Nath there is a few differences between the 8L and 8P also price wise,the older looks the part but the newer is more of an animal imho,any cars you see post on the forum as advice can be given and in some cases members have gone to view a car on behalf of others as its the other side of the country.
Unlucky Sam,I know Joe on here bought his S3 brand new and on 30k the gearbox went BANG.
Funnily enough it is not an issue with the car maybe his car was a friday afternoon build but yours was probably badly kept by the sounds of it.