worried about mileage!

[foggy21]

As some of you will be aware from my previous thread,im currently looking into getting an A3 1.8t,i previously had a clio 172 which whilst fun,was terribly unreliable.

My budget is maximum £3500-4000 and id prefer black,silver,blue or (i know id be getting really lucky!) white and it must be a manual.

Ive searched pistonsheds,autotrader and ebay for the last few days(and nights!) and within my budget it seems ill struggle to get much below 100k miles,my dad still insists that anything above 80k is going to blow up and the world will cease to be but i think its just snobbery on his part as hes been lucky enough to be able to afford low mileage cars over the last few years.

So my question is,how likely is a full service history 1.8t on 100k plus miles going to let me down?Am i a fool for even considering such high mileages or is it something ive built up in my head(with the help of my dad!).

Whatever i get ill be remapping,should i get a revo or......only kidding,ive only been on this forum a matter of days and ive seen that question asked what must be a hundred times!

Thanks for reading.

 

[foggy21]

Any thoughts on this.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...i/postcode/fy55ng/radius/200/page/3?logcode=p

Quattro which is a bonus(i assume getting a remap isnt affected by it being a quattro?) good mileage,sadly its a 5 door and as yet no mention of service history but ill give the seller a call tomorrow.

 

[finesse]

1.8t are solid as long as they have looked after. Good for 200k before rebuild. Proven service history is essential

That advert looks great

 

[16Klappe]

F*ck that! Why not just buy an S3? If you've got 4K to spend you would be a fool to spend it on a standard A3, least of all a facelift 4 door one...

As said, the engines are good for 200K+, Prawns is on 200K and pushes reasonable power. Still drives like new, it feels just as tight as my girlfriends which is on less than half the mileage.

Maybe try looking at things like this which already has a remap and the right bits - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-AUDI-A3-...omobiles_UK?hash=item3a5935159b#ht_500wt_1182

Or this is nice, fair enough its pre facelift but personally I much prefer the interiors and the internal build quality is far superior to the facelift ones. I've never been in a facelift one which had everything working. But Prawns one which has had bikes, engines and god knows what else thrown in it over the last 10 years is still tight and working. - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A3-1-8T-...mobiles_UK?hash=item2559b16e08#ht_1000wt_1165

A3's are cheap cars really, I can't see any need to spend over 3K on one.

 

[Speedy Steve]

My S3 has just gone in to have a Hybrid turbo fitted and Badger Bill said that the engine was one of the best he had seen and it has done 112K really it all comes down to how you look after it. The hardest part is judging how it was looked after before.

 

[martin g]

1.8t are solid as long as they have looked after. Good for 200k before rebuild. Proven service history is essential

That advert looks great

what he said..

I too had the same reservations, ended up buying a car with 100K over other choices at around 80K, why? because mine had almost perfect history, i even have the original new car receipt. I did the cambelt/water pump, temperature sender and thermostat and the car runs like a dream, pulls hard and purrs on idle, just clipped 105K

The shocks and some bushes are a little tired, but they would be, no rush to do them, will replace as i go along. simples

I looked at good examples as high as 137K

 

[chancer]

F*ck that! Why not just buy an S3? If you've got 4K to spend you would be a fool to spend it on a standard A3, least of all a facelift 4 door one...

Not going to get a top notch S3 for £4K
It should pull a very good A3 1.8T and pay for a remap though.
The mileage is not an issue if it has been serviced correctly.

 

[sn00py]

...it feels just as tight as my girlfriends....

:icon_thumright:

On a serious note though. I bought my 1.8T on 100,000 miles and its now on 106,000 and its never put a foot wrong.

 

[ayreaudi]

Saw this and was exactly my situation, got a good friend whjo knows alot bout these cars and says high milers are good as long as the service is all in order........................i found myself buying an A3 Quattro in Brilliant Black with 140,000 full audi service history and all seems in good order.

 

[Andrew@A.L.D]

I thought the same about high milage cars and picked up my S3 cheap with 76k on the clock with full service history but i knew something was wrong and found out the oil pump failed and destroyed the engine

Just make sure its a detailed history

 

[Kave]

I bought my a3 1.8t with 130k on the clock. Now got 146k on the clock, and no major incidents, a £20 dv here, a £5 plastic window clip there, a few consumables everywhere and jobs a goodun. 8L A3 - a lot of car for the money these days.

 

[S3 Rav]

just re-iterateing what people have said really. FSH is a must with high milege cars. Some say that even 80+ atleast all the major things clutch, cambelt etc will all be done already anyways.

 

[foggy21]

Cheers folks,seems i should go on condition/history not mileage.

Also 16klappe,the one in the second link is a category D write off hence it being cheap,i was all set to buy it until i did the HPI check!

 

[16Klappe]

Also 16klappe,the one in the second link is a category D write off hence it being cheap,i was all set to buy it until i did the HPI check!

Haha, all the more reason to knock a few more £'s off it

 

[JS1500]

That 5 door on Autotrader looks great, little pricey but very nice.
Why not save a bit and speak to ASN member Golf about his Nogaro blue S3..?

 

[ALPINE]

maybe the geeza wants an A3 coz he dont want problem after problem of an S3!!

 

[Matt82]

these are old cars. one thing you need to realise is these engines will do insane mileage if looked after

at this age tho, you will be in the realm of dead bushes and dampers.

if you want to bury your head in the sand and think low mileage will mean you get a fantastic car, youre highly mistaken

we had a similar discussion on the S4 board and worked out that 120-130k is about ideal. practically all the "big" work would have already been done