RS3 - facelift or pre facelift

[Carlton Banks]

Folks
I’m in the market for an RS3.

Do I spend £35k on a pre facelift or spend £42k+ on a facelift.

I am looking for a fully loaded car but is the facelift worth the premium?

Thanks
R

[Carlton Banks]

I guess I don’t have much to compare as I’m coming in new to this.

The virtual cockpit is very nice and having a ‘newer’ vehicle is also appealing as it will have 2 more years of warranty potentially for that premium.

CAP / trade pricing is interesting on the pre and facelift cars with forecourt pricing being further apart and the trade prices much closer together which is odd!

[anonymous-user]

The FL has the upgrades, the PFL has the louder exhaust.

There's an FL for sales at Poole Audi for £39k. Has no options though.

[JS2808]

I test drove the FL RS3 and I really wanted to love it, but the sound just didn't do it for me. I thought it was a bit quiet compared to what I was expecting.

The ones with aftermarket exhausts sound mental though.

[Carlton Banks]

Thanks, I wonder if residuals will be better on FL cars?

[Frimley111R]

Carlton Banks said:

Thanks, I wonder if residuals will be better on FL cars?

Probably about the same but you'll pay more for the FL one in the first place. Generally, the lower the price you buy at, the less you'll loose on any car.

TBH the differences seem relatively significant (lighter engine, virtual dash, etc) now but over time I think these will be forgotten/overlooked. The pre-FL is the one to go for but with man maths.....

[Belle427]

Id go pre facelift and pocket the cash for fuel and maybe a nice map/exhaust.
An S3 must be a contender too, are they that much inferior to the Rs3? (noise aside)

[Nors]

For info, the FL has a bigger Turbo and obtains much better results from a Re-map.

[Carlton Banks]

One year on, I still have my FL RS3, it has been a brilliant car to date.

The residuals appear to have been ok with no massive depreciation, even on PFL cars.

A car bought for £42k with good options this time last year has probably lost a couple of grand judging by main dealer and specialist pricing.

Ash Motors, Apex Performance, Sedgley, Automotive Addiction and AA performance seem to lead the way as specialists selling good cars.

An RS4 is starting to look like something I may trade this in for or a C63 estate.

Let’s see.

[Batleyred]

Ash motors i have just discovered are in the village i live. On the look out for an RS4 and they have a green one but the colors a bit too stand out for me.

[iphonedyou]

Carlton Banks said:

One year on, I still have my FL RS3, it has been a brilliant car to date.

The residuals appear to have been ok with no massive depreciation, even on PFL cars.

A car bought for £42k with good options this time last year has probably lost a couple of grand judging by main dealer and specialist pricing.

Ash Motors, Apex Performance, Sedgley, Automotive Addiction and AA performance seem to lead the way as specialists selling good cars.

An RS4 is starting to look like something I may trade this in for or a C63 estate.

Let’s see.

Your two(?) year old Audi has depreciated under 5% in a year?

Impressive if true!