Was contemplating selling the A3...

[marriedblonde]

As some of you may know my car was booked in for it's first service friday night so I thought I would have a look around at the other models in the show room as I have been hankering after an A4 2.0Tdi S-line for some time now. Keep thinking I want a slightly bigger car to the A3.

I went for the A3 in the first place as my current garage is big enough to fit one but not the A4 but I am moving on the next couple of weeks to a much bigger house with a double garage so space is no longer an issue.

So I speak to the guy who sold me my A3 and asked if the had a demonstrator. Yep they have a couple of 05 S-line avants nicely spec'd and I can have one for a drive in the moring when I come to collect my A3.

So this morning off I go for a spin, wallet in pocket just in case you understand... They had given me an A6 2.0Tdi as a loaner overnight which was lovely to drive but not an S-line.

I get in the A4 and it's nice and smooth, feels plenty lively with the same engine as mine. Go for a blast down some of my favourite local roads, up and down the motorway. Really, really nice car to drive, very nice handling car. Not overly convinced the centre console is as nice as the A3's but that was a very minor point.

I get back to the show room and think yep this could very well be the car for me.

Being the sensible chap I am I don't sit down with the sales guy and go off on my way. My thinking being I will go home work out the exact spec I am after, find a price on the various web sites and then go back and order from them if they can match/better the price.

Instead of taking the quickest way home I go for a bit of a blast, OMG what a revelation. I think if I had driven to the showroom in my A3 and not the A6 loaner I wouldn't have been very keen on the A4. Yes it is smooth but too smooth. The handling of the A3 is a million times better and the DSG would have been sorely missed.

The A3 is staying for a while. I might be tempted to get an A4 cabriolet next spring though but thats a different car altogether.

Oh and the service set me back £197.40 and I have no complaints. They picked up the most minor of faults on the car as comments on the invoice. The only thing is I did ask for them not to clean but they did inside and out!

J.

 

[benw123]

Interesting post, marriedblonde. The same thing has happened to me before over the years with different cars, where you test drive a shiny new model only to "rediscover" your own car on the drive home.

Incidentally, where did you have your A3 serviced? £197.40 seems competitive against some of the other quotes in another recent thread.

 

[OutLore]

Yeah - the 2.7TDi A6 I had as a loaner for 10 days was absolutely lovely... and I really didn't want to take it back and get the A3.....

Even a couple of miles up the road I was thinking "I wish I had an A6"

Then I negotiated a roundabout, and exited with a smug grin on my face, thinking "no I don't."

The A4 2.0T Quattro loaner I had last week, now thats another story - but luckily I only had it for 2 days.

 

[marriedblonde]

I used Southampton Audi, the same people supplied the car. Excellent service all round.

J.

 

[yak]

Pretty much the same story, I had A6 Avant 2.4 multitronic for a week when my A3 was in service, and I so didn't want to return it. It was smooth, felt relaxing to drive, and everything I could hope for motorway driving.

Well, back in A3 I finally realised that maybe I'm a bit too childish for A6 still. A3 is much sharper, in engine response (due to multitronic vs. manual), steering, it's smaller.. it's just more fun, not better, but fun /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

A4 never brought me any feelings, but that was also due to reason that it had non-studded tyres when I drove it, so I couldn't trust the car at all (it was icy weather).

 

[howatsi]

I have an A4 1.9TDi Avant Quattro Sport and the wife has A3 1.6SE and imo the A3 handles and rides far better than the A4, (unless the road surface are smooth like billiard tables, you do not need Audi's sport suspension, it just crashes and bangs from one pothole to the next especially on the roads around West Yorks, the only upside is that the sport seats are superb, last week I drove 500miles+ and not a twinge from my back), the A3 also feels like it has more space inside as well.
There are only 2 downsides, one is the performance (but it is only a 1.6 after all, the wife's not a speed freak, she rarely uses 5th gear never mind 4th) should have gone for the 2.0TDI though, and again imo the Avant just looks superb. Having said that we are now looking to change the A3, seriously looking at the new A4 convertible, but that's another tale of dealer woe, if anybody's interested?

 

[marriedblonde]

Fill us in George as I am contemplating getting the convertable.

I prefer the sports seat in my A3 as well, they seemed to hold be better than the ones in the A4 but that could be because the ones in mine are half leather and the ones in the A4 where full leather.

J.

 

[howatsi]

Marriedblonde.
Posted the convertible story on the new A4 forum, didn't want to confuse anybody plus the regulator talking about A4s on the A3 forum.
Regards, George.

 

[skempster]

What's the second downside georgej?