I'm going to buy and Audi A3 but want advice

[jettica]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie here and in all honesty, as much as I love cars, I don't know a great deal about them. I currently have an Fiat Grande Punto, love the car but I bought it new and the finance payments are killing me. So, I got in touch with a local dealer to see if I could get an older car and reduce the payments.

I've worked it all out and I can look to spend about £5000 on a car and save myself some money on what I'm paying at the moment. I've told the guy I want an A3 and he said he can do that, I believe I'm right in thinking that for that money I'm looking at a 2002/2003 car.

I just want to know what to look out for, what different models of A3 there are and insurance advice. I did a quick quote on a 1.6 petrol and it came out as £450, any idea what it would be if I went for a 2.0l? Or the 1.9 diesel?

I'm a girl by the way so pictures are appreciated

Cheers Folks
x

[FoolOnTheHill]

Likely be a 1.9, and if you went for the Golf which is basically the same car it'd only cost you 3k.

Or 5k would get you a later Mk 5 Golf.

[jettica]

See I thought about the golf but I'm just not a keen, no idea why. Urgh this is difficult, do they drive the same?

I guess I could get a newer, better spec golf for the 5k.

Maybe I should just buy an old 1988 Audi Quattro and have my dream car. *shrug*

Thanks.
x

[FoolOnTheHill]

jettica said:

Maybe I should just buy an old 1988 Audi Quattro and have my dream car. *shrug*

Thanks.
x

That was the correct answer.

Besides, if the Golf's anything like my Bora, it will be catastrophically dull. Unless you have it remapped. Then it will still be catastrophically dull, but quicker.

You might want to stick a What Car post on General Gassing.

Edited by FoolOnTheHill on Thursday 21st May 15:56

[jettica]

See my issue with the golf is that 1) it doesn't look as nice as the A3.
And 2) there's just something about owning an Audi that's much cooler than owning a VW. I'm so shallow.

As for the Quattro, if I could find a decent one for 5k I'd go for it but I doubt they have one down at my local dealership. Although I found one on auto trader for £900, I wonder what was wrong with it. Actually the best one I've seen was on here, orange, racing stripes all refurbed and it was £17k, I seriously considered it, just for a tiny moment.

[Targarama]

Jettica - surely the most important thing is the colour? (well it seems to be for many ladies!).

Do you really need a diesel? It costs more and your hands will stink after refuelling. Unless you do mega miles probably not. A 1.6 petrol will be an nippy as your Punto.

Best thing to do is take a look at Autotrader.co.uk, select the car type, specify a mileage limitation from your postcode and go and view a few of the results you like.

[jettica]

My punto isn't hugely nippy, which is part of the reason for wanting a newer car. It's only a 1.2. I'm only looking at diesel because I'm not an economic driver, my 46mpg car gives me 39mpg. I need to learn to drive, I know. My bloke has a 1.7 diesel Astra and gets 60mpg, I want some of that!

To be honest though having a petrol car would satisfy my shallow side.

As for colour dark green or purple would be nice. I really wanted an orange punto but found that when buying used I wasn't allowed to be that fussy (despite telling the garage that I would pay the extra to have it resprayed.)

[VAG1]

You could just about squeeze in a MK5 Golf into your budget, maybe a few hundred quid more but it'll be worth it, get a 1.4 FSI, slow overall but reasonably quick to 30, can manage 120mph (where the law permits), good economy of 45mpg. Sounds throaty past 5000 revs, brilliant inside with good safety features, and yes I do own one. haha

[sinizter]

My wife test drove a golf and an Audi A3 one after the other - with me as a passenger - and bought the Audi.

Couldn't bear to get the Golf after the Audi.

Maybe it was a bad example or particular years - whatever .... But no more Golfs for us. A3 any day.

[VAG1]

I do understand what your saying about the golf and the A3. The current ones, the A3 interior is much much better. But you pay for whatyou get. This is the between the current models though and the current A3 is not available under 6k really (my brothers trying).

[geordieelvis]

What about a Seat Leon, You will get a decent spec for that price and they look fab? I think with your budget you aint gonna get a great A3?

[jettica]

I much prefer the newer A3s but I understand that my budget probably won't allow me one. I think it's best I just test drive a few cars and see how I feel. I'm not a big fan of Golfs but I do like Seat Leons.

[geordieelvis]

I agree about the Golf idea, I dont rate them at all. Why not do what Im doing and buy a 2001/2002 Audi TT???????

[jettica]

I'd never get insured on one.

I would like one though.
I'm 20 with 0 years no claims and a crash last year I'm looking at £1500+ for insurance. A 1.6 A3 would be just £450. More my price range.

[monthefish]

Have a good look through the PH Classifieds and see what's around for your budget.

This one (second generation) for £5,200 looked nice (but now sold)

[jettica]

Yeah, just the thing I'm looking for, I might benefit on insurance savings by getting a smaller engine but the bigger engines always appeal more. Hehe.

[Diablo SVTT]

Why don't you try a 1.8T on the old model, the engines got enough power (150hp) but also good enough economy, you can quite easily get 40mpg+ on a run. You may have problem with insurance but I doubt it'll cost anything near the £1450 TT quote you had.

You could get a decent example for £3000, granted they may be slightly high mileage but buy on condition. I bought mine with 102,000 on the clock and it hasn't put a foot wrong. I quite like the interior and I don't even have the leather recaros. If you want to look at any model A3s, take a look at www.audi-sport.net, there's a great wealth of information available no matter what Audi you want to buy actually.

[Mustard]

1.6 A3 goes ok, no rocket ship but GF is very happy with the one I bought 12mths ago (02 52 Reg 5dr SE with 50k miles and Audi FSH in Merlin Purple) which we paid just over £5k retail for from an independent dealer, so your budget ought to buy one of the very last 8L (old shape) 1.6 SE or Sport A3's and a very good one at that.

The premium diesels go for just didn't seem worth paying (though I think they drive nicer)