Help / advice needed

[craigblade]

Hi , firstly i am not a car person at all , purely going n the looks and name!!

I am looking at this audi a3 but have a few concerns / questions and any help would be appreciated.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

1.is 138,000 too much?
2. Is the price of this favourable?
3.any more information about audi a3;s please?

thanks

[832ark]

Proper nasty chav chariot.

[Codswallop]

1) Mileage is not necessarily high, usual advice is to buy on condition rather than mileage. If it's motorway mileage, than it's nothing extraordinary.
2) Don't know, seems high to me for a diesel shopping car.
3) It's identical underneath to a Skoda Octavia, Golf, Leon etc, all of which are cheaper.

[Classic Grad 98]

The price should be lower for that mileage.
It's been pretty poorly modified.

[craigblade]

Thank you all for your feedback, appreciate it.

[Gruber]

What does "Drives superb for miles." mean?

For a number of reasons I translate it to mean "don't touch this with a stty stick".

[VinceFox]

That right there is the vehicular embodiment of all that's wrong with the roads these days.

[craigblade]

VinceFox said:

That right there is the vehicular embodiment of all that's wrong with the roads these days.

What makes you say that vince?

[VinceFox]

craigblade said:

VinceFox said:

That right there is the vehicular embodiment of all that's wrong with the roads these days.

What makes you say that vince?

I'm trying to get to 7000 before the bath water gets too cold to sit in.

[Codswallop]

Ignore Vince on this occasion. He's just being narrow minded. Essentially, it comes down to the fact that the Audi A3 does not really embody the ethos of driving pleasure in the eyes of many enthusiast drivers, and as such they can be hostile towards it.

For your purposes that you have outlined in your opening post, it sounds like it'll do the job you want.

Nothing fundamentally wrong with the car otherwise.

[Codswallop]

VinceFox said:

I'm trying to get to 7000 before the bath water gets too cold to sit in.

Fair enough

[VinceFox]

[craigblade]

Codswallop said:

Ignore Vince on this occasion. He's just being narrow minded. Essentially, it comes down to the fact that the Audi A3 does not really embody the ethos of driving pleasure in the eyes of many enthusiast drivers, and as such they can be hostile towards it.

For your purposes that you have outlined in your opening post, it sounds like it'll do the job you want.

Nothing fundamentally wrong with the car otherwise.

Thanks codswallop! as i am not a "enthusiast driver" i need not worry about that!

My main concern is buying the car then not long after the engine going after doing so many miles and leaving me with a big bill!

i have a mechanic mate that may have to come with me to have a look at it.

Generally speaking how long does an engine of this sort last?

[Classic Grad 98]

craigblade said:

Thanks codswallop! as i am not a "enthusiast driver" i need not worry about that!

My main concern is buying the car then not long after the engine going after doing so many miles and leaving me with a big bill!

i have a mechanic mate that may have to come with me to have a look at it.

Generally speaking how long does an engine of this sort last?

Generally a properly serviced engine is the least of your worries, they'll do hundreds of thousands of miles no problem. However, at 140k a car is at the point where it'll start failing MOTs with worn suspension components, dodgy brake calipers, dodgy exhausts etc. Factor in the fact it might need a clutch and flywheel, new brake pads and discs, tyres etc and the more expensive but lower mileage car often works out more painless to run.

[craigblade]

Classic Grad 98 said:

Generally a properly serviced engine is the least of your worries, they'll do hundreds of thousands of miles no problem. However, at 140k a car is at the point where it'll start failing MOTs with worn suspension components, dodgy brake calipers, dodgy exhausts etc. Factor in the fact it might need a clutch and flywheel, new brake pads and discs, tyres etc and the more expensive but lower mileage car often works out more painless to run.

Thanks grad , the last thing i want after spending thousands on it is to start spending even more money on it!!

I currently drive a toyota corolla 1.6 and it has been fantastic with no problems, but as i am doing a fair few miles now i was looking at a diesel, which cars could you recommend that are good on juice but look attractive?

[Gruber]

craigblade said:

I currently drive a toyota corolla 1.6 and it has been fantastic with no problems, but as i am doing a fair few miles now i was looking at a diesel, which cars could you recommend that are good on juice but look attractive?

Why not keep the Toyota?

[Classic Grad 98]

Nowt wrong with the A3, just not that one in my opinion.

[craigblade]

Gruber said:

Why not keep the Toyota?

i have often thought of it but keep hearing the old saying "diesels do more miles and are cheaper to run"

What would you recommend?

[Gruber]

craigblade said:

Gruber said:

Why not keep the Toyota?

i have often thought of it but keep hearing the old saying "diesels do more miles and are cheaper to run"

What would you recommend?

Keep the Toyota.

How many miles are you doing? Unless it is more than (say) 25k p.a. I doubt you're going to save any money, once you factor in the cost to change, the inevitable need to fix stuff on the new car that the seller didn't tell you about etc etc.

Selling a known, reliable, modest engined, reasonably fuel efficient petrol car to buy an unknown, aged, leggy diesel is unlikely to see you "quids in".

[VinceFox]

I'd look for a more standard one personally.

Out of interest can anyone tell this chap what the cambelt/waterpump intervals are?