Audi A3, anyone here own one

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Yukon LX

Yukon LX

Joined
Jul 23, 2010
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Morehead City, NC
Posted this in chat but:
I am looking at getting a 2006 A3 2.0T. Any real world reviews here. Seems like a nicely finished, reliable car with great mileage. Thanks for any advice.
 
According to Consumer Reports, it's reliability is worse than average. It also made CR's Worst Cars list.
 
My buddy used to have one a few cars ago. Very fun, but pricey to maintain. He was a trained mechanic and hated working on it. Audi uses a lot of proprietary tools with insane torque specs.
Come to Think of it, may have been an A4.
 
This is why i posted it here. Consumer reports has it low, but KBB and a few others have it very high. That is why i am looking for some real world experience. It can be so hard to get a real answer. . .
 
^ Pretty much. The body is different, other than that its just like a LX to a LC.
 
Yukon LX said:
Posted this in chat but:
I am looking at getting a 2006 A3 2.0T. Any real world reviews here. Seems like a nicely finished, reliable car with great mileage. Thanks for any advice.
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I have an 01' S4 which is a different breed. A4's are about the size of a vw Passat while A3's are hatchbacks like GTI's.

Audi's in general are rather costly to maintain. I've owned mine since 00' with only 20miles on the ticker and I've had to replace random parts that just "break" without rhyme or reason. For eg: hazard switch, air bag module ecu, leaking side and rear view mirrors (auto dimming), oil sensor, etc. The car runs great when it's in working order and I can get about 25mpgs which is much better than my fj80. I have about 130k on the ticker of the S4 now and I think my cats are dying.

Audi's do run on timing belts so make sure you look into that when purchasing. Also, the odometers can be rewound just as easily with a vag-com so do some detective work when shopping (ross-tech.com). A good online resource forum is quattroworld.com and the independent shop I use for repairs is 4induktion.com.

Overall, I think it costs as much money in fuel to run the FJ80 as it does to maintain the Audi so money-wise, it breaks even in that respect.

Good luck with your choices!
 
Overall, I think it costs as much money in fuel to run the FJ80 as it does to maintain the Audi so money-wise, it breaks even in that respect.

That is what i was afraid of. Thanks for the info though. The mileage of the A3 is so tempting, but it sounds like the other stuff just makes it not worth it.
 
Yukon LX said:
Overall, I think it costs as much money in fuel to run the FJ80 as it does to maintain the Audi so money-wise, it breaks even in that respect.

That is what i was afraid of. Thanks for the info though. The mileage of the A3 is so tempting, but it sounds like the other stuff just makes it not worth it.
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AND probably why HE's off-loading it;)
 
^ good point!
 
It's a shame because they are good looking cars. I read a review of the Touareg TDI in Fourwheeler Mag and the guy said it was like having a hot girl friend. You really want to over look the high maintenance costs because you want to like it so much.
"Just like a high-maintenance girlfriend who must spend hours getting herself fixed up before a night on the town, our Touareg spends a lot of time getting fixed up at the dealership. Love is blind, as they say, and we just seem to overlook the expensive major service, the pricey brake job, the bad airbag sensor, the new ECM, the front-end bind, the warrantied turbos, the new locking diff motor, and the wacky electronics. It seems like every time we blink we are blowing the Four Wheeler long-term budget for her, but we don't seem to care and we just keep saying good things.

Read more: 2005 Volkswagen Touareg V-10 TDI Review - Four Wheeler Magazine
 
This thread is fitting for my currently life much more than the past one where I had six FJ40's at one time parked in my driveway. Right now we have an A4 and a Touareg TDI. Both are about a year old and both have been good cars. Just sold a GTI and Cup Car Jetta last year. Have been driving VW pretty much my whole life. In general they have more problems and cost more to maintain but I must say that the only lemons I ever owned were a Mercedes and a Tacoma. When you have a problem with VW/Audi they fix it and they know how to - they get a lot of practice! Most of all, my wife and love the way they drive.

The Audi drives amazing and for what it is, the Touareg awesome. 30 MPG and 650 mile range. Super fast and as comfortable as a suv can get with mega front and back seat legroom.

My Jeep/Bronco/Blazer/Scout/Samuria/etc friends look at a $1000 dollar carburetor, $750 intake exhaust manifold and $5000 A440F and laugh. We see the value and pony up the cash. They love stuff that costs less to fix.

Last note, I don't think there is much you could do to improve my GTI or my A4 after market wise. They come out of the box ready to roll. Best commercial ever!

Volkswagen: Un-pimp Your Ride II - YouTube
 
Von Hayek said:
I love that dude. Every time I see him, I can only see a guy stuffing a body into a chipper.

If you're going to go Touareg (or Q7 for that matter), you may as well go Cayenne.
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I got the Touareg because of the TDI...I have heard that they make a Cayenne in Diesel but not in this market.
 
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