Going to view an S3 in the morning!

[_MickS3]

Hey all, so as the title says i'm going to view an S3 and was hoping for a little advice..

I just signed up here and can already see it seems like a great little forum, anyway just wondering if i should be looking out for anything in paticular? Its a 58 plate 3dr with 64 on the clock and was a company car, looks in good condition from what i can tell.

It has FASH bar 1 so i don't really know what to make of that. Excited to go see it though!

Looking forward to sticking around also :icon_thumright:

 

[millsy75]

Hi and welcome. I'm new to the Audi scene myself so hopefully somebody more knowledgeable will be along soon. I've bought 1 ex company car in my life and it turned out to be a bad decision. The car looked good and had full dealer history but turned out to have had a very hard life. I don't think I would buy another company car again.

Good luck in your search

 

[Persian]

As millsy75 said, I also have experienced company cars in the past wasn't Audi but an Volkswagen and after first few months it failed on me and ended up in garage with nearly 1k for repairs. Company cars are 50/50, hope your new search comes out good.

Not sure but think this could be useful until the experts reply: Tips on buying S3

Best of luck,

 

[S3-Iain]

i bought a company car aswel, again a bad experience!!

i bought a 2007 a3 2.0 tdi with a BKD engine and 41,000 miles. i had the turbo fail within the first month and then 15months later the head cracked!!

i wouldnt buy another unless i personally knew the driver and new alot about how they drove the car!

 

[_MickS3]

Thanks for the replies guys, not what i wanted to hear! I just spoke to one of my mates who bought a company car a while back which was owned by the same company and he says its running fine.

I guess it really is hit and miss as you say Persian..

 

[buz]

I bought a 3 yr old X trail which was an ex lease car, it came with a FSH and all warranty paperwork etc and it was a fantastic car. I ran it as a family hack for 3 further years with only usual perisable items needing replacing. I guess it's the luck of the draw you take with any 2nd hand vehicle but not all company/lease cars are bad news.

Good luck with the viewing and hope it works out as the S3 is a superb car.

 

[danA3T]

My old A3 was a company car and came to me at 80k - I chopped it in at 160k and it had no major issues. They're fairly hardy cars IMO. Good luck .

 

[crazylegscrane]

Luck of the draw depends on the driver, my company cars I always treated like my own, so every now and then they got a hard time but they were looked after

 

[mylo911]

Welcome!

As ever, despite it saying there is FASH, check thoroughly. Spark plugs should of been changed at 40k along with the oil in the haldex coupling. Cambelts are due every 5 years, so if it has not yet been done, it will be due shortly (bargaining tool).

Pay particular attention to any knocks that come through the steering wheel, and grinding noises from the front suspension at low speeds when a lot of lock is applied. Peak torque arrives at 2500rpm, so it should pull hard from there, if not, it could be down to the common issue of a split in the diverter valve. (plenty about this on the forum).

To be fair, S3's are pretty solid, but hope this helps.

Happy hunting

 

[TDI140]

The thing you find with company cars is that there is no expense spared on servicing and faults etc, but when they have problems the driver doesn't usually care about the faults so just drives it until it breaks down which is sad and can ruin a car, but you never know mate it could be a perfect example

 

[_MickS3]

Hi Guys, thanks for all the replies!

So went to view this morning, took it for a test drive - the sales guy wasn't helpful at all and it's like he didnt even want to try and sell the car - that's another story lol

Anyway ran smoothly couldn't notice any problems immediately with he way it drove. Haldex oil done/spark plugs done. Cambelt not done and its at 64k

Just a few issues that bugging me though - on the drivers side seat its scuffed from where the drivers been getting in/out - wear and tear. And also the driver side door armrest has two tears in it, any idea how much it would be to fix these two things?

Pics attached

 

[MG]

I wouldn't personally be too worried about the seat, some decent leather restorer and polish will bring that up nicely. Regarding the cut in the arm rests, I'd probably use that a bargaining tool to get the price down - provided everything else on the car was ok. If you look on eBay the door cards seem to come up fairly often I think so you could always keep your eye out and change it. Or call someone like Chips Away and ask them for a quote as they repair interiors too: ChipsAway – Car Interior Upholstery and Trim Repair

 

[_MickS3]

Thanks MG appreciate the help, well i've still got the car on reserve until tuesday so have until then to get some quotes/make my mind up. More i think about and look at pictures the more i want it!!

 

[Stev_A3]

Hi mate, I waited 4 months to find a S Line A3 3.2 V6 with one private owner, 3 door, low miles and manual gear box. (Full Audi history etc etc) so it proves worthwhile to wait if you can. Its your hard earned cash so make sure you buy the right one. My brothers doorcard insert has done the same thing (but worse) he has lived with it but when he enquiried at Audi it was circa £80+vat for the insert. Good luck.

 

[PH1L]

Ill be selling my s3 soon only reason forbsale is no point changing everything (planned mods) to a car that's higher in value looking for a cheap silver a3 to replace her