Viewing S3 and GTI tomorrow, advice?

[jak kez 187]

Sold my BMW E92 320d M sport Coupe in the week so I'm going to look at some cars this weekend.

Particularly been looking at a 2015 Audi S3 sportback with 40k on the clock and a 2016 Golf GTI with 25k on the clock, roughly the same price and both automatic.

This will be only the 3rd car i've owned and the 2nd car i've purchased so i'm not too experienced with car shopping.

Is there anything in particular I need to look out for, such as are they due major services etc given the age?

I think I definitely prefer the looks of the S3 but I'm slightly concerned about the higher mileage as both my previous cars we're around 20k miles when I purchased. I only do about 4 thousand miles a year so not excessive motoring at all.

Sorry for the basic questions but thought i'd use the plethora of knowledge from you guys!

[Dr G]

S3 at 40 needs gearbox oil and spark plugs; at 3 years old they have Haldex (rear diff) oil changed too. First brake fluid change is also 3 years.

Water pump (or the electronics relating to it) on this engine can go duff but I haven't personally seen one as late as 2015 fail. Haldex pump (provides hydraulic pressure) on rear differential can also feel, easy to tell because you'll have no four wheel drive. Very easy to test as if it's broken you'll have a nice combination of wheel spin, torque steer, and a very enthusiastic ESP light.

Tough cars overall.

[anonymous-user]

Once you look at the S3 or Golf R, the GTI looks very much the little brother (and I love Golf GTI’s).

As said about, gearbox oil change at 38k on VW DSG and Audi S-Tronic.

I reckon you’ll lose less money on the GTI though. Don’t seem to see too many compared to the S3 or R.

[the-photographer]

Near the top of this forum you will see a post about metallic rattling from the some S3 cars;

Can you hear this on the demo? Does it annoy you? There is no fix at the moment.

Overall, both are good cars. The GTI can nearly be made to stick like the AWD S3 if you get a PP version with its hydraulic differential (see vids on Youtube)