Facelift Couple of minor things

[BRISTOL86]

Hi All

A couple of minor things I’ve noticed since I picked up my A3 last week

1) The fuel gauge seems to have a mind of its own. The first time I put fuel in it read 420 miles. All good. Then I drove 60 miles before it went down to 415, then it seemed to go down at a normal rate. Now the last couple of days it seems to be going mad, this morning went down by either 15 or 20 miles when I’d driven 7 miles. Guess it’s just playing catch up but seems a bit odd to me. Even my 10 year old Focus seemed to manage to fairly accurately display fuel usage.

2) I have a minor impression/outline above the glovebox. I’m guessing it’s the outline of the airbag or something. Again my Focus had something similar going on but I’m a bit narked about that on a 68 plate car that’s only done 5,000 miles. Is this a common thing. It’s only minor but it annoys me as a neat freak!

Thanks

 

[Ormesome]

Number 1 - I would have thought that your Focus was less accurate, to be honest. The cars rate of fuel usage is based on various factors. You will be burning more fuel at the start, in the morning, due to the engine having to heat up. The average tank range is affected byt he instant MPG so its normal to see it rise or not go down quickly and vise versa.

Number 2 - Not sure about that. maybe a photo would describe a bit better?

 

[BRISTOL86]

Number 1 - I would have thought that your Focus was less accurate, to be honest. The cars rate of fuel usage is based on various factors. You will be burning more fuel at the start, in the morning, due to the engine having to heat up. The average tank range is affected byt he instant MPG so its normal to see it rise or not go down quickly and vise versa.

Number 2 - Not sure about that. maybe a photo would describe a bit better?

But to not go down by 5 miles after 60 miles of driving? That can’t be normal. The type of driving I was doing for those 60 miles was very reflective of what I’ve done since. Either way I’ll just keep an eye on it, may have just been a bit of a random glitch in the matrix!!

 

[BRISTOL86]

Not the best of photos as shows up better in the sun but here’s the marks on the dash that I was taking about

 

[Mark_86]

Yep, my S3 fuel gauge is the same and I've done 41k in it. It depends how you're driving and the conditions, weather etc

Here's an example - I drove my normal 11 miles to work today, had 60 miles in the tank. When I got to work, I still had 60 miles in the tank because I was sat at 50 on the motorway for most of it. Don't think anything of it, let it do it's thing and just add fuel lol.

As for the dash. Mine also has this, it's where the 'cut out' is for the airbag and normal.

 

[Ormesome]

Your photo seems normal. I had exactly the same in my 2014 A3.

As for the fuel consumption, its the same as the old analogue fuel gauges in older cars, it used to take an age to go from full to the middle, and then very quickly went down to empty. Nothing new. Perhaps the Focus did it differently but i think it's quite normal for cars to appear to use less fuel when full. I think there was a similar question on here somewhere and it pointed towards it taking longer when full due to the fuel in the filler nozzle not essentially being accounted for and also manufacturers trying to make the perception of less fuel consumption when full.

 

[Trevolly]

I’ve got the same mark on my facelift A3. Wound me up initially, don’t really see it now. Wasn’t in my ‘15 plate A3. @Mark_86 nice to know what it is thanks.

 

[BRISTOL86]

Thanks guys. Maybe I’m being picky but I thought perhaps on a nearly £30k car they may have found a way to prevent the impression on the dashboard, given that the cabin quality is such a big selling point, but at least I know it’s not just mine!

 

[craigpanthercrystal]

Hi Bristol86 please don't take this the wrong way as I am very picky too, but please don't expect too much compatibility with a picky attitude from a car owner perspective and general Audi customer service. YOU WILL BE DISSAPOINTED. I learnt this the hard way. I treat my car like a baby and during warranty period I was very fussy as you should be for a nearly 40K car, If only on Audi Service I would have changed marque but I simply love the car so I lived with it.

 

[Ormesome]

I'm gonna be a bit horrible now, and expect a backlash from A3 owners, but don't forget that even though you have a 2019 plate car (based on you picking up new last week!), its a 2012 design! My Q2 is a 2017 design and you cant see the lines, even though its mean to be lightly based on the A3 cabin. I think little bits like this get improved as design & quality develops.

 

[BRISTOL86]

I'm gonna be a bit horrible now, and expect a backlash from A3 owners, but don't forget that even though you have a 2019 plate car (based on you picking up new last week!), its a 2012 design! My Q2 is a 2017 design and you cant see the lines, even though its mean to be lightly based on the A3 cabin. I think little bits like this get improved as design & quality develops.

That’s a fair point, though facelift is newer than 2012 isn’t it? You’d expect minor things to get worked out through the years even within a model’s lifecycle.

Either way, minor grumble and perhaps me being overly picky as I say. But I would have thought the reputed build quality of Audi would have meant things like this weren’t an issue.

 

[larbel]

I'm gonna be a bit horrible now, and expect a backlash from A3 owners, but don't forget that even though you have a 2019 plate car (based on you picking up new last week!), its a 2012 design! My Q2 is a 2017 design and you cant see the lines, even though its mean to be lightly based on the A3 cabin. I think little bits like this get improved as design & quality develops.

It's not imperfection or flaw at all, the impression needs to be there for the airbag to breakout rather than having some unwanted extra dash part in your face in case of airbag deployment... On higher end cars with alcantara or leather dash, these can be hided, and in the case of Q2, the cutout is hide in the groove on the dash above the air vents, you can say it's better thought out design on the Q2, but can't really call it a flaw on A3 I guess...