What have I done?
Discussion
On Saturday I part exchanged my wonderful 330i Sport for an Audi A3 Sportback 2.0T Quattro. There were practical, sensible reasons for the exchange which remain true and at least I can no longer be tarred with the BMW driver brush, but after a weekend with the new car I have never regretted an automotive consumer decision more accutely...
Maybe it will be a slow-burning love affair...
Maybe it will be a slow-burning love affair...
Where to start...
The ride is atrocious (around town it shudders and bounces and on the motorway it settles into this weird nodding motion), the steering is too light, the interior materials aren't a patch on those in the 3, there isn't a light in the boot (petty I know, but when you are already irritated...)..
The funny thing is, I actually took it for the longest test drive I have ever taken and thought it was great fun, pokey, direct, agile...
On the plus side, it is as quick (in the real world) as the BMW although its power is obviously delivered in a very different way and it has so far proved itself to be more practical and versatile than the BMW (which was the principle reason for the change.
The ride is atrocious (around town it shudders and bounces and on the motorway it settles into this weird nodding motion), the steering is too light, the interior materials aren't a patch on those in the 3, there isn't a light in the boot (petty I know, but when you are already irritated...)..
The funny thing is, I actually took it for the longest test drive I have ever taken and thought it was great fun, pokey, direct, agile...
On the plus side, it is as quick (in the real world) as the BMW although its power is obviously delivered in a very different way and it has so far proved itself to be more practical and versatile than the BMW (which was the principle reason for the change.
Also, while I'm at it..if you actually open the open-sky system (looks good, creates nice interior ambience) at anything above 5mph it feels like you are driving a tumble dryer and it has no (or at least I have found no) one touch close...
The Bose stereo is fantastic though, and the dials look nice at night (clutching at straws..)
The Bose stereo is fantastic though, and the dials look nice at night (clutching at straws..)
I will say it wasn't quite that much, but one of my other bugbears with it is that it just doesn't feel like good value..
Interestingly, for about 1.5k more I could have bought an approved 1 year old A6 3.0tdi, which would have been good value. But one of the reasons I bought the A3 was to downsize to make parking in our London street a bit easier...
Interestingly, for about 1.5k more I could have bought an approved 1 year old A6 3.0tdi, which would have been good value. But one of the reasons I bought the A3 was to downsize to make parking in our London street a bit easier...
B17NNS said:
If you find the looks agreeable (and in the right colour, right spec and with the right wheels I do) why not check out a 130i M Sport?
3 litre six, 265bhp, RWD and A3 sized
Or wait a year for the 1-series based notchback Coupe - see Autocar. Much nicer than the hatch IMHO
I felt like that wjhen I traded in my 1999 Volvo V70 for a 02 Mondeo Zetec Estate. Felt goo on the test drive but after owning ot for a few days it just didn't feel as good as the Volvo. It handles and drives better and is cheaper to run but its just not the same.
Can you take it back and get your money back?
Don't they have a 30 day cooling off period.
Maybe they haven't got rid of your beemer yet?
Can you take it back and get your money back?
Don't they have a 30 day cooling off period.
Maybe they haven't got rid of your beemer yet?
I would have loved a 130i, but the rear space just isn't up to my needs.
They do have the 30 day thing for approved used cars (mine is an ex demo), so there is that get out route...I am going to give it a couple of weeks, to see if love blossoms but otherwise I will see if there is anything on the forecourt that I would rather have (you can only exchange it for something from your dealer's stock of equal or greater value).
The thing is it does do the things that I bought it for, it is practical, smart without being (too) ostentatious, plenty fast enough for a family wagon, compact yet internally spacious and the roof is really cool (as long as you don't open it!!)..
Maybe as someone mentioned, it is unfair to compare it to something from a class above (albeit a few years old).
Tonker, coming back to your comment a friend suggested that I look at the comparable price of a 5 door Golf GTi-and once the Golf is spec'd to a similar level-leather etc, etc, it is actually only a couple of hundred quid cheaper than the price I paid provided that I wilfully ignore the possibility of a discount on the GTi (which I understand is fairly negligible anyway) and that does make me feel a bit better about it..
>> Edited by Tombola on Monday 5th December 15:50
They do have the 30 day thing for approved used cars (mine is an ex demo), so there is that get out route...I am going to give it a couple of weeks, to see if love blossoms but otherwise I will see if there is anything on the forecourt that I would rather have (you can only exchange it for something from your dealer's stock of equal or greater value).
The thing is it does do the things that I bought it for, it is practical, smart without being (too) ostentatious, plenty fast enough for a family wagon, compact yet internally spacious and the roof is really cool (as long as you don't open it!!)..
Maybe as someone mentioned, it is unfair to compare it to something from a class above (albeit a few years old).
Tonker, coming back to your comment a friend suggested that I look at the comparable price of a 5 door Golf GTi-and once the Golf is spec'd to a similar level-leather etc, etc, it is actually only a couple of hundred quid cheaper than the price I paid provided that I wilfully ignore the possibility of a discount on the GTi (which I understand is fairly negligible anyway) and that does make me feel a bit better about it..
>> Edited by Tombola on Monday 5th December 15:50
Tombola said:
On Saturday I part exchanged my wonderful 330i Sport for an Skoda Octavia in a posh frock ...Maybe it will be slow...
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Sorry to hear of your woes, but unfortunately you had a demo. If you hadn't taken a test drive then you could have rejected the car as unsuitable for purpose, but you tried & approved it...
Chris
Posh Octavia-I guess I'm going to have to get used to that! You are of course spot on-that was one of my concerns before I bought it, but decided that if all those GTi/Leon Cupra R/TT drivers could live with it, so could I.
The thing that really baffles me is that I must have read a hundred articles about bad ride quality on Audi's over the past few years and was keeping an eye out for it on the test drive, and decided that it was no worse than the BMW's (which was a Sport on large wheels). The test drive was long and took in a wide range of roads-but maybe the dealer had found some miraculous route of recently resurfaced roads!
Anyway, live and learn. As the day has worn on I am feeling a bit more phlegmatic about it all. I saved a few thousand vs buying it new, or by buying a 130 (or even a new R32). With a bit of luck I will learn to enjoy its strengths over the next couple of weeks and try to ignore its weaknesses...
The thing that really baffles me is that I must have read a hundred articles about bad ride quality on Audi's over the past few years and was keeping an eye out for it on the test drive, and decided that it was no worse than the BMW's (which was a Sport on large wheels). The test drive was long and took in a wide range of roads-but maybe the dealer had found some miraculous route of recently resurfaced roads!
Anyway, live and learn. As the day has worn on I am feeling a bit more phlegmatic about it all. I saved a few thousand vs buying it new, or by buying a 130 (or even a new R32). With a bit of luck I will learn to enjoy its strengths over the next couple of weeks and try to ignore its weaknesses...
ADDYBOY1982 said:
[quote=B17NNS]If you find the looks agreeable (and in the right colour, right spec and with the right wheels I do) why not check out a 130i M Sport?
3 litre six, 265bhp, RWD and A3 sized
So if you fold it in half, is it A4 sized?
Ah, THAT's what they mean by Audi Quarto...
(Sorry.)
BTW, you sound surprised at fussy suspension and crap steering - you did know you were getting an Audi, right?
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