom: not a bad idea getting a cheap run around although i'd have to check with the company as the have restrictions on age and type ..... company image and all that ********.

Sack that! your turning up at a building site ***!

Get one of those signs made up?

MY OTHER CAR IS A S3

p

 

[NHN]

To be honest mate, I had my mk 1 S3 & used it all over country, sold it recently with alot of upgrades done on for low 8k, had 95k on clock, I would keep s3 for evenings & weekends mate & buy even an a3 tdi dsg which is nice & cheap to run, thats what I did & I'm thinking of new s3 for fun aswell, but high mileage man kills on resale value, if my car had done 40k with all the work I'd done to it I would have got 11-13k it was that nice, but alas I loved driving it to much, lol.

But if you can afford, get a3 & keep s3 aswell, trust me it does make sense & also it will make you drool for the s3 for much longer as when you get in the s3 after a week of derv driving which a3 tdi is good anyway, you will just enjoy it more & wont get so bored with it so quickly, trust me you will get bored one day, driving it less often will slow that down & less miles on clock of s3 will make it worth a shed load more when come to sell no matter when.

But saying that, I am truly shocked at how nice & good the A3 tdi dsg is & thats me after driving a ****** quick S3, an S4 B6 which was very rude, got my mate Simon who owns AMD to remap & flies, but miss me 4wd, but will correct that very soon thats for sure.

 

[Deleted member 21388]

2.5K miles since new in Jan !

Think I better start using it more

Richard

 

[PaulAr]

I prefer to buy low mileage cars as it intimates I will get less hassle per mile as its less `used`.
However my last low mile Golf ended up buying a pain in the **** and not hassle free in the least proving low mileage guarantees nothing.
I would say enjoy it and pamper it and sell it private. Some one will recognise that its a `proper car` and pay what its worth regardless of miles.
Mate of mine bought Golf 25th Anni with high miles for decent money because it was a mint, cherished car.
Dealers will mark it down if its up on the miles but an enthusiast is more likely to pay a fairer price for a nice car from a like minded owner.

Good luck and enjoy.

Cheers Paul

 

[newbiecrg]

Mileage is important in some parts... as replacement can be expensive but I prefer to buy a 5 year high mileage motorway used car than a 5 year old car with 15k miles...

Pedro

 

[Staz]

I've done 1000 miles in 18 days.

If money is an issue then mileage on the S3 is going to be cheaper than buying another car for work.

If money is more than an issue then you need to sell the S3 and buy something cheaper. Don't be too proud for your own good.

 

[L60N]

The reason i ask is that i've been lucky until now as my daily commute has only been a few miles although that will change as i'm just about to start a new job. I'm in construction so have no fixed place of work so mileage is pot luck.

What do you do Kris?

I was in Construction too as a surveyor

It was cushy on a big job near home but they were few and far between. I know what its like long drives coupled with long days

I'd get a run around too. An astra or similar, reasonable build and they run forever.

You cant work hard all week without some pleasures when you get home.

Good luck with it :icon_thumright:

 

[marriedblonde]

MB: yeah, i can opt out and take the allowence and 15p per mile which is what i was doing up till now. As you say, i really need to be claiming the extra 25p back off the tax man. I've not had the car list yet but for example i could have a new A3 2.0 TDI with fuel card although i'd feel like i was taking a step backward. On the plus side, with a fuel card i could get confused and tank the S3 up!

You claim back for the last few years as well! Not just the curret year, I can't remember how many years but it is at least a couple!

J.

 

[S3 LTN]

Hi Kris
Done 18,000... Got mine last year in march. But i would be on 40,000 if i didnt buy The WORK HORSE in the form of a M reg 1.7TD Cavalier.

Best bet is get another car because resale is going to be a problem with high mileage. Esp with a job thats got unpredictable mileage. Now ive got the S3 not sitting on 40k so when it comes to resale wont lose out too much.

Plus you should see the looks on peoples faces when im driving a cavalier one minute and then im in a nice shiny new S3.

 

[newbiecrg]

Well I suppose all you say makes quite economial sense....

But I just drive my S3 whenever I need and I don't care about resale value... I would only change for a diesel if I think I am spending un unreasonable amount of money on petrol... and for the moment is ok...

Now imagining I did 30k miles a year and still I could afford the petrol... I would prefer to do those miles on an S3 than doing 10k on the S3 and the rest on an old car...

But again I believe you are right... I just waste lots of money...

Pedro

 

[S3 LTN]

Well I suppose all you say makes quite economial sense....

But I just drive my S3 whenever I need and I don't care about resale value... I would only change for a diesel if I think I am spending un unreasonable amount of money on petrol... and for the moment is ok...

Now imagining I did 30k miles a year and still I could afford the petrol... I would prefer to do those miles on an S3 than doing 10k on the S3 and the rest on an old car...

But again I believe you are right... I just waste lots of money...

Pedro

Yeah... I do alot of mileage so made sense buy a cheaper economical car (very cheap by the way only £600) which you can hammer around esp these local roads with humps and potholes EVERYWHERE.

As for me Pedro im like you get bored of cars quite quick but this way i can still keep the old flame burning for the S3... and wont get bored. (Still aint )

 

[newbiecrg]

As for me Pedro im like you get bored of cars quite quick but this way i can still keep the old flame burning for the S3... and wont get bored. (Still aint )[/quote]

True on that... never mind I am having fun again... trouble is I am taking S3 back to UK... so fun is over... frustration will double!!

Pedro

 

[Kris]

Staz, you seem to have taken the origional question out of context. I could afford to run the S3 into the gound with zero return on it. I have various options and was looking for feedback from you guys to have a wider perspective and to make an informed decission. As the saying goes, two heads (or two thousand!) are better than one. I'll still make my own choice but ideas may crop up that i'd not thought of. It's simply a case of being sensible and thinking it through rarther than making a rash decision.

S3 LTN, I'm a Senior Site Manager mate. I worked for a local company (established well over 100 years) for around 12 years until i got a phone call telling me i had 20 minutes to clear my desk as the receivers were on their way down with a big padlock! Hence i've got off my **** and got a new job but unfortunately had it pretty easy traveling in the past.

Intersting how there's two trains of thought on this one. I don't think there is an easy answer as both sides have some valid points. As said, i'm looking at using mine at the moment and seeing how it goes. If distance becomes too great then mileage on the car will become secondary and quality of life will be my priority i.e. get another job!

 

[MattW]

Just turned 9000 miles since Feb 07. I use mine all everywhere but then i work from home

 

[Staz]

Staz, you seem to have taken the origional question out of context.

I didn't know your financial situation so I couldn't make a more informed opinion.

But anyway. Quality of life is the most important thing you're right. I could never commute more than a couple of miles. And then I'd ride whenever possible anyway (I like to keep fit more than anything). I don't know how some of you guys do it. I love driving but stuck in these queues day in day out can't be fun!