Considering buying a new A3, what are the weak points.

[mareng]

Good day gentlemen (and ladies should there be any), I am new to your forum as I am considering buying a new A3 petrol, coming from a Mazda 2.2d  with its inherent problems , but driven 2 Rover diesels  previously without problems.

Seems just scanning a few comments the Audi diesel suffers similar problem to Mazda diesels.

So as diesels generally are becoming a bit iffy and overcomplicated I have decided to go back to a petrol with any new car I buy.

I would prefer the 2 litre A3 as a 1.5lt is pushing the limits a bit for the performance but they don't come in the S model as I donn' want all the bling.

Has anybody had this model  for 5 years say,  from new ( 1.5 or 2.o ltr  6 speed manual) and got around 70k miles on it found any problems that I need to be aware of? No idea when this model came out as new to Audi.

Any help would be appreciated, as asking a saleman would be a waste of time, even the few questions I did ask , being technical he hadn't a clue.

I have been a member of 3 Mazda forums and enjoyed helping people fault find and fix their problems based onmy experiences and interest and 50 years of servicing my own cars and rebuilding 2 engines in my early life ( it was just something you did [or perhaps had to do] then).

There are few cars out there that are not milk floats, have 6 speed manuals and not bricks on wheels ( SUV's), and other than Japanese makes , the other oriental makes don't interest me.

The salesman said these cars are mild hybrid, but couldn't explain other than he 'thinks'  there is another battery in the boot area but no propulsion motors.

 

Could he be talking about regenetive braking , such that when you remove your foot off the accellerator, extra load goes on the alternatorwhich hels slow the engineand thus the car down and charges the stop/start condenser which also powers certain things when stopped. When you come to accellerate, load comes off the alternator until at a steady speed.

 

I note that the care comes with low profile 40 tyres, so I asked about 50 or 55 tyres to give a decent size tyre wall and comfier drive, but he said these are the tyres that Audi prefers.

Gone are the days of driving on 2 wheels and a door handle, I prefer comfort and economy to speed. Saving 1.5 seconds on        0-60  times is doing me no favours as I am retired and have all the time in the world which I have got left.

The car on initial look seemed to tick some of my boxes that others failed to meet. Decent size square boot, slightly smaller than the M6 so a better fit in the garage ( at present the 6 is !Removed! paper clearance going through the door and just fits lengthwise)  but the long wheel base on full profile tyres gives a comfortable ride touring and effortless driving with the high torque.

Another thing I asked, "Could I plug in my USB A  memory stick full of my music and will it play through the sound system". He seemed a bit hesitant on this so trying not to lie. 

It seems the so called 'leather seats' are man made leather, so plastic, not off an animals back.

Any comments from owners will be greatly appreciated.

 

Just a bit of advice for diesel owners, that DPF  problems are not usually a fault with the DPF , but something upstream is faulty, sensors or their tubes blocked, blocked intake manifold, too much town driving, worn injector nozzles. Diesels just don't like school runs and lots idling, but a steady 70 mph for several hours they lap it up.

 

 

 

 

[Magnet]

Welcome D ( what is your name?).

Can any member/owners please help out with this?

Regards,

Gareth. 

 

[cliffcoggin]

D. Please do us a favour and change to a more human sensible name. DaveF perhaps?

The diesel problems you mentioned are not unique to Audi or Mazda. Every modern diesel suffers from attempts to comply with emissions regulations. Some are more successful than others, but all eventually have to contend with DPF faults.

See this topic for information about Audi mild hybrid. It is specifically about the A7 but the technology is apparently the same on other models as you will see from other members's contributions. Personally I would not touch one with a barge pole.

https://www.audiownersclub.com/forums/topic/24906-alternator-failure-related-to-mild-hybrid-system/#comment-93343