Think I've had enough now...

s3_kev said:
y so having a 2nd car is an ideal option for you. also your save some money on running costs in the long term my s3 used to cost me about £100 a month in fuel only my civic is costing little over £50 on fuel a month.
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How long before the cost of running a second car (insurance, tax, servicing and car purchase) on the fuel saving actually start saving you money ? If your second car only came to £600 all in then it would still take a whole year before you start seeing a saving.

Welly, think care fully about getting a second car if it's savings you're after. Otherwise keep the S3 and get a RELIABLE daily driver that your not allowed to touch (ie upgrade / fiddle with) and keep the S3 as your smile toy !
 
Mate! I've been without the internet for half a day and the whole world falls apart.

Thats a proper dilema but my thoughts echo that of everyone else, your car, whilst being a moody bitch, its a brilliant example of what can be acheived and I appreciate all of the effort you've put into it, has certainly helped me learn a thing or two. I hope it starts behaving properly before it leaves you no choice!

Be strong Brother,

Peace!
 
dellboy said:
Couldn't agree more, and I've only owned mine for 3 months!!

I'll probably get slated for saying this but beginning to wish I bought something else. Don't get me wrong I love the car but hate the waiting for the next thing to go wrong feeling.
Click to expand...

Mine has just had the screen replaced, and the brake master cylinder, so it's absolutely perfect now, but it'll be going on Ebay next week with no reserve and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go.

It may well be that the cost of S3 ownership levels out compared to similarly quick cars, but I'd rather have a yearly kick in the nuts, but do 15k miles reliably, rather than spending 90% of my time worrying about the Vagcom is going to tell me next.
 
AttackOfTheEddieMunster said:
Mine has just had the screen replaced, and the brake master cylinder, so it's absolutely perfect now, but it'll be going on Ebay next week with no reserve and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go.

It may well be that the cost of S3 ownership levels out compared to similarly quick cars, but I'd rather have a yearly kick in the nuts, but do 15k miles reliably, rather than spending 90% of my time worrying about the Vagcom is going to tell me next.
Click to expand...
Out of interest what similarly quick cars?
 
auroan said:
How long before the cost of running a second car (insurance, tax, servicing and car purchase) on the fuel saving actually start saving you money ? If your second car only came to £600 all in then it would still take a whole year before you start seeing a saving.

Welly, think care fully about getting a second car if it's savings you're after. Otherwise keep the S3 and get a RELIABLE daily driver that your not allowed to touch (ie upgrade / fiddle with) and keep the S3 as your smile toy !
Click to expand...
cheap car for £500 quid your never going to have depreciation on that so its an investment your get it back. tax was on the car, servicing??? not on an old dog for £500 lol, insurance isnt that much if you go to a specialist and combine the 2 cars id imagen i pay less for both cars then most people my age on just there s3.
by using the s3 less your save your money in no time as it will fail less as its used less, for instance in my case its expensive to keep getting the front bumper resprayed so works out cheaper to have the 2nd car. in wellys case it will/ could save him on parts failing so regularly.
it doesnt come down to just saving the money though its the fact you can still keep the s3 and enjoy it more when you use it :)
 
I think a 'run around' is the best option for you too mate. It would be such a shame to sell a car you have put so much work into, and when it does go wrong it obviously messes up your weekend because you rely on it so much, but with a runaroud that removes alot of the pressure i think. I wouldnt have an S3 if I didnt also have a van. But If anything goes wrong I just park it up and use the van, then sort it as soon as comfortably possible.

Iv been tinkering with the idea of selling mine and buying something more pocket friendly. Thing is I dont want something boring or french, so I found myself looking at 3 series diesels and 8p a3 tdis, neither of which arnt exactly the cheapest. So I wouldnt really be any better off! As my other girlfriend (kylie) once sung, its better the devil you know.
 
I think we will all miss your work, that's why we are all trying so hard too keep you..

maybe we should start donating.. :)

I have thought of going the TDI route, but 4 years can't let go of the old girl ..
 
AttackOfTheEddieMunster said:
E39 M5, which did suffer from a few big issues, but that'd easily go from service to service without a single fault. The Lotus' were all pretty good too, and they were all driven hard.
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Dont know about the lotus but e39 m5 = oil burning issues....eats clutches.....brake problems....expensive servicing....timing chain tensioner failures....vanos issues....insurance.....towbar requiered for your own fuel tanker...
You are going to have the same problem of an aging car on an e39 , same sort of birth and time scale as an s3 8l, but costs are going to be a lot more...
Great car though...
 
Westle said:
Yep I used to run an adjustable boost valve in my old Renault 5 turbo. It was a little alloy wheel that was mounted on the dash to open and close the valve. I'd have it wound in for normal use (8psi) then I'd wind it out for fun time (19psi). They were known as "the wheel of fortune" on RTOC (Renault Turbo Owners Club) due to the risk from pumping up the boost lol. Those were the days.

Anyway Welly, you should do what I do. Get a bird who you only see at the weekends and do all your car work during the week after work, win win situation ;)
Click to expand...

Hey the old RTOC i used to be on there with my 5 GT

Welly i only have one word for you
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Im with Paul and Bill buy a cheap runner if mine had been used half as much as yours i think it would be dead its only since the hybrid that i got the company van and i could rest the after doing 41,000 miles in a year in it (oops)
 
Welly why don't you lend your car to a mate for 2 weeks,see someone else enjoying/abusing it and then decide if you could bare to part with it.

You've spent loads of time and effort making it your own,and kept most of us on here glued to our pc screens in the process.

Have a week off from cars,give the missus some abuse instead and then see how much you wanna sell.

P.s- Whatever you do don't buy a clit car Mk4 Golf :(
 
I can fully understand Welly's thought process and I'm sure if most where in the same boat they too would be thinking about drawing a line under it.
Just remember you may go out and buy another standard S3 and luck says you have years of trouble free motoring AND the guy buying your car may just get that luck !
My ancient old point stands....spank that car and it will spank you. Mess around with it and it will mess with you sooner or later. But as a lot of you have pointed to me where's the fun of that.
I love and get great joy driving my standard S3...I do not know what it's like to drive a stage 2 250bhp, super-duper exhaust system, etc - I'm sure those owners feel the same driving theirs too !
 
Hehe, with the price of fuel these days, dervs are coming to get you all!

In all honesty though, you got a beauty of a motor, which you will never get your money back on. Furthermore, any decent motor is a money pit, unless were talking an a to b crapper, as you are a petrolhead so it aint going to stay STD long!

+1 daily runner, mk3 golf tdi gets my vote. Best value ( £900 ) motoring I ever spent. Or a mk2 golf 16v if you want a cheap project to fettle.

Ps Just went through the mrs pics thread, jebus your bird is hot. That ones going straight into the spank bank lol.
 
s3dave said:
Dont know about the lotus but e39 m5 = oil burning issues....eats clutches.....brake problems....expensive servicing....timing chain tensioner failures....vanos issues....insurance.....towbar requiered for your own fuel tanker...
Click to expand...

Clutch/servicing costs/insurance/fuel - those are all service items/running costs, they don't directly affect the reliability.

My M5 had the Vanos issue, but that car was driven hard for the 90k miles that I owned it, but not once did it have a single item that left me stranded or with oil under my finger nails. I also had a Lotus Carlton (well Omega, LHD) for 2 years, and other than the clutch/bell housing issue (£3k), that never let me down on a daily basis either. The other Lotus' were all expensive to maintain, but again, they were pretty reliable on a day to day basis.

The point is, none of the above cars had the same niggles that the S3 appears to have, and whilst the M5/Lotus' were expensive to maintain, they never let me down on a daily basis that the S3 seems to do. I stand by my comment, the S3 has far too many minor issues for a car of this supposed quality.
 
"Let down on a daily basis" is a bit harsh! I dont see posts on here every day saying my car wont start or run!

From my S3 experience it has been the most relieable car of this age i've had. The car has always started in all weather conditions, never left me stranded and I've not really had any major problems. I have just been replacing old tired parts which I could leave till failure before changing but I wanted to keep on top of it all.
 
Westle said:
"Let down on a daily basis" is a bit harsh! I dont see posts on here every day saying my car wont start or run!
Click to expand...

That's a poor turn of phrase on my part: what I meant is that S3 suffers from issues that manifest themselves inbetween services, whilst the M5 would get from service to service without any warnings/failures etc. Granted, the M5 was still expensive to maintain, far more so than the S3 I might add, but the point is it would do 12k miles without letting me down. If I look at the issues the S3 has, most of these would result in immediate action having to be taken, or they'd affect how the car drove on a day to day basis.
 
AttackOfTheEddieMunster said:
If I look at the issues the S3 has, most of these would result in immediate action having to be taken, or they'd affect how the car drove on a day to day basis.
Click to expand...

I think that's another quirk of owning a turbo charged car. I've always found that NA cars are far less hassle....... but far less fun :)
 
Westle said:
I think that's another quirk of owning a turbo charged car. I've always found that NA cars are far less hassle....... but far less fun :)
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying, but on the S3, some of these "daily" issues aren't related specifically to the turbo-charged aspect of the car: sensors/stats/haldex etc, they're all independant of the FI nature.
 
audi upgrades
OK, on the whole feeling better this morning, and was last night to be honest.

The rear doughnut on the prop is shagged completely. ****. Fortunately I have a spare so it's not all bad.

Was nice to drive the S3 to work today - and even though I shouldn't really be giving it beans, I did nob a new Focus RS.

Put that smile back on my face.... For now....
 
Welly said:
OK, on the whole feeling better this morning, and was last night to be honest.

The rear doughnut on the prop is shagged completely. ****. Fortunately I have a spare so it's not all bad.

Was nice to drive the S3 to work today - and even though I shouldn't really be giving it beans, I did nob a new Focus RS.

Put that smile back on my face.... For now....
Click to expand...

That's the spirit.
 
Westle said:
I think that's another quirk of owning a turbo charged car. I've always found that NA cars are far less hassle....... but far less fun :)
Click to expand...
Exactly performance cars are going to have problems you could drive around in an old 1100cc fiesta and have no problems at all, there is no reason an s3 once all hoses etc have been replaced should not be reliable, if you are tinkering with it on a daily basis, thats a different story, they will be good cars and wrong ones on every marque.
 
Also this forum highlights all the problems as it's where us enthusiasts collect together to discuss problems and what to fettle with. There are owners out there who dont touch their S3s and are probably not experiencing many problems, either due to them being unaware or not messing about with the car once a week.
 
audi upgrades
Welly, just my 2pence worth.
You and I have had a few PM's and emails over recent weeks relating to the issues I've / we've had with PAS / Manifolds / Downpipes and stuff like that. The one thing that kept me going was the enthusiasm of other fellow 1.8T owners such as yourself. So much on your car has been replaced and upgraded, the things that may go wrong now are more likely to be items not changed or just consumables. I drive my mums Polo about (alot recently!!) and nothing can change the feeling of getting in the Golf and taking it out instead, makes me appreciate what I've got. Having a run about to do the bulk or alot of the weekly miles will take the pressure off the S3, save a whack in fuel and make you appreciate what I for one feel is one of the most desirable cars out there.
 
audi upgrades
finesse said:
I volunteer Welly to help me diagnos some vac leaks today :)

pretty please?
Click to expand...

I would mate any other day, I'm always glad to see other forum members, but I will have my little one tonight, and I am going out for a meal at 7.15 so I am pushed for time....

:(

You up my way again any time soon?
 
finesse said:
I volunteer Welly to help me diagnos some vac leaks today :)

pretty please?
Click to expand...

LOL! Poor guy is struggling with his own car you cheeky wee ******!

Welly, keep it going my friend. It's your project, full of blood, sweat and tears. If you sell it, you will kick yourself, I guarantee it. I bought a ******** Westfield, spent a few months on it, sold it because I decided it needed more work than I originally had thought. Still wish to this day I hadn't as it would be up and running now and would not be such a pull on my finances.

Hindsight can be a wonderful thing. But it can be a bitch as well!
 
Wow bud if you think you got probs, try owning an eighties performance Ford, RST or Cossie, then you know youv'e got trouble, but that moment when everything is working as it should, and every person you drive past gives an admiring look, then you know its all worth it, thats the fun of a modded motor, there is something to be said for a standard car, the word boring comes to mind, stick with it Buddy, you know you want to.
 
Please don't make my mistake and buy a GT tdi thinking you'll get reliable performance. Yes, I had the PD150, but it was THE most unreliable p.o.s I've ever had. 4 turbos, 1 camshaft, crap handling, aircon issues. And after all that, turn the key, chug chug chug... disappointment every time.

If you want reliable performance, low servicing/ fuel costs I don't think the s2000 can be beat for the money BUT I can't tow a trailer, put anything in the back, etc, etc. I think the S3 is hard to beat on that count as an all rounder.
 
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