Going to look at a TDI 130 Sport

[Nathelol]

Hey guys, I've just signed up so I'll introduce myself, I'm Nathe and tomorrow I'm going to look at my first Audi A3.

Always wanted one of these, is there anything in particular I should look out for as my last car, Golf mk4 1.6 was an absolute pup. I think he wants a little too much for the car, £3990 so I'm definitely going to try knocking this down but it has everything I want other than the price.

Quick overview:

Audi A3 Sport TDi 130 - 2003 Model.
Think it has xenons? Or they could just be the facelifted version.
90k Miles
Part-service history.
No mention of a cambelt/water pump replace.

Any advice?

 

[Vex182]

Is it a 4wd model?

 

[Nathelol]

Is it a 4wd model?

It does have quattro badges, but the guy said on the phone that it's just the FWD model, the badges were just on when he bought it. Sound legit?

 

[JimS3]

It does have quattro badges, but the guy said on the phone that it's just the FWD model, the badges were just on when he bought it. Sound legit?

Camshaft / lifter wear, dual mass flywheels and sticking turbo vanes are the costly common faults with these.

Test the flywheel by putting it in 5th /6th gear and accelerating full throttle through the torque peak of 1900 rpm - 2300 rpm.
If it knocks or vibrates it has probably had it.

Camshaft problems on these start with misfires over 4000 rpm, and sticking turbo vanes cause over boost causing limp mode at higher rpm. I would do a few hard pulls to red line, even better if its up an incline to increase the load and ensure it pulls cleanly all the way wound the clock.

 

[Nathelol]

Camshaft / lifter wear, dual mass flywheels and sticking turbo vanes are the costly common faults with these.

Test the flywheel by putting it in 5th /6th gear and accelerating full throttle through the torque peak of 1900 rpm - 2300 rpm.
If it knocks or vibrates it has probably had it.

Camshaft problems on these start with misfires over 4000 rpm, and sticking turbo vanes cause over boost causing limp mode at higher rpm. I would do a few hard pulls to red line, even better if its up an incline to increase the load and ensure it pulls cleanly all the way wound the clock.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll be sure to check those two things out I'll do a few hard pulls and listen out for what you suggested.

Are these expensive repairs if they do happen to be there?

 

[JimS3]

Thanks for the pointers, I'll be sure to check those two things out I'll do a few hard pulls and listen out for what you suggested.

Are these expensive repairs if they do happen to be there?

Clutch and flywheel is likely to cost at least £600 fitted.
Turbo vanes can sometimes be de-coked (cleaned), but its usually a short term fix. New turbo is not cheap.
Camshaft problems probably at least £1000 for the cam and lifters and timing belt to be replaced, all the stretch bolts required to reassemble a PD head (rockers, injectors, cam etc) come to over £100 alone.

Don't let that put you off PD engines though, the cam wear usually only affects the golf and seat 150 bhp versions, and only the Audi 130 engines if the wrong oil has been used, so look for a good service history.

I bought a 130 PD golf back in 2004 with 30,000 miles on. It is a really good engine and I still have it today as my economy hack.
It now has 160,000 miles on it and has run a revo map almost all it life. There is no cam wear, original turbo is in great condition, but it has had a new dual mass flywheel.

Get a good one and it will serve you well. It's amazing how little fuel they use when driven swiftly even when mapped.

 

[newbster]

I have one, and love it.
its a 11 yaer old car, but it should be really tight, any clonks etc will be worn suspension bushes
front ones are easy, rear beam axle bushes can be a bit of a *****

rust, door bottoms, rain rails

service history - needs the cam belt doing at 90k, if no records then deduct money and get it done

should not smoke or ratttle on start up,

i've been looking for another tdi 130 and there seem plenty around, so if it doesn't look right, you can walk away.

m

 

[Essflee]

The 1.9tdi 130 is one of the most reliable vag engines made, they're tried and tested and pretty much bullit proof, as long as the cars been looked after 90k is no issue.

 

[Nathelol]

Clutch and flywheel is likely to cost at least £600 fitted.
Turbo vanes can sometimes be de-coked (cleaned), but its usually a short term fix. New turbo is not cheap.
Camshaft problems probably at least £1000 for the cam and lifters and timing belt to be replaced, all the stretch bolts required to reassemble a PD head (rockers, injectors, cam etc) come to over £100 alone.

Don't let that put you off PD engines though, the cam wear usually only affects the golf and seat 150 bhp versions, and only the Audi 130 engines if the wrong oil has been used, so look for a good service history.

I bought a 130 PD golf back in 2004 with 30,000 miles on. It is a really good engine and I still have it today as my economy hack.
It now has 160,000 miles on it and has run a revo map almost all it life. There is no cam wear, original turbo is in great condition, but it has had a new dual mass flywheel.

Get a good one and it will serve you well. It's amazing how little fuel they use when driven swiftly even when mapped.

Yeah that sounds expensive but i know PD engines are meant to be pretty good if they're looked after, I nearly bought a PD100 before my mk4 1.6. Sounds like I will be getting a fair amount of miles from one if I look after it and I am planning a remap at some point.

I have one, and love it.
its a 11 yaer old car, but it should be really tight, any clonks etc will be worn suspension bushes
front ones are easy, rear beam axle bushes can be a bit of a *****

rust, door bottoms, rain rails

service history - needs the cam belt doing at 90k, if no records then deduct money and get it done

should not smoke or ratttle on start up,

i've been looking for another tdi 130 and there seem plenty around, so if it doesn't look right, you can walk away.

m

I'll use the cambelt as a means of bartering with the guy as I know that's important, I'll check those areas for rust too thanks!

He also said its a sunroof model but I cant see one in the pictures (they're not the greatest) so I can use that too. Does £3990 sound too high?

 

[newbster]

The 1.9tdi 130 is one of the most reliable vag engines made, they're tried and tested and pretty much bullit proof, as long as the cars been looked after 90k is no issue.

ooh no, i hear the sound of hundreds of 1.9tdi's going belly up

 

[mattupnorth]

Seems pricey to me, although it is low mileage given the age - I looked for a Quattro one of these a couple of years ago but didn't want to pay silly money. Compare it to what else is out there on the likes of here, Autotrader, Ebay etc.

A quick look on my phone and there's a nice 1.9 TDI Quattro Sport 52 plate 104k for £3k with FSH, full leather and a 3 month warranty.... I'd want the one your looking at to have extensive history and all the major work already done (cambelt/clutch/flywheel) and documented to consider it by comparison! Just my opionion.

 

[Nathelol]

Seems pricey to me, although it is low mileage given the age - I looked for a Quattro one of these a couple of years ago but didn't want to pay silly money. Compare it to what else is out there on the likes of here, Autotrader, Ebay etc.

A quick look on my phone and there's a nice 1.9 TDI Quattro Sport 52 plate 104k for £3k with FSH, full leather and a 3 month warranty.... I'd want the one your looking at to have extensive history and all the major work already done (cambelt/clutch/flywheel) and documented to consider it by comparison! Just my opionion.

Yeah well I'm trying to find one under 100k and not many tend to pop up around my area really.I'll try and knock the price down, I'm not interested if he doesn't want to budge on price, needs work doing and I want a sunroof which he says has and I'm sure it doesn't

 

[JimS3]

It does seem like low mileage. Make sure you check the mileage records on the MOT history and HPI check the car.

It is really easy to wind the mileage back on these cars with the click of a button.

 

[Nathelol]

It does seem like low mileage. Make sure you check the mileage records on the MOT history and HPI check the car.

It is really easy to wind the mileage back on these cars with the click of a button.

Thanks for all the help mate! I'll get a HPI check done, they usually show you mileage too don't they? Do you know any sites I can use for that or will any do really? I've never done one before haha, but I've seen a few around the £20 mark

 

[mattupnorth]

Fair play you know what you want, but as others say I wouldn't get too hung up on the mileage, if there's evidence of a car being looked after a few thousand miles won't make a difference. I've had 4 VW/Skoda's with these engines all with 100k+ and they do go on and on.

I always try and look at and test drive at least 3 examples when looking, gives you a feel of what drives good and what drives tired and unloved!

 

[Nathelol]

Fair play you know what you want, but as others say I wouldn't get too hung up on the mileage, if there's evidence of a car being looked after a few thousand miles won't make a difference. I've had 4 VW/Skoda's with these engines all with 100k+ and they do go on and on.

I always try and look at and test drive at least 3 examples when looking, gives you a feel of what drives good and what drives tired and unloved!

Yeah I do tend to get like this with mileage. I'll take on board what you say and check out some more slightly higher mileage examples. I'm new to buying cars myself, I've only owned two Golfs and both were £500 bangers

 

[Essflee]

ooh no, i hear the sound of hundreds of 1.9tdi's going belly up

Belly up ??

If looked after correctly the engine should be good for at least 200k

I work with some mates that have these and they are all over 140k and still run sweet as a nut.

 

[JimS3]

Thanks for all the help mate! I'll get a HPI check done, they usually show you mileage too don't they? Do you know any sites I can use for that or will any do really? I've never done one before haha, but I've seen a few around the £20 mark

There are some around the £3-8 mark, but I usually go for one of the £20 ones that offers loss insurance to give you the purchase price of the car back should their info be wrong.

I have heard of so many cars be repossessed due to outstanding finance on a vehicle, or be cat D right off, or clocked.

I went to look at a polo for my sister last year, advertised at 78,000 miles, but the seat bolster and steering wheel wear looked excessive so I asked the guy if I could scan it with Vag-Com. The hidden EDC-15 ECU mileage record showed 130,000!!

Obviously entirely you to you, but £20 for piece of mind on a £4000 purchase seems worth it to me.

 

[Nathelol]

There are some around the £3-8 mark, but I usually go for one of the £20 ones that offers loss insurance to give you the purchase price of the car back should their info be wrong.

I have heard of so many cars be repossessed due to outstanding finance on a vehicle, or be cat D right off, or clocked.

I went to look at a polo for my sister last year, advertised at 78,000 miles, but the seat bolster and steering wheel wear looked excessive so I asked the guy if I could scan it with Vag-Com. The hidden EDC-15 ECU mileage record showed 130,000!!

Obviously entirely you to you, but £20 for piece of mind on a £4000 purchase seems worth it to me.

I absolutely agree with you on that. I'll have a look at those tonight before I go and view it tomorrow!

That's shocking, did the Polo owner know that the car had been clocked?

 

[JimS3]

I absolutely agree with you on that. I'll have a look at those tonight before I go and view it tomorrow!

That's shocking, did the Polo owner know that the car had been clocked?

Expect so, it had been doing about 15,000 miles a year for a couple of years, then for the last 3 years only 2000 miles a year.
I suspect he had bought the dodgy software and lead from ebay and reprogrammed the mileage just before it went in for its MOT each year.

Not that 130,000 is a lot of miles for a PD engine, but it was at a 2K premium as it was low miles.

 

[Wallm0nkey]

Make sure the cars cold when you go to see it and let it idle for a few minutes you sometimes get the dmf knocking if it's on it's last legs.

 

[newbster]

Yeah I do tend to get like this with mileage. I'll take on board what you say and check out some more slightly higher mileage examples. I'm new to buying cars myself, I've only owned two Golfs and both were £500 bangers

depending where you in east mids, you can have a run out in mine, 130k atm
m

 

[Nathelol]

Expect so, it had been doing about 15,000 miles a year for a couple of years, then for the last 3 years only 2000 miles a year.
I suspect he had bought the dodgy software and lead from ebay and reprogrammed the mileage just before it went in for its MOT each year.

Not that 130,000 is a lot of miles for a PD engine, but it was at a 2K premium as it was low miles.

Yeah, also the fact of being lied to haha I'd have walked away even if it had only been clocked by 100 miles.

Make sure the cars cold when you go to see it and let it idle for a few minutes you sometimes get the dmf knocking if it's on it's last legs.

yeah thanks, will do!

depending where you in east mids, you can have a run out in mine, 130k atm
m

I'm in Nottingham mate, where abouts are you?

 

[newbster]

Belly up ??

If looked after correctly the engine should be good for at least 200k

I work with some mates that have these and they are all over 140k and still run sweet as a nut.

somebody missed the smiley

a sure fire way to make something break is to say "this is the most relaible car/phone/horse" i've ever had,

 

[Essflee]

somebody missed the smiley

a sure fire way to make something break is to say "this is the most relaible car/phone/horse" i've ever had,

Yep, missed that...

 

[Nathelol]

Just did a HPI check and everything came back all clear thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[newbster]

i may be in our nottingham office (near the race course) mon/teus next week, if thats any help
m

 

[BahnStormer77]

Nathe, are you sure it is an 8L shape?

I know the 130PS version command a premium (and they are cracking engines), a 54 plate (8P shape) 1.9TDI on 90k would go for about £4k: Audi A3 Hatchback 1.9 TDI Sport 3d 2005/54 used car prices | Parkers

Stick with it though that TDI130 is a lovely engine - fast enough to be a bit of fun, but very sensible when it comes to insurance and fuel economy too!

You can check if it has factory xenons by the headlight washers and the autolevelling up-down-up sweep that it does as you switch the ignition on, you won't be able to see a proper xenon beam pattern if you're test driving during the day, but you should be able to see that on a wall very easily. Xenons were a very rare option, so make sure they're not a dodgy retro-fit as a retro-fitted HID kit in a reflector lens headlight unit WILL be an MOT fail... reflector units seem to get away with it at MOT testing, even though it is technically illegal.

>10yrs old, so it should have had at least 2 cambelt changes now (every 5 years).

Given that 90k is average on the 54 plate, it hardly seems suspiciously low for a 2003... that's still >8k per year... and 90k is NOTHING on those engines.... lots of people running reasonably heavily remapped 130TDI's over 150k without issues and I've seen a Passat (ie.. much heavier car, so more wear on the engine) on 150k running text book dyno readings without a whimper.... the engine itself (in SDI form) should be fine for 250k with nothing more than regular maintenance, it is one hell of a well tested chunk of metal! Depending on the stop-start cycle of the engine you can start having turbo problems around 150k as they can wear / coke up, but they're not catastrophic and not prohibitively expensive to fix/replace.

 

[Nathelol]

Nathe, are you sure it is an 8L shape?

I know the 130PS version command a premium (and they are cracking engines), a 54 plate (8P shape) 1.9TDI on 90k would go for about £4k: Audi A3 Hatchback 1.9 TDI Sport 3d 2005/54 used car prices | Parkers

Stick with it though that TDI130 is a lovely engine - fast enough to be a bit of fun, but very sensible when it comes to insurance and fuel economy too!

You can check if it has factory xenons by the headlight washers and the autolevelling up-down-up sweep that it does as you switch the ignition on, you won't be able to see a proper xenon beam pattern if you're test driving during the day, but you should be able to see that on a wall very easily. Xenons were a very rare option, so make sure they're not a dodgy retro-fit as a retro-fitted HID kit in a reflector lens headlight unit WILL be an MOT fail... reflector units seem to get away with it at MOT testing, even though it is technically illegal.

>10yrs old, so it should have had at least 2 cambelt changes now (every 5 years).

Given that 90k is average on the 54 plate, it hardly seems suspiciously low for a 2003... that's still >8k per year... and 90k is NOTHING on those engines.... lots of people running reasonably heavily remapped 130TDI's over 150k without issues and I've seen a Passat (ie.. much heavier car, so more wear on the engine) on 150k running text book dyno readings without a whimper.... the engine itself (in SDI form) should be fine for 250k with nothing more than regular maintenance, it is one hell of a well tested chunk of metal! Depending on the stop-start cycle of the engine you can start having turbo problems around 150k as they can wear / coke up, but they're not catastrophic and not prohibitively expensive to fix/replace.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah it's definitely an 8L shape, which is why I'm abit concerned about the price to be fair. It's a 2003 facelifted model.

A bit of hotlink from the ad.

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

Hopefully those work ^^

If it has NEVER had a cambelt change, should I worry about it or is it fine, just get one done as soon as possible?

 

[TOTE]

I have one of those 130 sport with 150k remapped and they are very easy to work and drive! Mine its a quattro not as fast as a 2wd , i like the colour of that one!make sure it has been serviced and yes cam belt should have been done! Or negotiate the price and get it done asap.

 

[Nathelol]

I have one of those 130 sport with 150k remapped and they are very easy to work and drive! Mine its a quattro not as fast as a 2wd , i like the colour of that one!make sure it has been serviced and yes cam belt should have been done! Or negotiate the price and get it done asap.

Awesome, I thought the quattro was faster than the 2wd version?

Yeah if it's not had one done I will be negotiating, he says it has an electric sunroof but I don't see one in the pictures. So I'm gonna use that as well. It's a great colour, the exact one I've been looking for!

 

[TOTE]

Make sure you go around the car and check everything, temperature as well all the usual checks, quattros are heavier so i think they are not as fast as 2wd but still good fun

 

[Vex182]

It's not got factory fitted HIDs, you can see by the bumper

 

[Nathelol]

It's not got factory fitted HIDs, you can see by the bumper

Cheers mate, I gathered not after someone said they will have washer jets fitted.

 

[newbster]

got same headlghts as mine, halogens

its got red brake callipers, there's another 50 bhp

the dials are diffrent to mine, might be previuos owner, but they did fit all sorts of add ons to the run out models

nice colour

no cam belt change = ticking bomb waiting to snap, its a 60k change interval

 

[Nathelol]

got same headlghts as mine, halogens

its got red brake callipers, there's another 50 bhp

the dials are diffrent to mine, might be previuos owner, but they did fit all sorts of add ons to the run out models

nice colour

no cam belt change = ticking bomb waiting to snap, its a 60k change interval

oh is that they are cheers!

the red calipers added 100bhp, you're thinking of yellow ones I thought the white dials came on the sport model? I could be wrong though but I've seen a few white sets. Yeah I will get it changed within days if I were to get it

 

[JimS3]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah it's definitely an 8L shape, which is why I'm abit concerned about the price to be fair. It's a 2003 facelifted model.

A bit of hotlink from the ad.

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

Hopefully those work ^^

If it has NEVER had a cambelt change, should I worry about it or is it fine, just get one done as soon as possible?

Nice colour, and it has the RSTT wheels. If they are genuine wheels they were an expensive upgrade when new.

 

[Nathelol]

Nice colour, and it has the RSTT wheels. If they are genuine wheels they were an expensive upgrade when new.

Yeah it's the colour I've been searching for and I really like the RSTT wheels, but not sure if they're genuine ones or not. The only way to tell is to take them off isn't it? Still not the end of the world if they're not.

 

[mattupnorth]

The facelift ones came with optional 17" RSTT style alloys....so probably genuine. Look at the spare in the boot for the stamps on the inside.

 

[JimS3]

To be 100% sure you need to look at the markings stamped in the back of the spokes.

However most of the after market ones are multifit. If you pop a centre cap off and there are 10 bolt holes there are definitely after market. If there are just the 5 bolt holes with the bolts in they are most likely genuine.