Little advice please

[Ricky Burrows]

Hi

I've immigrated from the B7 section to potentially getting my other half an A3 preferably a face lift model with the 2.0 tdi more thank likely the 140 model for my budget so the advice I need is what to look out for and any common issues to sort out or expect? I'm looking at surprising her with it for either Christmas or possibly her birthday (January) so times on my side but in that time id like to get a few mods done to the exterior but main one being a bit of extra power so a map and deleting other things that could cause reliability issues like dpf's (if they have them) ect? Any advice is welcome thank you.

P.S for anyone wondering why a 2.0 tdi specifically and manual its so she can get a decent mpg (current car is terrible) and so it will be quick enough for her after a map to enjoy driving so somewhere around 170-180hp minimum and a good punch of torque from the diesel should keep it more fun for her.

 

[Ricky Burrows]

I guess its not a common car/engine on here??

 

[norris_309]

I've had a 2011 140 A3 for the past year.
Bought as a 1 owner 79k mile car with full service history.
So far, the heater blower went which sounds like it may be a common issue. That'll be obvious as the blower won't work! It's an easy fix although a bit expensive if you buy a genuine part (I got lucky and got a used part of a forum user)
I have a clicky clutch pedal which again seems to be common and is supposedly a white plastic clip behind the clutch pedal. I've bought the part which was a couple of quid. But seems like a bit of a pain to change, so not got round to it yet.

The alarms have a habit of failing, you'll know this as the alarm goes off randomly, and the dash alarm led blinks differently when armed indicating a fault. This is a failed battery in the alarm, it's about £150 for the part and would be easy enough to swap if it wasn't for the 1 security bolt holding it onto the car!!
And now (as my recent post today) my clutch has ******** up and seems likely to be a slave cylinder, which is ******* me off as I'd have thought it would have lasted longer than that. And had no sign of failure until it went today.
But I guess it's all usual stuff.

Something else I've read and have on mine is the little black metal triangle on the rear doors tend to start rusting... One of mine has started to bubble.

So that's my year in the life of a 8p owner.

It's been more trouble in the year I've had it than my 2002 golf was in 10 years and my also current 2004 A4 has been in the past 6 years.

On a positive note, it goes well enough I guess and is nice to drive!

 

[Ricky Burrows]

I've had a 2011 140 A3 for the past year.
Bought as a 1 owner 79k mile car with full service history.
So far, the heater blower went which sounds like it may be a common issue. That'll be obvious as the blower won't work! It's an easy fix although a bit expensive if you buy a genuine part (I got lucky and got a used part of a forum user)
I have a clicky clutch pedal which again seems to be common and is supposedly a white plastic clip behind the clutch pedal. I've bought the part which was a couple of quid. But seems like a bit of a pain to change, so not got round to it yet.

The alarms have a habit of failing, you'll know this as the alarm goes off randomly, and the dash alarm led blinks differently when armed indicating a fault. This is a failed battery in the alarm, it's about £150 for the part and would be easy enough to swap if it wasn't for the 1 security bolt holding it onto the car!!
And now (as my recent post today) my clutch has ******** up and seems likely to be a slave cylinder, which is ******* me off as I'd have thought it would have lasted longer than that. And had no sign of failure until it went today.
But I guess it's all usual stuff.

Something else I've read and have on mine is the little black metal triangle on the rear doors tend to start rusting... One of mine has started to bubble.

So that's my year in the life of a 8p owner.

It's been more trouble in the year I've had it than my 2002 golf was in 10 years and my also current 2004 A4 has been in the past 6 years.

On a positive note, it goes well enough I guess and is nice to drive!

Sounds like you've taken on some of my curse of bad cars lately, hope all goes well with the clutch and fingers crossed you get a break for a bit nothing worse than constantly doing maintenance rather than enjoying it, thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

 

[soulwaffle]

I've got an Audi A3 2.0l tdi. I purchased at 50k miles and it ran great until 110k miles. I started experiencing 'limp mode' because the DPF was no longer re-gening. Here's a list of mods I have done since then:

1/ Remap to 190hp - Speak to Bobby Singh Racing. My goto guy for all things modding. I get around 550-600 miles on a tank, and that's with not so sensible driving.
2/ EGR and DPF delete
3/ Swapped the brakes for S3/R32 brakes
4/ B12 Sports suspension - Spring had cracked
5/ New wheel bearings - probs worn out by 110k miles
6/ New head unit - improved the sound 10 fold. Probs invest in some decent speakers *Note: See if you can get a car with Bose*
7/ Milltek exhaust - wanted the twin pipes and setting up for bigger power
8/ Rear wiper delete - my rear wiper started playing up so I've removed it. Turned off with VCDS
9/ Swapped out the front grille for the RS3 style
10/ Running Trups' lighting pack
11/ Tinted rear windows

Currently I'm in the process of bringing the car up to 260hp with the following:
1/ DPF delete pipe, 2260vk turbo, BSR CP3 fuel pump, Wagner intercooler, SRE Sachs performance clutch
2/ Remap by Bobby Singh Racing.
3/ Detail the car because it has so many scratches, swirl marks. Then probably have the car wrapped

If I could have done this again I would have sold the car and purchased the Quattro version with a DSG Gearbox. I will keep this car as my daily because it will always give me good mpg. Whilst keeping this car I will look to purchasing an RS3 or an MK4 R32 then turboing it.

 

[soulwaffle]

<deleted>

 

[Ricky Burrows]

I've got an Audi A3 2.0l tdi. I purchased at 50k miles and it ran great until 110k miles. I started experiencing 'limp mode' because the DPF was no longer re-gening. Here's a list of mods I have done since then:

1/ Remap to 190hp - Speak to Bobby Singh Racing. My goto guy for all things modding. I get around 550-600 miles on a tank, and that's with not so sensible driving.
2/ EGR and DPF delete
3/ Swapped the brakes for S3/R32 brakes
4/ B12 Sports suspension - Spring had cracked
5/ New wheel bearings - probs worn out by 110k miles
6/ New head unit - improved the sound 10 fold. Probs invest in some decent speakers *Note: See if you can get a car with Bose*
7/ Milltek exhaust - wanted the twin pipes and setting up for bigger power
8/ Rear wiper delete - my rear wiper started playing up so I've removed it. Turned off with VCDS
9/ Swapped out the front grille for the RS3 style
10/ Running Trups' lighting pack
11/ Tinted rear windows

Currently I'm in the process of bringing the car up to 260hp with the following:
1/ DPF delete pipe, 2260vk turbo, BSR CP3 fuel pump, Wagner intercooler, SRE Sachs performance clutch
2/ Remap by Bobby Singh Racing.
3/ Detail the car because it has so many scratches, swirl marks. Then probably have the car wrapped

If I could have done this again I would have sold the car and purchased the Quattro version with a DSG Gearbox. I will keep this car as my daily because it will always give me good mpg. Whilst keeping this car I will look to purchasing an RS3 or an MK4 R32 then turboing it.

That's awesome thanks for the tips that sounds like what id do before she has the car then egr and dpf delete a dpf is something I didn't know if they had or not, the mpg is something she defiantly needs so its good they still run economical after a few performance mods, my a4 b7 has fulll amplified bose and it sounded great that's something that's a must for her so ill look for one with it if not what would you recommend as an upgrade for sound? Just door speakers?

 

[soulwaffle]

Ive yet to do the speakers. Ive done the headunit, its the AVH-Z9200DAB. You'll need the wiring loom which is plug and play to connect to the existing audi wiring. Might be worth speaking to dynamicsounds as ive not done the speakers yet.

​

 

[Ricky Burrows]

Ive yet to do the speakers. Ive done the headunit, its the AVH-Z9200DAB. You'll need the wiring loom which is plug and play to connect to the existing audi wiring. Might be worth speaking to dynamicsounds as ive not done the speakers yet.

​

Ok thanks ill cross that bridge when I come to it then, if I get a car with bose then that will be one less job I guess, thanks for the help seems like the car/engine don't have any particular big issues then? Apart from the usual diesel things like egr and dpf, should tick all the boxes for reliability and performance

 

[soulwaffle]

Pretty much, just the regular service items/wear and tear. I've had the car since 2015, had no real issues and when the car hit 110k miles a lot of the 'wear and tear' items needed attention. I've had the egr/dpf/remap since last September and the car has been running great since then.

Even have a print out from surrey rolling road with the car at 190hp:

 

[Ricky Burrows]

The mileage ones i was looking at are all around anything from 90-110k so ill make sure its has a good service history then, I don't want to be spending more than 5k if I can help it i guess it depends on spec but id like to sink a bit of money into mods before I surprise her with it so ill make sure its got a good service history and maybe a bit of luck.....famous last words.

 

[soulwaffle]

Then factor in replacing worn suspension, brake pads, wheel bearings, cambelt/water pump, coolant, oil etc. All of which you can do on your drive ..you might want to have the car detailed

 

[Ricky Burrows]

Then factor in replacing worn suspension, brake pads, wheel bearings, cambelt/water pump, coolant, oil etc. All of which you can do on your drive ..you might want to have the car detailed

I wouldn't buy a car round that mileage without having the cambelt and water pump already replaced and a recent service so that should half that list ticked off as far as detailing goes I can sort that myself as well so no problem there, ill more than likely do a few gloss black bits here and there so ill machine polish it all at the same time.

 

[soulwaffle]

See if you can get the s-line model