Buying advice: A3 2007/2008 S-Line

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Hi all,
I'm looking to buy an A3 and I'm currently looking at two.
1: A3 2.0 TDI S-Line Hatchback 2007 S Tronic. 60k, FSH main dealer. Cambelt changed at 45k
2: A3 1.8 TFSI S-Line Sportback 2008 6-speed manual. 55k FSH (not sure where yet).
Both have 12 month MOT, the TFSI had an advisory: "Play in steering rack inner joint(s)"
Any advice would be good.
Thanks

 

[stbuk]

Sorry to state the obvious but they're really quite different cars. An automatic diesel or a manual petrol. They're even different doors and sizes?

What do you want from a car? 3door, 5? Eco? What advice are you looking for? What have you already got? What's it for etc.

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Thanks, yes I realise they're quite different but just need a new car and quite fancied an A3.
Just found out that the TFSI is under offer anyway.
I'm not really bothered whether it's Auto or Manual, 3 or 5 doors, either would fit the bill really.

I was just looking for any advice which might swing it.

Thanks

 

[samisnake]

If you live near a major city, don't get the diesel

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

If you live near a major city, don't get the diesel

Why not?

 

[samisnake]

Ulez

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Ulez

??

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Ah, ultra low emission zone charges.

Where I live is pretty rural nearest city is Manchester but I don't drive in there that much maybe 6 times a year.

 

[SootySport]

Well you won’t be able to drive into the city at all soon in a pre Euro 6 car. Can’t do it in London already and a few other cuties are planning the same idea.
Unless you’re doing mega mileage like a taxi it’s not worth buying s Derv, especially with a DPF equipped car. Short journeys do not burn of the soot in the DPF and the latest versions burn the soot by burning more diesel which burns of more fuel. The upshot is you end up with a a low average mpg figure so might as well buy s petrol engine car.
1.8 and 2.0 tfsi have other problems mechanically with the cam chain tensioner. If your buying one of these then factor in the price for an updated chain and tensioner, I just had mine done. S3 engines don’t seem to suffer from major mechanical problems, so might want to consider one of these.
Good luck on your search.

 

[samisnake]

Also has a knock on effect with the resale values.
In 2021 you won't be able to drive an older (read anything before 2016) diesel within the North and south circular in London. Atm its just central.
Parking permit costs are already increasing in some boroughs, eg. Merton, more than double the price of a permit for a petrol.
Other major cities are gonna follow londons lead.

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Well you won’t be able to drive into the city at all soon in a pre Euro 6 car. Can’t do it in London already and a few other cuties are planning the same idea.
Unless you’re doing mega mileage like a taxi it’s not worth buying s Derv, especially with a DPF equipped car. Short journeys do not burn of the soot in the DPF and the latest versions burn the soot by burning more diesel which burns of more fuel. The upshot is you end up with a a low average mpg figure so might as well buy s petrol engine car.
1.8 and 2.0 tfsi have other problems mechanically with the cam chain tensioner. If your buying one of these then factor in the price for an updated chain and tensioner, I just had mine done. S3 engines don’t seem to suffer from major mechanical problems, so might want to consider one of these.
Good luck on your search.

Thanks for that - good advice - How much did it cost to have the updated chain etc done?
Also which engine other than those mentioned in my original post would people recommend?

I'd prefer an auto but that's not a deal breaker, I'd really like an S-Line but would got for a sport if it was right - I'm in the £5K ballpark and would prefer as low mileage as possible.

How important do you consider Audi main dealer service history over independents?

Cheers

 

[SootySport]

Chain was £800. If I was you with £5k to spend then an earlier 2.0TFSI that’s been looked after is the one to buy, forget the year and look for a well cared for car. It’s the post 2008 facelift cars with a revised engine design that have the expensive repair bills.

 

[Ike]

Easiest/safest route IMO is get one from somewhere like Carbase with a no quibble warranty where whatever issues occur during that period they will fix it, not one of these not-worth-the-paper-it's-written-on warranties with a third-party. Then you can forget about things like FMDSH and mileage and so on, which is more like a motor criminal fraud checklist.

An auto box makes for an easy life but the downsides are that there are times it will have a different idea to you about what gear you should be in, also if your auto box has a serious issue then expect a big bill. Most of the time such things are fine, until they're not

TBH if I were in your position then I'd be looking for a good 'un and less concerned with engine/trim/etc.. The most important thing is that it works when you need it.

Agree with the good advice from Sami and Sooty.

At the end of the day it's a lottery, good luck!

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Chain was £800. If I was you with £5k to spend then an earlier 2.0TFSI that’s been looked after is the one to buy, forget the year and look for a well cared for car. It’s the post 2008 facelift cars with a revised engine design that have the expensive repair bills.

OK, Again, thank you for your help and advice.
I've now found a 1.8 TFSI S-Line 2009 (58) with 70k.
it's 900 more but seems well looked after (I've yet to view it).

The seller (who seemed to know Audi's well) informed me that it's chain driven rather than belt.

He also has a 2009 (09) Audi A3 1.9 TDI e Sport Sportback which runs at £30 PA tax but not an S-Line.
Given the low excise band I figure that the savings on tax and fuel would more than pay for any City Levy's which may come into force

Still in a quandary

PLEASE HELP!!

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Easiest/safest route IMO is get one from somewhere like Carbase with a no quibble warranty where whatever issues occur during that period they will fix it, not one of these not-worth-the-paper-it's-written-on warranties with a third-party. Then you can forget about things like FMDSH and mileage and so on, which is more like a motor criminal fraud checklist.

An auto box makes for an easy life but the downsides are that there are times it will have a different idea to you about what gear you should be in, also if your auto box has a serious issue then expect a big bill. Most of the time such things are fine, until they're not

TBH if I were in your position then I'd be looking for a good 'un and less concerned with engine/trim/etc.. The most important thing is that it works when you need it.

Agree with the good advice from Sami and Sooty.

At the end of the day it's a lottery, good luck!

Yep you're bang on there - it really is a dice roll!
I've found a guy whose selling two which I like and seem pretty good (See my previous reply to Sooty)
His policy is a very extensive 3 month warranty in which he will take the car and fix ANY issues you may have within that period (picking up the car, leaving you with a courtesy car while yours is fixed and then returning the car to your doorstep) and his reviews seem to bear this out,

 

[Ike]

Yep you're bang on there - it really is a dice roll!
I've found a guy whose selling two which I like and seem pretty good (See my previous reply to Sooty)
His policy is a very extensive 3 month warranty in which he will take the car and fix ANY issues you may have within that period (picking up the car, leaving you with a courtesy car while yours is fixed and then returning the car to your doorstep) and his reviews seem to bear this out,

I wish it wasn't a dice roll, experience says otherwise!

Are you able to verify the claims of the seller? Does he have his own mechanics/garage/verifiable feedback etc.? If so, sounds like as good a bet as any.

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

I wish it wasn't a dice roll, experience says otherwise!

Are you able to verify the claims of the seller? Does he have his own mechanics/garage/verifiable feedback etc.? If so, sounds like as good a bet as any.

I'm probably going over the weekend to view the cars so I can only see if what he says. I spoke to him earlier and he seemed pretty upfront and all his reviews on automart are 5 star so, unless he has a big family of 58 all seems pretty good - I'll be trawling the net for reviews!

 

[Ike]

Sounds good. Listen to yourself though, If you're not 98% then walk away. Listen to the engine, test the brakes, do the electrics work properly? if these feel off, or the seller seems like he is BS-ing you, then there'll be another along soon enough. If he's legit though then sounds reasonable.

Again, best of luck!

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

Thanks Ike, really appreciate it.
One other thing he pointed out was that 1.8 TFSI engines burn oil - about a Litre every XX miles (can't remember how many he said now).

 

[samuelh_888]

The 1.8tfsi has a cam chain on the right and the timing below on the left (when looking at the engine) - as does the 2.0.

There is issues with the 1.8 consuming excessive amounts of oil, like 1.5l per 1000 miles or more. My previous 1.8 didn’t use a drop in several ‘000 miles.

There have been instances where Audi have replaced the engine following excessive consumption tests (google this, and read this site).

The extensive 3 month warranty he talks of is the Consumer Guarantees Act! If you were to purchase and there was excessive oil use and this was confirmed by Audi it would be interesting to see who would foot the bill.

Personally, I’d never go back to a diesel now. There is just too many downsides and all the negative press drops the resale price too much.

 

[Steve Hodgkiss]

The 1.8tfsi has a cam chain on the right and the timing below on the left (when looking at the engine) - as does the 2.0.

There is issues with the 1.8 consuming excessive amounts of oil, like 1.5l per 1000 miles or more. My previous 1.8 didn’t use a drop in several ‘000 miles.

There have been instances where Audi have replaced the engine following excessive consumption tests (google this, and read this site).

The extensive 3 month warranty he talks of is the Consumer Guarantees Act! If you were to purchase and there was excessive oil use and this was confirmed by Audi it would be interesting to see who would foot the bill.

Personally, I’d never go back to a diesel now. There is just too many downsides and all the negative press drops the resale price too much.

Thanks for that. I'll look into the Consumer act.
The excessive oil issue bothers me slightly, Audi suggest it's normal for a car to use oil, but then they would!
I don't know whether it just gets worse over time or stays at the same level of usage??

I think the fact he's pointed it out to me suggests that this particular car does use oil, whether it's 'excessive' or not is another matter.

I can't see Audi backing up their engine on a 10 year old car anyway, especially given that i's not all main dealer service history.
I'm told that it has been serviced every 6 os so '000 miles as opposed to every 20k but that's probably once a year. I believe the car has SOME main dealer history but the last 3 or 4 services have been independents.

As far as buying diesel goes, I don't think the resale will be an issue as I'll be hanging on to this car for probably the next 5 years so I imagine it probably will have dropped to as low as it will go by then anyway.
The original diesel I was looking at ('07 S-Line, 2.0L, 60k miles) has FULL main dealer history with the timing belt done at 45k (around 3 years ago) and a gearbox oil service at 40k (S-Tronic). The mileage stacks up (MOT check) and I've spoken to Audi who confirmed it's service history - about half at an Edinburgh Audi dealership and the rest at one in London (2 former owners) - Looks like it's been cared for! Minor issue is the rear wiper not working but the dealer says he'll put that right, it'll have a 12 month MOT and 12 month warranty (insurance warranty for what they're worth) what's not to like?
It's diesel, that may be an issue in the future with ULEZ - offset that against the MPG saving and not having to spend an extra £10 or whatever on topping up the oil every 1,000k. Just not sure about the dealer - Am I expecting too much - probably - Am I over thinking this??

 

[abmat]

What do you mean by insurance warranty? It all depends on who the underwriter is. If it’s the same as those who do AA/RAC it won’t be worth the paper it’s written on.

 

[Paul McGrath’s Knees]

Any faults which occur within 6mths of sale are the responsibility of the seller,sale of goods act updated and renamed a couple of years ago. Of course,much like a warranty,if the seller doesn’t want to respect the law,it’s small claims court,etc,to hold em to account. To be honest,£5k or thereabouts isn’t a lot of money for any car,and given the “premium” Audi’s cost over other so-called lower marques,you are going to be fishing in a small pond. Maybe look at Skoda,Seat. More car for your money,if you can forget the badge snobbery


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