How confident are you in your S-Tronic?

[CarloS3]

Hi guys, i'm new around here but have been around Audis for a while. I used to work at a main dealer just outside of London so know quite a bit about the Audi range but nevertheless, I'd like your opinions!

I'm going to order a new S3 Saloon but the conundrum of manual vs S-tronic has popped up in my head.

Now I know a lot of people tend to ask what is better etc etc but i've used both boxes enough to know which one I prefer: the S-Tronic hands down (IMO). My question to you guys that have an S-tronic at the mo is, would you be happy and confident enough to keep the car beyond its warranty period...?

I'm wanting to keep my next car for a fairly long period of time (or so that's the plan) and while I want the S-tronic and wouldn't worry while under warranty, i'd be concerned as soon as I came out the other side of the warranty period with a box that has had issues in the past.

Opinions? cheers!

 

[APL 3.0TDi]

Have you seen many faults at the dealership you worked at?....

I would have thought it will be more than OK for the long run, so long as it is maintained properly...

 

[xrkt77]

My S-Tronic was replaced after 2,000 miles, after i noticed it was making a strange noise going from 1st to 2nd.

Was replaced under warranty, after a brand new gearbox was sourced from Germany, had the use of an A4 estate and a Q3 for a month.

Would it influence me in having another S-Tronic ? In a word No.

If you are concerned, buy the extended 5-Year warranty, I bought it knowing that i would have 5 Years carefree motoring, or if i decide to change like i am now, i shouldn't have too much trouble selling the car with a 2 years manufacturers warranty

 

[Simon L]

It's kinda difficult to answer this one without a crystal ball. They can go wrong and if they need replacing they're very expensive. Not gonna be an issue for me as I'll more than likely chop mine in under 3 years.

If you're really concerned about it maybe consider 5 year warranty?

edit: beaten to it !! lol

 

[cytrus]

My S-Tronic was replaced after 2,000 miles, after i noticed it was making a strange noise going from 1st to 2nd.

Was replaced under warranty, after a brand new gearbox was sourced from Germany, had the use of an A4 estate and a Q3 for a month.

Would it influence me in having another S-Tronic ? In a word No.

If you are concerned, buy the extended 5-Year warranty, I bought it knowing that i would have 5 Years carefree motoring, or if i decide to change like i am now, i shouldn't have too much trouble selling the car with a 2 years manufacturers warranty

I 'm worried because my S tronic occasionally going from 1st to 2nd car makes a strong pull . You will toward the same?

 

[Simon L]

I 'm worried because my S tronic occasionally going from 1st to 2nd car makes a strong pull . You will toward the same?

..............stop putting yer foot down so hard then!! lol

 

[CarloS3]

Have you seen many faults at the dealership you worked at?....

I would have thought it will be more than OK for the long run, so long as it is maintained properly...

I have to say I didn't hear about issues when I was at the dealership, but then again I worked in the sales team rather than technician so I only heard about problems if someone was kicking off haha

My S-Tronic was replaced after 2,000 miles, after i noticed it was making a strange noise going from 1st to 2nd.

Was replaced under warranty, after a brand new gearbox was sourced from Germany, had the use of an A4 estate and a Q3 for a month.

Would it influence me in having another S-Tronic ? In a word No.

If you are concerned, buy the extended 5-Year warranty, I bought it knowing that i would have 5 Years carefree motoring, or if i decide to change like i am now, i shouldn't have too much trouble selling the car with a 2 years manufacturers warranty

Interesting that you said it wouldn't influence any future choices about this 'box and I was actually thinking i'd get the 5 yr warranty to be honest. For the extra cost it seems like a no brainer.

It's kinda difficult to answer this one without a crystal ball. They can go wrong and if they need replacing they're very expensive. Not gonna be an issue for me as I'll more than likely chop mine in under 3 years.

If you're really concerned about it maybe consider 5 year warranty?

edit: beaten to it !! lol

haha cheers for the input even if it was already mentioned I understand they go wrong and no one can say if one would for sure, it was more a question of just how confident would you be in owning one outside of the warranty period. Like you said, you're getting rid in under 3 years probably so would you feel edgy if you kept it after it was out of warranty?

 

[Simon L]

I have to say I didn't hear about issues when I was at the dealership, but then again I worked in the sales team rather than technician so I only heard about problems if someone was kicking off haha



Interesting that you said it wouldn't influence any future choices about this 'box and I was actually thinking i'd get the 5 yr warranty to be honest. For the extra cost it seems like a no brainer.



haha cheers for the input even if it was already mentioned I understand they go wrong and no one can say if one would for sure, it was more a question of just how confident would you be in owning one outside of the warranty period. Like you said, you're getting rid in under 3 years probably so would you feel edgy if you kept it after it was out of warranty?

In a word no!! For me s-tronic is well worth any potential risk from malfunction over a manual but then again I'm probably not in the same financial situation as you........................so at the end of the day this really is one only you can decide

 

[RichardT]

Of course the mileage you do is a factor as well. If low then much less risk.

 

[xrkt77]

I 'm worried because my S tronic occasionally going from 1st to 2nd car makes a strong pull . You will toward the same?

The performance was fine, mine just made a noise like a belt was slipping, it was easiest to replicate when starting up from the bottom of a hill.

I was somewhat surprised when told that the whole gearbox was going to be replaced.

As i said previously i would always have an S-Tronic, just unlucky if yours has problems.

Remember on forums you only generally hear from owners who have had issues, if you think you may have the vehicle for more than 3 years, then the additional £545 5 Yr Warranty makes sense and if you don't keep the car it'll be a lot easier to sell as the remainder of the warranty is transferrable between owners.

 

[simonali]

I 'm worried because my S tronic occasionally going from 1st to 2nd car makes a strong pull . You will toward the same?

Torque limit in first?

 

[h5djr]

I'm on my fifth A3 with an s-tronic and not had any problems with any of them. The highest mileage I've done in any of them is 38k. Having said that I think I would want some form of extended warranty that covered the gearbox if I decided to keep my current s-tronicquattro longer considering the price of the 6-speed wet-clutch s-tronic quattro is around £5.6k

 

[S32B]

Manual or s-tronic things can go wrong, if I were keeping either car longer than three years I'd buy an extended warranty for piece of mind.

 

[GSB]

I'd have the manual. Not for reasons of reliability, although the DCT will I'm sure be the reason that most of these cars see an early death at the hands of the recyclers, but for enjoyment. As an engineering geek with few equals the S-Tronic pushes nearly all my buttons, barring one. It can change gear in the blink of an eye, it can engage two gears at once. It can automatically crawl along in traffic. On the new facelifted and more powerful S3, it looks like the manual won't have as much torque as the S-tropic. They're so unbelievably good, that I find them really really boring to drive.

There's more joy and involvement to be had swapping your own cogs, and you don't have to listen to that ridiculous farting noise that accompanies every S-Tronic gear change. That's enough for me to stick with a gearbox that Brunel would understand.

 

[cytrus]

Torque limit in first?

To solve limiting torque?
That they can do at the dealership ?