Audi A3 1.8T 150BHP - hard on juice?

35notout

I am going to test drive one tomorrow - 01 reg but with just 78k miles on the clock.
It looks nice and will certainly be an improvement on my 98 Golf SDI

But am I mad?? I drive about 350 miles a week - mainly motorway - so how hard are they on petrol???

I can pick it up for 3500 - so it seems a good deal to me

Advice appreciated

pippip

Have an a4 with same engine and avg 25-28 mpg in town and 37-41mpg on motorways.

35notout

Thats not too bad given the engine - or is it?!

Are they fun to drive? I need something nice after the dog of the SDI

TestTransmission

35notout wrote: »

I am going to test drive one tomorrow - 01 reg but with just 78k miles on the clock.
It looks nice and will certainly be an improvement on my 98 Golf SDI

But am I mad?? I drive about 350 miles a week - mainly motorway - so how hard are they on petrol???

I can pick it up for 3500 - so it seems a good deal to me

Advice appreciated

What would you consider bad?I'd be nearly considering diesel at that mileage trying to get it for a great price and enjoy

-Corkie-

That seems very expensive for a 01 petrol Audi. You will get a 130bhp A4 or Passat for that money.

35notout

Yeah I was looking at diesel when I had my sensible head on - but this one caught my eye and I kinda fell in love

Us women do that

300 miles a week is not a huge amount, and tbh the diesels in my budget of 3500 are horrible

I'm thinking heart will win this battle - it seems a good deal

35notout

this is 150BHP with full leather Recaro seats and only has 76000 miles on it (genuine)

The Passat always seems a big car for a woman

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

Yeah I was looking at diesel when I had my sensible head on - but this one caught my eye and I kinda fell in love

Us women do that

300 miles a week is not a huge amount, and tbh the diesels in my budget of 3500 are horrible

I'm thinking heart will win this battle - it seems a good deal

If you have your heart set on it get a Motorcheck first to be sure the mileage is genuine unless you know the car.

Have you a link to the ad??

35notout

http://cameroncars.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=698445


Did that link work?

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

http://cameroncars.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=698445


Did that link work?

Nice motor I love the leather seats. I would still verify the mileage though.

I got a fright when I clicked on the second pic, I thought there was a little man in my computer flashing the lights at me

35notout

Yeah the seats are class - think thats what sold it to me!

Will the Motorcheck tell the mileage for sure? Never used it

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

Yeah the seats are class - think thats what sold it to me!

Will the Motorcheck tell the mileage for sure? Never used it

It will give you a fair idea anyway, well worth the money imo.

35notout

Thanks Corkie!
Tis only €35 so I may aswell

If the mileage is real, then do you think its a good motor if I can get it for €3500

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

Thanks Corkie!
Tis only €35 so I may aswell

If the mileage is real, then do you think its a good motor if I can get it for €3500

3 would be stretching it for me but if the mileage is genuine it might be worth it. You will get plenty more replies so hold tough for all of them..:)

35notout

Will do! Thanks

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

Will do! Thanks

I just done a quick search there and one with roughly the same mileage or higher is 2K sterling in the UK so thats nearly 3K euros with everything like vrt, shipping added so I reackon my valuation is fairly accurate.

bazz26

I think your mad, paying €3500 for an almost 11 year old petrol A3 irrespective of what the odometer says or what fabric the seats are covered in.

This guy is looking for €3k for this one and you could probably naggle down another €100/€200 off that price.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2438060

35notout

Bloody hell the VRT is 1200 - just checked it there meself. I'll defo try and get it down though to closer to 3k

My mate knows the dealer well so I'm going to see if I can take it for the weekend and get a feel for it *puts sensible hat on*

lomb

Nice car, make sure the air conditioning blows cold though, common fault on old VAG cars that it fails from leaks /compresser failure etc.

-Corkie-

bazz26 wrote: »

I think your mad, paying €3500 for an almost 11 year old petrol A3 irrespective of what the odometer says or what fabric the seats are covered in.

This guy is looking for €3k for this one and you could probably naggle down another €100/€200 off that price.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2438060

Same car Bazz....:eek::eek::eek:

35notout

@bazz26 - thats the same car!!!

He obviously traded in

Swampy

I bought my car from Cameron Cars. Good dealer.

35notout

Handy to have that ad though lads, thanks !

-Corkie-

35notout wrote: »

Handy to have that ad though lads, thanks !

Ring that Gary guy and see what he says.

bazz26

Ah right, I missed the VRT bit. Still think it is expensive considering 1.8 petrol A3s are hardly popular down South.

35notout

why arent they popular Bazz??? Problems with them?

35notout

No answer from Gary

-Corkie-

bazz26 wrote: »

Ah right, I missed the VRT bit. Still think it is expensive considering 1.8 petrol A3s are hardly popular down South.

You missed nothing Bazz, look at the ad the op posted and the one you did...

bazz26

35notout wrote: »

why arent they popular Bazz??? Problems with them?

The Irish only like small cars with small engines.

VolvoMan

Have one of these engines in an A4 Cabriolet.

It's like a bag of nails.

Neilw

VolvoMan wrote: »

Have one of these engines in an A4 Cabriolet.

It's like a bag of nails.

Different kettle of fish in an A4, they suffer from sludge build up because of the smaller oil capacity (smaller sump). If the oil is not changed every 6k with good oil sludge will build up clogging the oil pickup and starving the engine of oil...hence the bag of nails.

Transverse mounted 1.8t engines don't really suffer this problem.

augustus gloop

have a quick look up north, they might come in at small money, anyway enjoy!

Brian?

3500 is a bit much alright. It's the same engine as the Golf GTi as far as I know. You'd get the GTi, with the same kit apart from the seats for well under 3 grand.

I did a bit of research before buying my 01 Golf GTi 1.8T and the common problems are all fairly minor: thermostat, diverter valve, O2 sensor etc. . Engine and gearbox are sound though.

They're decent enough when it comes to fun, the Golf is a little heavy though and I think the A3 might be heavier still. It's worth test driving though.

35notout

Update! I picked this up today and I fricking love it!!

Got him down a good bit - but not to 3000. But to be honest, I fell in love with it, so I dont care!

Love the Recaro leather seats - its in mint condition too. Bodywork perfect and even has an electric sunroof !

Thanks for all your input guys - I am a happy motorist tonight

-Corkie-

Well wear. If you like the car and your happy thats all that matters.:)

Alanstrainor

35notout wrote: »

Update! I picked this up today and I fricking love it!!

Got him down a good bit - but not to 3000. But to be honest, I fell in love with it, so I dont care!

Love the Recaro leather seats - its in mint condition too. Bodywork perfect and even has an electric sunroof !

Thanks for all your input guys - I am a happy motorist tonight

Well wear!

Seperate

Now get it remapped and it turns into a completely different car.

I had one (not with that many doors, mind) for a couple of years and loved it. So much so, I went and bought an S3 a few months ago

My A3 was remapped to 175ish, it was night and day with the standard map.

challengemaster

bazz26 wrote: »

The Irish only like small cars with small engines.

I think you mean that generally due to the stupidly high tax bands, people tend to opt for the smaller engined car - basically it's the governments fault.

kobek81

have the same car, only 3doors, is it heavy on juice - depends how heavy is your foot really:)
but really enjoy driving, the chip in this engine is very easy to be remapped and you can get up to 200bhp just by software virus. Before you go ahead with this, make sure there are no leaks in the engine (mine had few pipes in bad condition - had to replace them - the ones from turbo).
hav fun