Thinking of buying a 2014 A3 3.2 Quattro, what should I look out for? And what should I pay

paddy said:
Ok zygutis, here is my front bumper on my fake S-line maybe you can tell me why its fake or why the car had black roof lining and a perforated leather steering wheel as well as a leather gear knob ?
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Paddy, I can put on my standart s3 bumpers, but i will not become a s3.. Roof, or gear knob does not say that is s-line :) Because when buying new car you can choose what you want, of course you're paying more for this.
s-l640.jpg
Here you go, here is an s-line bumper, it has little splitter below. Don't pay attention to red place, its from google.
7408065707

Here is standart bumper, it don't have splitter.

Also s-line has little bit different grille, also have different diffuser in the back.

Your suspension would be lower with s-line springs. If i were you i just be quiet, because now, everyone can say that you're not right this time :)

P.S. Saying that your car is s-line not makes any sense, and it not makes your car drive faster, s-line is just a part of car decoration kit, like bimmers have m-packet, and it's only decoration, but no one is saying that they have M3 or M5 :D

Peace, mate.
 
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Those are not even series 2 split grill bumpers , what have they to do with this topic ?
You clearly dont have a clue what you are talking about.
I have bothered to enter in to your stupid argument in the hope you might learn something but i can see you are too ignorant to even acknowledge the three other 2004 S-lines i have pointed out or the 2004 brochure.
 
Are you honestly saying that audi took a 10 month old car when i bought it and added all the parts exclusive to an S-line like black headlining, perforated leather steering wheel, 18" S-line wheels and so on to create an S-line before the S-line even existed They even lowered the suspension 1" ?
Clever of them to know in advance exactly what spec the S-line would be before it was released and to be able to source exclusive parts like the Steering wheel before they were even produced, Well done audi...
You are living in cloud cuckoo land mate.
 
paddy said:
Are you honestly saying that audi took a 10 month old car when i bought it and added all the parts exclusive to an S-line like black headlining, perforated leather steering wheel, 18" S-line wheels and so on to create an S-line before the S-line even existed They even lowered the suspension 1" ?
Clever of them to know in advance exactly what spec the S-line would be before it was released and to be able to source exclusive parts like the Steering wheel before they were even produced, Well done audi...
You are living in cloud cuckoo land mate.
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Is that hard to understand what I'm trying to say ??? I just said that it's possible to put all these things you had in your car kit. All these things, like gear knob, steering wheel, alcantra roof you can buy in ebay and put on your car, but it doesn't become an s-line. Maybe your car's first owner purchased better kit from factory, but it doesn't not say that is s-line. Because s-line kit has much more improvements as you had. You can say that you had good set/kit, but not s-line. I'm done with that.
 
I see you are a new member, you obviously didn't come here to make friends :)
 

Audi A3 Hatchback (2003 - 2012) 3.2 V6 quattro S line 3d Specs & Dimensions


I cant believe i am still banging on about this but when some plank rocks up and tells me my car didnt even exist when i bought it it gets my back up.
Here is the page from parkers guide giving prices for 3.2 s-line 2003-2008
 
paddy said:

Audi A3 Hatchback (2003 - 2012) 3.2 V6 quattro S line 3d Specs & Dimensions


I cant believe i am still banging on about this but when some plank rocks up and tells me my car didnt even exist when i bought it it gets my back up.
Here is the page from parkers guide giving prices for 3.2 s-line 2003-2008
Click to expand...
Question is, what does HPI say

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Sorry Donovan, your thread got hijacked.
The fact is i owned an 04 S-line, a moderator here called Sarahs A3 had the sister car to mine , also a blue 2004 S-line back in the day
Back when these cars were new no one questioned the s-line badge, many many people owned them back then on here and they were the S3 of their day.
I have found loads for sale, listings in Brochures, and listings in car value guides.I have found absolutely nothing to say they didn't exist :) and no one has posted anything to prove they didn't exist.
Our forign friend has come up with no proof of a 205 start date apart from posting some pictures of a 2005-9 face lift one piece grill which has absolutely nothing to do with split grill 3.2's.
Listings are always hit and miss, my current S3 black edition only ever comes up as a 2.0 ltr black edition if you do a car search, its never called an S3.

does that mean someone took a 2.0 and put S3 parts on it ?
why not try contacting some of the 2004 S lines advertised on gumtree and ask the owners why they are mis selling the cars and see what they say. :)

Here is one to start you off
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...early New&onesearchad=New&keywords=3.2&page=1
 
paddy said:
Sorry Donovan, your thread got hijacked.
The fact is i owned an 04 S-line, a moderator here called Sarahs A3 had the sister car to mine , also a blue 2004 S-line back in the day
Back when these cars were new no one questioned the s-line badge, many many people owned them back then on here and they were the S3 of their day.
I have found loads for sale, listings in Brochures, and listings in car value guides.I have found absolutely nothing to say they didn't exist :) and no one has posted anything to prove they didn't exist.
Our forign friend has come up with no proof of a 205 start date apart from posting some pictures of a 2005-9 face lift one piece grill which has absolutely nothing to do with split grill 3.2's.
Listings are always hit and miss, my current S3 black edition only ever comes up as a 2.0 ltr black edition if you do a car search, its never called an S3.

does that mean someone took a 2.0 and put S3 parts on it ?
why not try contacting some of the 2004 S lines advertised on gumtree and ask the owners why they are mis selling the cars and see what they say. :)

Here is one to start you off
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...early New&onesearchad=New&keywords=3.2&page=1
Click to expand...
That's the one I choose not to view, to many little issues such as, number plate lights not working, rear wiper faulty, door light not working and biggest issue is its pre Facelift.

Basically I have 3.7k but it would have to be Facelift along with decent service history xenon, Heated leathers and cruise.

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i agree if you can stretch to a later model then you drastically reduce the chance of cam chain problems.
Mine was one of the original problematic cars and i went through a year of detective work with a couple of others here trying to prove to audi there was a problem. We later found out that the Germans and the Americans had excepted there was a problem but it was just Audi UK holding out even though they knew full well the model had real issues. they also fitted that lump in the TT and that might be a better choice TBH.
 
From memory, S-Line exterior and interior packs were available for the A3 8P before S-Line became a trim level. Some of these early cars have one or the other pack, too, rather than both.
 
@zygutis take a look at the photo @paddy posted, you’ll notice that his 3.2 S-Line had the split grille.

This grille was on the first of the 8p models before the grille you posted appeared around the MY55 plate.
 
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paddy said:
i agree if you can stretch to a later model then you drastically reduce the chance of cam chain problems.
Mine was one of the original problematic cars and i went through a year of detective work with a couple of others here trying to prove to audi there was a problem. We later found out that the Germans and the Americans had excepted there was a problem but it was just Audi UK holding out even though they knew full well the model had real issues. they also fitted that lump in the TT and that might be a better choice TBH.
Click to expand...
From your experience would you say the cam chain issue is only present on pre Facelift models?

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it was a problem with early models, i dont know how long it went on but mine was completely shot by 40k miles and 3 years. I would say any car still running now at 10 years on and 100k miles plus would have packed up long ago if the chain was faulty. dont confuse the stretching timing chain issue with the later software update issue. The timing chains were weakened by the stampings on the link plates, it was a mechanical problem not a software problem. I think most cars with problems were fixed at the time. Mine was a £6k job of which Audi paid half.
 
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samuelh_888 said:
@zygutis take a look at the photo @paddy posted, you’ll notice that his 3.2 S-Line had the split grille.

This grille was on the first of the 8p models before the grille you posted appeared around the MY55 plate.
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I see that :) Thats because I'm here trying to say that. So if paddy had an s-line model, tell me what is the difference between paddy's a3 and standart a3 in exterior?
 
paddy said:
Sorry Donovan, your thread got hijacked.
The fact is i owned an 04 S-line, a moderator here called Sarahs A3 had the sister car to mine , also a blue 2004 S-line back in the day
Back when these cars were new no one questioned the s-line badge, many many people owned them back then on here and they were the S3 of their day.
I have found loads for sale, listings in Brochures, and listings in car value guides.I have found absolutely nothing to say they didn't exist :) and no one has posted anything to prove they didn't exist.
Our forign friend has come up with no proof of a 205 start date apart from posting some pictures of a 2005-9 face lift one piece grill which has absolutely nothing to do with split grill 3.2's.
Listings are always hit and miss, my current S3 black edition only ever comes up as a 2.0 ltr black edition if you do a car search, its never called an S3.

does that mean someone took a 2.0 and put S3 parts on it ?
why not try contacting some of the 2004 S lines advertised on gumtree and ask the owners why they are mis selling the cars and see what they say. :)

Here is one to start you off
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201901264314444?radius=1500&make=AUDI&model=A3&aggregatedTrim=S line&sort=sponsored&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=nr151pn&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&keywords=3.2&page=1
Click to expand...
Hi again, i'm sorry i have to disappoint you. Here is an quote from wikipedia:

In 2005, the "S line" trim level, offering new decorative elements, became available and the three-door A3 received the same front end styling features as the Sportback model. For the first time, the A3 became available in the North American market, exclusively with the Sportback body, with the base 2.0 inline-fourTFSI introduced in 2005 as a 2006 model, and the 3.2 VR6 quattro following.

As you can see s-line started in 2005, when realeased non splited grille. You had 2003 model and 2 pieces grill and it CAN'T be real s-line.
 
Except we are UK based, not North American.
Maybe you guys are both correct based on different nation release dates?
 
Here is talking about sportback model, because USA have only sportback's, and then it became available for uk, and it says that with sportbach model they started to do s-line with different exterior :) Maybe paddy had model with few s-line components, but it was not full s-line, because s-line started with one piece grill :)
 
@zygutis please stop being a nuisance and spamming rubbish. The early 3.2 came in S-Line spec, suck it up and move on!
 
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Just to muddy the waters even more, according to Parkers website an A3 3.2 V6 3Dr was available from December 2003 with S-line spec:
https://www.parkers.co.uk/audi/a3/hatchback-2003/32-v6-quattro-s-line-3d/specs/

So maybe it depends on what source you read, but if a member on here has had one and there is a source stating that it is possible, maybe we should accept that he is telling the truth and move on to more important things?
 
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Thanks Guys
I know it really doesnt matter but when someone tells you that you dont know what model of car you bought from a main Audi dealer it s a bit rich.
Just to be clear
The car had all the S-line extras including lower suspension, exclusive headlining and other trim, 18" s-line wheels, badges and rear bumper which was a bit different on the S-line i think, fog lights 2 zone AC and so on. Its difficult to see how things like the steering wheel which were exclusive to the S-line could have been fitted 2 years before the Sline came out given i bought the car at 11 months old. It was billed as and sold as an S-line from Audi Guildford and at the time several other members here had S-line 3.2's.

Here is a post from a friend on here back in the day Sarah

Hi, new to this forum but found some interesting things already! Just got an A3 S Line 3.2 and love it!
Ce4c07f8
50fd9918


As you can see its a split grill S-line 3.2 exactly the same colour and spec as mine.
 
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paddy said:
Well do you think i have a case against Audi UK for selling me a std car badged up as an Sline with 18" wheels, S line suspension. Full S line leather.

Makes me laugh when people say oh its just a std car badged up[ as an s line. Well what do you think an Sline was ?
Here is the brochure for 2004 clearly showing sport and S line spec for the A3
Click to expand...

Is this a pdf? Do you have a link if possible please.
 
Really good ones for in your budget are few and far between. One will pop up.

Does it have to be a 3.2? What about a 2.0 tfsi Quattro?
 
The early A3's didn't have the option of an Sline exterior styling pack, you could instead opt for the votex kit which had front and rear splitters and side skirts. This was dropped when the sline styling was introduced from 55 plates onwards.
I've had many a car since my last A3 3.2 and have all been better but I would get another tomorrow just for the v6 noise and drivability.
They are an expensive toy if they go wrong but full of character.
Walk away if there is noise from the timing chain cover on the right or if dsg (The best option) make sure the gear changes are silky smooth and it's had the servicing done on time
 
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abmat said:
Really good ones for in your budget are few and far between. One will pop up.

Does it have to be a 3.2? What about a 2.0 tfsi Quattro?
Click to expand...

Yes it has to be 3.2 otherwise I will go for mk5 gti dsg


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Little update. I went to view the one this thread was originally about. I had to see it otherwise I would have been kicking myself and constantly wondering if I could have gotten a bargain.

Short version is I didn't buy it. Some electrical gremlins such as boot light, numberplate lights neither of which worked and owner said he has tried new bulb and fuses and they still would not work.

Then there was the issue after 10 minutes of lights being on etc the car was completely dead. Originally I thought it might be alternator but owner said he has checked and battery (which is new ish) is getting 14v. This to me sounds like a battery drain issue somewhere.

There were a lot of faults most of which date back but there were 2 oil pressure sensor and esp error which I couldn't ignore and would not dissappear.

And to top it all off, the nav although genuine had the stupid antenna stuck on dash, there was errors about antenna aerial.

There would be a huge hole in dash where the car has had those stupidly fitted Nokia factory fitted car mount.

And it was a bit jerky when setting off in first.



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However one positive. Is it did concrete the fact I must own one of these cars and have a miltek system fitted to it immediately..... That sound

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-Ju- said:
The early A3's didn't have the option of an Sline exterior styling pack, you could instead opt for the votex kit which had front and rear splitters and side skirts. This was dropped when the sline styling was introduced from 55 plates onwards.
I've had many a car since my last A3 3.2 and have all been better but I would get another tomorrow just for the v6 noise and drivability.
They are an expensive toy if they go wrong but full of character.
Walk away if there is noise from the timing chain cover on the right or if dsg (The best option) make sure the gear changes are silky smooth and it's had the servicing done on time
Click to expand...

I think as you say this is the exterior styling pack Ju the S line itself was available in split grill like all other versions of the A3 at the time. Sarah and i both had one :)
 
Incidentally i am shopping around for insurance again this year as aviva have upped my premium 12% this year with no explanation ?
When ever i enter my reg in the online forms it comes back as an Sline black edition but its not an Sline.....
 
So I brought the shed.. But got it for a good price in the end as it need some work.

So outstanding issues are:
1. Luggage light does not work and vcds shows error (Luggage Compartment Light open to short to ground). I know the lamp is fine as it works on another car. So it must be wiring or fuse (is there one?) I did check for voltage and the is zero.

2. Battery drain issue, car does have rnse and Bluetooth, I am confident the rnse has been fitted after as the aftermarket GPS antenna is in the window. But I am not sure about the Bluetooth? As I am considering getting a better head unit anyways I am inclined to unplug and remove the Bluetooth and rnse and sell them. Do I need to code them out?

3. I noticed the revs bounce up and down a bit when coming on and off acceleration, it's fine when idle and timing chain shows 3.0kw on vcds 208.

4. Put a bigger resonator on the miltek (it's flipping loud and drones like crazy on motorway.

Apart from that it just need tidying up a bit which I will do in the following months.

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No 1. Is sorted. Just got 2. and 3. to sort

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Regarding the rnse and Bluetooth there is no need to code them out if you go for an aftermarket unit as a few people have done the same.
In regards to the gps antenna being on the dash mine is hidden being the a pillar trim which just pops off and it still gets full signal
 
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ab1702 said:
Regarding the rnse and Bluetooth there is no need to code them out if you go for an aftermarket unit as a few people have done the same.
In regards to the gps antenna being on the dash mine is hidden being the a pillar trim which just pops off and it still gets full signal
Click to expand...
Is it likely to be the rnse or Bluetooth draining battery?? I also have bose

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donovan2123 said:
Is it likely to be the rnse or Bluetooth draining battery?? I also have bose

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Click to expand...

Could be one of many things. I’ve seen posts that suggest faulty rnse units cause battery drain.
Best way to check is with the car off put a multimeter on the battery and see what reading it gives and then disconnect the rnse and go and get another reading and see if it has dramatically changed. If so it’s likely youve found the cause. If not then as I say it could be one of many things.
 
Do I have to disconnect the - lead on battery and put multi in between to check amp draw?

Plan to do this tomorrow

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