Is it worth buying a 3.2 A3 with the dreaded 2k hesitancy?

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magic36

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I'm new to the forum and have the opportunity to buy a manual, 2004 A3 quattro off a friend. After Borrowing the car for a few days (and loving it!), i noticed it was hesitant around 2k rpm........ Ive trawled around the forums and found all the various suggestions on getting this fixed. Ive also had the car plugged in on vagcom at a local garage and they confirmed that there is a significant misfire around 2k (revs wont hold steady in neutral) i should have the data all printed off tomorrow and be able to explain better! i believe the readings were also around -3 / -4 and from what i understand a reading of -8 suggests cam chain stretching!!

I would hope that the solution would just be to get the ecu updated at a local Audi dealer, although i'm not sure its a risk worth taking as i have seen the amounts people have spent trying to rectify the issue.

The car itself is a red, manual, S-line, with 9 months mot, 4 new tyres and 96000 miles. As it stands at the moment he wants £3750. Do you think with a bit of research I could narrow down the causes of the misfire or would i be better off searching elsewhere? The last thing i want to do is open up a very expensive can of worms!!

Thanks, Joel
 
I currently have this issue and Audi diagnosed it to be the idle control valve sticking they said that it isn't an urgent job and will be fine and shouldn't get worse but did tell me that it would be a £1150 job with £495 being the price of the parts to do the job
 
That's one I haven't come across to be honest. I'm pretty sure it would be just fine leaving it. Can't believe Audi haven't found a solution to this yet as it sounds like an incredibly common fault
 
The coil pack should have been replaced under a recall. This is another gremlin in the 3.2.
I would think this worth checking with Audi to see if the car has had the update before you go spending your own money on what is freely available.
The ECU upgrade can also cost nothing depending on where you go for it, or how much you hassle them to get it done.
 
Jake 61 said:
The coil pack should have been replaced under a recall. This is another gremlin in the 3.2.
I would think this worth checking with Audi to see if the car has had the update before you go spending your own money on what is freely available.
The ECU upgrade can also cost nothing depending on where you go for it, or how much you hassle them to get it done.
Click to expand...
I'm going to try and ring a technician at Audi today to see if they can shed any light on the situation and also to check if it has been in for the recall yet. I also got my hands on the service history last night so had a look through and all it really had was a printout of apparent services which had been carried out.... No proper Audi service book. Also these seem to be long life service intervals, not an good oil change every 10k or so as suggested by others on the forum.

But seeing as I haven't bought the car yet I'm not willing to be spending my money on it really. And without the problem being fixed I feel it would be too much of a gamble to take. Which is a real shame as the car itself is great to drive and a lot of fun!
 
I wouldn't buy a 3.2 again, saying that any car, without more info, luckily the engine and gearbox (dsg) are good as it turns out, every problem I've had with the car could point to the gearbox but luckily not the case, without taking the car apart you will never know if it is going to cause problems because parts that fail are not in the service routine. use your intuition (which I didn't, I wanted one and there were 5 available at the time, thought I bought the best) buy it, take it in for the ecu upgrade, full service. rest is as any other car, things go wrong, just cost more for an audi
 
bit harsh saying you wouldn't but a 3.2 again when the problems you have had are not related to the engine but problems that could happen to every a3
 
screechmr2 said:
bit harsh saying you wouldn't but a 3.2 again when the problems you have had are not related to the engine but problems that could happen to every a3
Click to expand...
I didn't say that at all
EDIT: a V6 lump with quattro isn't every A3
 
Threads like this make me nervous :(
 
My 3.2 with dsg has been reliable in the 2 years I've had it. Only problems have been dirty throttle body, haldex stopped and small engine fan all of which are common Audi/vw faults and all relatively easy and cheap to fix
 
If the Ecu is one that's covered by the update, then yes it's an easy fix and we'll worth it. I loved my 2
 
I can see how people love these cars, it really is fantastic getting all that power down, and the noise :anbet:

However I have spoke to a local vw technician and he advised steering clear, unless the problem was fixed. I will give all my findings to the current owner and let him know about the coilpack recall and map. However not being my car, Its not worth me trying to fix it.
 
It's only a software update nothing more and will transform the car!
 
3.2 Ju said:
It's only a software update nothing more and will transform the car!
Click to expand...

I've heard stories of it not just being the software, I'll suggest it to him tonight, knowing how lazy he is though it won't get done though. The long life service intervals and lack of Audi service book worries me too, ive checked the oil and its extremely black at the moment!
 
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