Thinking about buying an S3...thoughts?

If the one in the link doesn't turn out to be what I expect, I may very well be in for an offer on yours!
 
I looked at that one 11 previous owners. And It had lost a few miles along the way! Nice car though..
 
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S3 - best car this sort of money can buy IMO - looks classy, quick, well built. If you drive it sensibly you'll get 35mpg on motorway runs. Insurance is not that cheap and maintenance costs are high, but if you can afford it - you won't regret it.
 
Brilliant cars, lots of spec for little money, cracking engine when mapped. Smile factor = oh yes!!!
 
i think its still under warranty (the clutch). Personally if it was me selling the car, i would be quite sure if it was or wasnt. How someone can write that into an advert then further on down the page state that you are entering a contract if you win the auction is beyond me. AVOID this one, the seller should be precise about what he is telling you.

Expect to get 35mpg on the motorway, 25-30mpg urban & less than that extra urban when driven sensibly.
Service history is pretty vital with these cars ensure the cambelt has been changed.
Suspension bushes tend to wear out 40k-60k.
Watch out for rust around arches, roof lines & tailgate.
Clutches dont last forever 60k-100k
Tyres are around £115 per corner
Anti roll bars require replacement around 70k
 
Only owned it for 2 months....think the current owner has bought one of these new 'cheap' S3's and realised its a money pit imo

Edit - You should move Finesse's to the top of your list, an enthusiast with a well looked after one and well priced.
 
Love mine!!

...only done 300 miles in it as yet tho...
 
mattyboy199 said:
Expect to get 35mpg on the motorway, 25-30mpg urban & less than that extra urban when driven sensibly.
Service history is pretty vital with these cars ensure the cambelt has been changed.
Suspension bushes tend to wear out 40k-60k.
Watch out for rust around arches, roof lines & tailgate.
Clutches dont last forever 60k-100k
Tyres are around £115 per corner
Anti roll bars require replacement around 70k
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up with these points. Something to scan the service history for.

Just want to have a fun car for the weekend. Currently have a c-class which the missus mainly uses so something a cheap s3 (in good condition) would be ideal for me.

I know there be a lot of other people on here looking to buy an S3 so I wanted to check if anyone had been out to see the one in the link, because on the face of it, it does tick a lot of the boxes for me and has the bonus of RNS-D.

Cheers chaps, forgot what a great forum ASN is after selling my old A3 about four years back!

Hopefully will be back here soon with pics of my new S3!!!
 
If you've got a pocket load of cash for mods because you will say I will just keep it standard..... Then you'll get an airfilter then a remap....And then it's too late.... You'll end up with about 8 to 10k in a car that's worth 3 to 4k.... But if you want to join (MPC)...... Money Pit Club then you crack on mate.....lol... I have done 30k in mine in the last 15 months and she still brings a smile to my face everytime I drive her...... Regardless of cost...
 
Hi Erf, had a read of that s3 as im looking for a cheap s3 aswel, and id avoid like the plauge, if the guy dont know about the warrenty then he knows jack, also im sure warrenty dosent carry on to the next owner either. I would buy finesse one if i had that money now but im looking for one around 3.5k and as stated its pot luck to get a decent one at that money tho. Lmao at the guy saying it was eco, and get rid of your s3 for a vrs, the vrs is nice i suppose if you have a wax jacket and a flat cap ;)
 
worst ad I've ever seen, horrific pics, what's he trying to hide?

clearly being sold by a moron, so therefore owned by a moron.

Would you buy a car from a moron?

Move on!
 
Ian W said:
You should move Finesse's to the top of your list, an enthusiast with a well looked after one and well priced.
Click to expand...

+1 on that. Only saw the car in the dark, but he's good guy and a proper enthusiast and helped me out with a few problems on mine.
 
they certainly do cost a few quid to maintain ive had mine since 25k its now on 79k so dealt with pretty much everything except the turbo / block
 
Careful with what you buy.....I got mine for a good price, vagcommed it, did all the usual checks all seemed good. Since then I've needed new MAF, fuel pump, rear calipers, discs, pads, xenon self levelling arm and a few more bits I've forgotten, most things only showed up after going on Bills rollers for a remap....As I said just be careful! I do love my car though, it brings a smile to my face
 
slowcoach3 said:
Careful with what you buy.....I got mine for a good price, vagcommed it, did all the usual checks all seemed good. Since then I've needed new MAF, fuel pump, rear calipers, discs, pads, xenon self levelling arm and a few more bits I've forgotten, most things only showed up after going on Bills rollers for a remap....As I said just be careful! I do love my car though, it brings a smile to my face
Click to expand...

I'd say that was pretty much normal.

They are actually relatively cheap to maintain for a 10 year old car with that kind of performance, certainly one of the cheapest i've had recently.
 
Idrees, car looks very nice, but a bit over my budget. Thanks for all the comments guys.
 
Hmm it's shocking how cheap s3's are now. But as said, most will come with a list of problems, although usually nothing massive, but loads of little things that end up costing loads. Definitely worth paying a little over 'market value' like finesses, get a nice one then they are a joy to own.
 
I don't know if this is a sensible suggestion or not, but what would be useful is to have somewhere on the forum where members can post if they have viewed s3's for sale that were absolute munters. There are so many for sale and rather than spend time and money travelling up and down the country if people could post any cars that are definitely worth steering clear of, I think that would be useful.

Thoughts?
 
Very good idea imo. I wasted a day and 300 odd miles on aheap when i was looking.

With regards to buying ANY s3, or p3rformance car of this age for that matter, if you think you can buy a car like this and not have any problems no matter how big or small you are; as prawn used, a moron. You pay even top whack for one of these, price does not reflect current or potential problems. it means sold all. they are old, and highly strung,and most likely well used cars.

There is no such thing asa trouble free fast car, new or 20yrs old, £1000 or £1000000, it does not matter.
 
Very good idea imo. I wasted a day and 300 odd miles on aheap when i was looking.

With regards to buying ANY s3, or p3rformance car of this age for that matter, if you think you can buy a car like this and not have any problems no matter how big or small you are; as prawn used, a moron. You pay even top whack for one of these, price does not reflect current or potential problems. it means sold all. they are old, and highly strung,and most likely well used cars.

There is no such thing asa trouble free fast car, new or 20yrs old, £1000 or £1000000, it does not matter.
 
True that. If you buy a 10yr old car you inherit 10yrs of someone elses ownership and potential abuse. Or if your lucky love and maintenence.....
 
check out a member called EbayRSS just saw he's just posted his up for sale, its black with brembo's etc etc... have a look bud
 
jcs356 said:
Depends how you drive it! At least with a 1.8T you get the opportunity to drive it economically if you want to compared to a V6 etc. :moa:
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Very true... Compared to my mates R32 It's super economical for the same power :)
 
Erf said:
Idrees, car looks very nice, but a bit over my budget. Thanks for all the comments guys.
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No offence meant, but if £5k is over budget then I'd say you cant afford to run it anyway...
I know of one guy around here with an M3 & it sits in his drive for that very reason!
 
^^^^True. Idrees car looks like good value if its as good in the metal as it looks from the pics. Whatever you spend you should have ~£1500 put to one side ready for the issues you will have, unless you are very handy with a spanner and know 1.8T's well....
 
rogo-24-84 said:
check out a member called EbayRSS just saw he's just posted his up for sale, its black with brembo's etc etc... have a look bud
Click to expand...

Lol I don't think eBay rss is a person... It's just a bot/ eBay slave who posts up every relevant Audi car for sale
 
S4quatt said:
No offence meant, but if £5k is over budget then I'd say you cant afford to run it anyway...
I know of one guy around here with an M3 & it sits in his drive for that very reason!
Click to expand...

To be fair thats not relevant or even your place to say. He could be on 50k a year with a bank full of money but might not want that much tied up in a car.

S3's are no different to the rest of the mk4 based vag cars in their general running and repair costs. Some are good some are pigs. Choose well and youll be fine.
 
No offence taken, but I've set myself a budget of £3500 for a reason. The car will only be used at weekends at best. It's supposed to be something fun for me when I don't have to take the missus and daughter out. As a result, I don't want to spend a silly amount and that's why I'm looking at S3's around the ten year mark with over 100,000 on the clock. For me fair value for a car of that age with that sort of mileage is around that mark. Some will be worth a bit more, some will be worth a little less, but I'm hoping I can pick up a reasonable one for that sort of money.

Fran - the link you posted looks very promising!
 
MUSH said:
To be fair thats not relevant or even your place to say. He could be on 50k a year with a bank full of money but might not want that much tied up in a car.

S3's are no different to the rest of the mk4 based vag cars in their general running and repair costs. Some are good some are pigs. Choose well and youll be fine.
Click to expand...


Fair enough, & I didn't realise it was going to be a weekend toy...
But I will say, bear in mind that OK they maybe are the same as any other MK4, but at Insurance group 17 it can be a bit high.
I just feel that it would be worth stretching the budget a little more to get a good one with less miles on it :)
 
Love the Noggy blue, but an engine re-build? I'd be asking why it needed that?
As for the cat C, well I'd be wary of it but if it looks good & you get it cheap enough IE 1-1.5k less than book then its probably worth a look.
I think I would still have it looked over by Audi or a decent independent first tho...
 
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