New A3

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purplesunset

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Hey people,

New to Audis and currently waiting on delivery of the A3 Black Edition 150 PS with Tech Pack.

what are the main concerns on this vehicle if any?

What are your thoughts on getting a ceramic coating on this, I’ve heard it’s good to keep the paint work in decent condition over time. Could be false… I’m not sure.

This is my first ever new car so bit of a journey I guess and I’ve never owned an Audi ever.

What are people’s thoughts on this “breaking in the engine” process too, is it all a myth ?

And finally, should I be looking into any service plans and extensions of warranty?

Thanks all.
 
Just for clarity also, I nearly bought an A4 a few year back but circumstances changed at that time.

But this A3 is happening ha it’s apparently at the point of waiting to be allocated to a ship… so no idea how long it is yet to being delivered
 
Depends on luck, but I assume less now that the facelift has been around for a while.

The manual says in several different occassions that the break-in is needed - keep the revs below 4k rpm for the first 1000 miles and avoid hard braking for the first half. I've had three new A3's and always followed those instructions. I think it only makes sense that the first thing you do with a car that's not been driven at all isn't flooring it. It's been told the brakes need to bed in to avoid squeaking. Still my first 8Y squeaked quite a bit and this current one sometimes when it's moist and you reverse. It's the only concern I've had with the new car though. Other than the car being extremely picky to tyres. That's not a problem if you are satisfied with the factory tyres and don't need winter setup.
 
Is there much truth in after a break in period changing the engine oil regardless of what the Audi intervals are?

Only real negative points I’ve seemingly heard is that if software/electrical issues like random false warnings notices etc.

Hopefully I don’t get a dud but yeh ill be keen on doing the user side as best as possible to keep it in good condition: all being well I’ll have it until the government tells me I can’t drive a petrol car anymore.
 
No need to change oil after break in for most of the new cars. Your's won't be in the minority of exceptions.

Electrical issues and either true or false warnings were a PITA in the early cars. That's why I'm already in a third one, had also some bad luck with the second one, blame covid for that. Now it seems like lots of it has been resolved. I haven't yet had any fault beeps or MMI crashes or glitches with the current one. Owned it only for three months now but the previous ones had showcased a cavalcade of beeps and yellow warning lights by that time.
 
Yep, same engine as yours. Different trim, since I'm not in the UK we have very different ones here.

Placed an order in the middle of June, got the car in the first half of September. That was about a week earlier than estimated. I have no details about when it was on the production line and when shipped. But the delivery time may not be comparable to what they are in UK. At least they don't have troubles getting the cars out of the factory anymore. My second one took a whole year and felt like it was build little by little and of whatever was available. No missing options but overally not the top quality. The new one finally feels like a car I was expecting at the first place.
 
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I would recommend a ceramic coating. I had mine done within 4 weeks of collecting the car. That cost me €500 and apparently lasts about 3 years. If it’s done properly, they keep it overnight to cure.

It offers some limited protection, but the real benefit is ease of washing and not having to wax it. I’ve hand washed my car from new and never used a car wash and the paintwork is still prestine.
 
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How often do you wash the car? I read somewhere that with the ceramic coating it would be recommended to not wash often. Same goes with the PPF. Since my cars have been either white or black, they need to be washed quite often if you want to keep the looks posh, which partly made me think maybe just stick with the basic car care products that you basically can't overuse.
 
Yeh will look into the coating if it will be beneficial to the exterior condition long term.

I am coming from a 2013 black mondeo… bit of a change in vehicle I reckon. But keeping a black car clean is almost impossible.

The A3 will be the Daytona grey so will be interesting to see how that keeps a cleaner look
 
JKP said:
How often do you wash the car? I read somewhere that with the ceramic coating it would be recommended to not wash often. Same goes with the PPF. Since my cars have been either white or black, they need to be washed quite often if you want to keep the looks posh, which partly made me think maybe just stick with the basic car care products that you basically can't overuse.
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Too often according to my wife :sweatsmile:

Generally perhaps every two weeks, depending on how dirty it is. I go for the two bucket routine using a hand mitt and I always dry afterwards with microfibre towels. I'm as careful as you can be and even have my own shampoo for ceramic coating, if I get the chance to use it. However, some washing bays don't allow you to use your own cleaning products.

Mine is Manhatten Grey, which looks almost black so does tend to show the dirt more than some.

Whilst it certainly looks good after a wash, for me it's also about ensuring contaminants don't stay on the paintwork too long. I park under a tree so often get bird poo or leaves sitting on the car.

I'm not aware of any concerns about over-washing a car with a ceramic coating. It would seem logical that too harsh or frequent washing might mean it doesn't last as long as the suggested three years. I'm considering having it done again after about 3 years as I expect to keep the car for the long-term.
 
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purplesunset said:
Yeh will look into the coating if it will be beneficial to the exterior condition long term.

I am coming from a 2013 black mondeo… bit of a change in vehicle I reckon. But keeping a black car clean is almost impossible.

The A3 will be the Daytona grey so will be interesting to see how that keeps a cleaner look
Click to expand...
Daytona grey is quite a good colour to hide the
purplesunset said:
Yeh will look into the coating if it will be beneficial to the exterior condition long term.

I am coming from a 2013 black mondeo… bit of a change in vehicle I reckon. But keeping a black car clean is almost impossible.

The A3 will be the Daytona grey so will be interesting to see how that keeps a cleaner look
Click to expand...
daytona grey is a pearlescent paint and does a good job of making the car look clean when it’s dirty , I was pleased with it on my first A3 , just ordered it again on my 4th A3
 
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Simon50s said:
Too often according to my wife :sweatsmile:

Generally perhaps every two weeks, depending on how dirty it is. I go for the two bucket routine using a hand mitt and I always dry afterwards with microfibre towels. I'm as careful as you can be and even have my own shampoo for ceramic coating, if I get the chance to use it. However, some washing bays don't allow you to use your own cleaning products.

Mine is Manhatten Grey, which looks almost black so does tend to show the dirt more than some.

Whilst it certainly looks good after a wash, for me it's also about ensuring contaminants don't stay on the paintwork too long. I park under a tree so often get bird poo or leaves sitting on the car.

I'm not aware of any concerns about over-washing a car with a ceramic coating. It would seem logical that too harsh or frequent washing might mean it doesn't last as long as the suggested three years. I'm considering having it done again after about 3 years as I expect to keep the car for the long-term.
Click to expand...
Ok, sounds very similar to my routines. The ceramics would have definitely been a good solution for my black car. White is more forgiving, and one of the best features of it is that you don't necessarily have to towel dry it with reverence after every wash to get rid of the lime spots. Absolutely not possible to leave a dark car to dry on the sun, the lime spots from the rinsing water only make it look worse than with some minor dirt on it. If I've just washed the car and it gets slightly dirty right afterwards I may just rinse it quickly and it's pretty fine after that.

One of the worst experiences with the black car was when I did the 2-week trip to Germany and didn't wash the car during it. I got huge amount of insects hit to the front fascia, and when I got back home and washed the car, some of them had melted into the paintwork, leaving screamingly visible marks. That was quite a shock. I had to polish the worst spots to make them disappear. I guess there the ceramic coating would have helped.
 
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Anyone aware of the timescales these take to arrive in the UK, last notification was that it was built but at the port of exit. This was around 3 weeks ago I think. I have heard some horror stories of people having a car at port for months...?
 
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