Looking at an A3

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skells

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Hi folks,

I'm currently car-less, looking to buy an A3 as soon as poss (I've been car-less for couple of days...i don't like it!).
Here's my requirements:
- post-2008 2.0 TDi 170hp
- probably at least S Line spec
- prefer 3-dr but am ok with 5-dr
- pretty much only want a black one (colour, not 'edition'!). Ummed and arred with some silvers/greys, but think I'm done on those.
- wanna keep miles below 80k if poss. and if miles are that high, then interior needs to still be in good condition
- must-have options - multi-function steering wheel, parking sensors
- nice-to-have options - cruise control (this is a must-have for me, but I can always get this retro-fitted, so wouldn't stop me buying one without), Black edition, start-stop, sat-nav (no chance on that! they're even rarer spec'd than parking sensors!), storage pack (had one in the A5 I just sold, and the little flappy things that come down in the boot to hold shopping bags are a God-send!...genius!), privacy glass.

My budget is £11k-ish.

What's the general feeling about largely-over-average-mileage on the newer cars?
There's one I'm looking at, just come on AT, no pics yet even, but the description reads pretty great, great spec car, it's 79k and it's a 2011 car!! so that mileage-per-year is pretty huge.
But, it's only 3 years old. Description says it's immaculate throughout though, so I assume that includes driver's seat, etc.

It's a 2011 2.0 TDI 170 S Line with start/stop (so the performance/economy/emmissions combo is superb to me), FASH including timing belt change, 1 owner. And because of the massive mileage, it's up for £11k, which is £4k cheaper than Parkers price for the model.

it would be great to get your thoughts on this 79k car/price/risks/things-to-look-out-for type stuff

and also, any advice for any other general tips when looking at used A3s with the desired spec I've described above.

thanks all!
Steve.


Edit: forgot to say, I only do about 6k miles a year, so I'll bring that average down a bit over the course of ownership. I think this works in this particular car's favour!

you may have guessed, I am keen on this car, just cos of the spec and price... so I'd really love to hear that it's not the dumbest move ever, buying a 3 yr old car with almost 80k miles on it!! :)
 
Can I just ask why your after a tdi when you do 6k a year?

skells said:
Hi folks,

I'm currently car-less, looking to buy an A3 as soon as poss (I've been car-less for couple of days...i don't like it!).
Here's my requirements:
- post-2008 2.0 TDi 170hp
- probably at least S Line spec
- prefer 3-dr but am ok with 5-dr
- pretty much only want a black one (colour, not 'edition'!). Ummed and arred with some silvers/greys, but think I'm done on those.
- wanna keep miles below 80k if poss. and if miles are that high, then interior needs to still be in good condition
- must-have options - multi-function steering wheel, parking sensors
- nice-to-have options - cruise control (this is a must-have for me, but I can always get this retro-fitted, so wouldn't stop me buying one without), Black edition, start-stop, sat-nav (no chance on that! they're even rarer spec'd than parking sensors!), storage pack (had one in the A5 I just sold, and the little flappy things that come down in the boot to hold shopping bags are a God-send!...genius!), privacy glass.

My budget is £11k-ish.

What's the general feeling about largely-over-average-mileage on the newer cars?
There's one I'm looking at, just come on AT, no pics yet even, but the description reads pretty great, great spec car, it's 79k and it's a 2011 car!! so that mileage-per-year is pretty huge.
But, it's only 3 years old. Description says it's immaculate throughout though, so I assume that includes driver's seat, etc.

It's a 2011 2.0 TDI 170 S Line with start/stop (so the performance/economy/emmissions combo is superb to me), FASH including timing belt change, 1 owner. And because of the massive mileage, it's up for £11k, which is £4k cheaper than Parkers price for the model.

it would be great to get your thoughts on this 79k car/price/risks/things-to-look-out-for type stuff

and also, any advice for any other general tips when looking at used A3s with the desired spec I've described above.

thanks all!
Steve.


Edit: forgot to say, I only do about 6k miles a year, so I'll bring that average down a bit over the course of ownership. I think this works in this particular car's favour!

you may have guessed, I am keen on this car, just cos of the spec and price... so I'd really love to hear that it's not the dumbest move ever, buying a 3 yr old car with almost 80k miles on it!! :)
Click to expand...
 
you can...it's a question I've been hearing a lot, and I don't understand why people question it..

A. Cos it's more economical, less trips to the petrol station, great for long trips,... lower emmissions?!

So just reversing your question, just so I know what the deal is, why wouldn't I get a diesel (...just because I do 6k a year)?!
No-one's explained it to me yet!
 
Last edited:
Welcome.

It's because taking into account all costs associated with petrol vs diesel, say over a 3 year period, there is a "break even" number of miles you need to do each year before you benefit from having a diesel car, and that point is deffo higher than 6K miles comparing a like for like petrol engine.

Diesel cars are more to buy, insure and service generally speaking compared to petrol. Diesel fuel is also more expensive and that's where the difference comes from. If your 6K miles each year aren't going to be long(er) journeys then you're deffo going to have DPF issues at some point.

Don't get me wrong despite the above and doing similar mileage each year to you I still bought a 170 diesel because that's what I wanted and I like the way my car drives. But I hope that answers your question.
 
Thanks Sayam.

My daily commute is about 15 miles, on an A-road, between 50 and 60 mph, so not too short. The engine gets to warm up on each trip.
I just had a diesel A5 (2012) for the last 7 months, no issues there.
I do want the diesel, and I just compared the nearest A3 petrol engine for performance (1.8) and the difference in economy and emmissions is substantial. I'll be getting the diesel.

So, back to my original question... high mileage, young car... any big issues with that?
 
You need to do a search regarding the DPF on diesel cars, especially if you are going to buy a relatively higher mileage car with a DPF and are only planning to do 6k a year.

There is lots of information regarding them on here.

I'd be getting a petrol if I were you
 
Ok, I'll have a look, thanks.

What should my search criteria be? just "DPF" ?
 
Yep, even tap "DPF issues" or similar into Google and you'll get heaps of stuff.
 
skells said:
Thanks Sayam.

My daily commute is about 15 miles, on an A-road, between 50 and 60 mph, so not too short. The engine gets to warm up on each trip.
I just had a diesel A5 (2012) for the last 7 months, no issues there.
I do want the diesel, and I just compared the nearest A3 petrol engine for performance (1.8) and the difference in economy and emmissions is substantial. I'll be getting the diesel.

So, back to my original question... high mileage, young car... any big issues with that?
Click to expand...

very similar to my commute and trust me by friday the car is wanting a good motorway run to do a regen, it automatically raises the idle revs and delays its gear changes to get DPF temp up so it can do a regen. (mines DSG)

As you say, the next closest engine the 1.8TFSi didn't tickle my fancy at all compared to the 170 so I understand where you are coming from.

My car is 2009 59 plate and just over 100K on the clock, no issues so providing it has a full audi history and has been looked after, cambelt/water pump etc done at the correct time along with DSG gear box oil changes at the correct interval then all should be well (assuming you want DSG).

As stated by others be aware of dual mass flywheel however once it's been done it shouldn't bother you again in your ownership of the gear, unless it fails of course.

of course if you get it and take it to someone to do a EGR/DPF delete and custom remap then that'll give you approx 200bhp and will get rid of the potential DPF issues in one hit.

so to answer your question, in my experience young car and high mileage isn't necessarily a cause for concern but take each car on it's own merit.
 
Sayam said:
of course if you get it and take it to someone to do a EGR/DPF delete and custom remap then that'll give you approx 200bhp and will get rid of the potential DPF issues in one hit.
Click to expand...

oh my gosh, I've only just converted from thinking that I needed/wanted a diesel to going back to stick with a petrol, and now you're laying these wonderfully tempting options on me!! :uhm:
 
Late January I bought a 2012 Black Edition A3 170 (Sportback) and I absolutely love it, it pulls when I want it to, handles really well and touch wood, the only little niggle was the tracking on the front wheels.

I cover 40 miles to/from work to home every day & its costing £30 per week tops including a 6 mile blast up the A38 which does it good!

Personally, I cant fault you for wanting the 170 (Id love an S3 but don't want the fuel bills), check its history and services, go over it with a fine tooth comb, timing belt you commented on..anything you don't like about it, walk away if you feel its not right!

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the advice, guys. As advised, after little research, I think that a diesel is not really for me.
So back to the drawing board!
The 1.8 petrol engines look good enough to me, but after a very quick search, doesn't seem to be much of what I want in my price range... they certainly hold their value well!
I'm sure I'll be back again looking for more advice once I've had a decent look around.
Cheers for now!
 
You also won't get the acclaimed mpg or anything near it on average from a 2.0 tdi 170 I had one and did a 400 Mile run into the highlands, averaged 45mpg on motorways and A roads... I'm confident my S3 could do 35mpg on the same sort of run!!
 
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I got me an A3 yesterday, 1.8 petrol 2008 (facelift) 3-dr. S Line in dark metallic blue (anyone know what name blue that would be? ... assuming there was only 1 standard dark blue metallic option on this...)

really impressed with the engine, in terms of performance/economy balance.
I mean it's not rocket-quick, but it's plenty nippy enough for me.
And on my 25 min drive to work this morning (20% urban, 80% dual carriageway @ 60mph aveage) averaged 45mpg.

More efficient than the A5 diesel I just sold (and quite a bit slower too, to be fair to the A5!)

happy so far, got a few things that need attention.

BTW, I know this a sporty-audi type forum, but is it generally acceptable to ask stuff about issues with cars? on a less sporty model?

like for e.g. the issue I've noticed on mine since I got it home, is when both windows are fully down, then I auto-wind them both up, the drivers window when it gets to the top does a clunking/whirring a few times for a few seconds before it stops.

it only happens when window is fully down. so short term solution is to manually stop it just before it reaches the top, then close it from a couple of inches to closed. it doesn't happen when I do this.
obviously not ideal, so wondering what it is. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks.
 
People will help here with any problems but might be best posting a separate thread about it. I have the 1.8t and it's awesome, I went from a diesel as all the things that went wrong on my previous car were to do with the diesel technology so I am happy now. A remap will take you over 200bhp if you wanted to do that.

I thought the a3 was chain driven so no cambelts?
 
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I have a 1.8 tfsi fill up with a couple of tanks of tesco momentum and it's makes a noticeable difference in performance and mpg
 
Cheers mate, will do that as it goes, since coming from just having a diesel, I found that petrol is so cheap!! So the extra pennies not a prob.
And if performance AND economy is improved, it pays for itself! :)
 
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