7.5k miles in & a few little niggles / anyone else experienced any of these?

To bring this to a, hopefully, good conclusion the car is now back from Leeds Audi - surprisingly it needed an overnight stay as they were unable to fix the heated rear window failure within a 11am-5pm day; here's the work completed (all under warranty).

Heated rear window is now working - they had to resort to removing and refitting the wire contacts apparently, as nothing else they tried in the first day worked - so they assume it was a bad or ill fitted connection from factory.

Apparently the car has had the 45E3 Software update, which has cured the temperature gauge issue and also the GPS clock automatic adjustment now actually stays on when you switch the car off and return, so thats great - time will tell on the flickering display issue, it only happened 2 or 3 times so I'll keep a close eye out.
The reason I say apparently they've done the software update is I took the liberty of taking a pic of the MMI software version details prior to the car going in - and they are still exactly the same - so quite how its been updated without showing a different revision I don't know - main thing is it's working properly but I'm going to start a new thread asking people to post their build date / software version information so I can see whats different.

They've also reset the boot lid too.

We've also now got a new gear gaiter on back order (14days or so), as the original one must have had a broken clip as its started popping off in one corner every now and again - so the car will have to go back in anyway once it arrives but they can fit that while we wait.

Only other thing to note was that as we needed a loan car overnight (they didn't want to let the car come back to us without fixing the heated rear window) we were given a 66plate, 400mile A3 S-Line Sportback (in 1.6TDi S/Tronic guise) and no offence to anyone with that particular combination, but after our 3.0 TDi Quattro A4 it felt very flimsy, even tinny, was pretty gutless and sounded rather like a tractor - not what I expected to be honest given its almost £28k price tag. Guess we're spoiled with the B9.

cuke2u said:

My sline 1.4 a3 was a good car and I wouldn't knock it for £27k with quite a few options added. I think any criticism is misplaced because the a4 platform is different and takes, as it should, it to another level. You shouldn't really compare two cars from different classes as each have their positives and negatives....

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Have to say having previously owned a 2009 A3 Sportback (2.0TDi) I was surprised at how this one felt / drove, with no extras it would be very close to £28k - and for that I'd take a lower spec A4 (lower than ours I mean) every time - but cars are very, very subjective and I did add the caveat that no offence was intended to any A3 drivers.

PhxViper said:

Glad the car is sorted @NickGun, fingers crossed it all sorted for you.

As for the A3 / A4 debate, I'm lucky enough to get to drive both regularly, completely different cars / class / quality and you get what you pay for. But the A3 with the manual 1.4 TFSI is a little pocket rocket, makes me smile when I drive it. But then commuting to and from home work in traffic or a long trip down south I know which car i'd prefer to be in..

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Thanks @PhxViper so far so good with the 45E3 software update etc - temperature is correct, time is correct and stays on the adjust automatically via GPS properly plus we now have a fully functioning heated rear window (which helps in this weather) the car is due back once the replacement gear gaiter arrives from Germany - only other thing they did was to re-set the boot I believe.

My comments on the A3 were my surprise at how agricultural and frankly lacking the S-Tronic with the 1.6 TDi felt, granted it was never going to compete with our 3.0TDi quattro B9, but our 2 previous daily drivers prior we're a 2009 A3 Sportback 2.0 TDi and a 2012 VW Golf Cab 2.0 TDi, both manual 140ps and both felt so much stronger and better put together than the £28k loan A3 we had - which I really didn't expect.

Would like to try the 1.4 petrol manual A3, our 2nd car is a venerable 2000 model 1.8 MX-5, which is small, agile and pointy when compared to the B9 but in all honesty I wouldn't straight swap that for the 2016 A3 we had overnight as a 2nd car to drive - which frankly I'm staggered at but there you go.

As said cars are very subjective - and it'd be massively dull if we all liked the same car / spec / colour eh - I mean as far as I can tell we're the only people on here with a Gotland Green B9

BeagleKCH said:

I have managed to lose 2 parking pay and display tickets down the back of the dashboard on the driver's side, in what must be a tiny gap where the dashboard 'meets' the windscreen. I wasn't stupid enough to lose them separately. Both went in one go. There doesn't seem to be an obvious way to get to the back of the dashboard to retrieve them, but I'm now very careful where I put paper.

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Snap ! thats just reminded me I did the very same thing whilst we were away in the summer, just after arriving in Girona and unloading the car I had to move it from near Girona cathedral (pic below) to a pay and display carpark - as I closed the door the ticket magically slid down the back of the dash and totally out of view...

No matter what I did I had no chance of extricating it, so was forced to pay another €16 but was subsequently much more careful in where I placed it and how hard I shut the door.

cuke2u said:

Usually that gap is filled by a foam strip for obvious reasons, I know because the one on my focus popped up in places and the took the screen out, instead of the dashboard, to fix it. I guess Audi have decided on an alternative solution to cope with the difference in movement between the screen and the das, otherwise you'd get creaking...

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From my experience of losing a parking ticket down there, it's a very, very slight gap, just enough for a slip of paper to slide into - once its gone though the angle of the windscreen meeting the dash together its practically impossible to get anything in to retrieve.

If I get parking tickets now that are the non stick on window type I place them on the passenger side as opposed to drivers, were the instrument cowl adds a bulge - as it was from there it comically slipped into the abyss.

cuke2u said:

Good film though for its time ;-)

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Certainly was...