Previous Gen A3 1.8/S/SE
Discussion
I'm new to the site but I've been looking around here for a short while, and I need some advice on the previous generation of A3's so I joined up.
Bit of background, I'm 21 had my license for 2 years, currently at university and I'm looking for a second hand A3 around £4000, preferably from a trade place.
I plan on checking out a few local places this weekend, but I'd like to know if there's anything I should be weary about specifically to these cars, any common problems, things like that. I can only afford a 1.8 S/SE, the 1.8T is unfortunately too expensive to insure, so if anyone has any advice about these models and what it's like to own one (service bills, running cost, fuel economy etc), it'd be greatly appreciated
Bit of background, I'm 21 had my license for 2 years, currently at university and I'm looking for a second hand A3 around £4000, preferably from a trade place.
I plan on checking out a few local places this weekend, but I'd like to know if there's anything I should be weary about specifically to these cars, any common problems, things like that. I can only afford a 1.8 S/SE, the 1.8T is unfortunately too expensive to insure, so if anyone has any advice about these models and what it's like to own one (service bills, running cost, fuel economy etc), it'd be greatly appreciated
Hi, I'm sure a 1.8 will be gutless, you'll be wishing you had the 1.8T - even standard. I've modded my 1.8T to just about as far as it will go, save for a FMIC, and at 26 cost my 550 to insure. Tyr and get a quote from Sky insurance, adrian flux, bell direct, elephant. I'm sure it's not as expensive as you think.
Residuals will be a hell of a lot better too.
Residuals will be a hell of a lot better too.
Cheers for your responses. I did various insurance quotes on 2000 1.8T, even with my dad as first driver (9 yrs NCB) it came to £980, which is almost double what I was getting on an S/SE. I'll see if those other insurance companies come up with anything better, I'd obviously like to get the 1.8T if I could but might not be possible.
What kind of fuel economy do you get on average?
What kind of fuel economy do you get on average?
I have a 2001 1.8T and I return about 33mpg on average, depends how you drive it to be fair.
As for insurance Im 26 and it costs me £440 per annum fully comp. I went on Confused.co.uk or whatever it is and got it down from about £800, well worth a look.
I drove a 1.8SE and was shocked at what a dog it was, jumped in a 1.8T and never looked back. If you have 4k to spend you'll be looking at one with fairly high miles on, make sure its got all its service history.
T
As for insurance Im 26 and it costs me £440 per annum fully comp. I went on Confused.co.uk or whatever it is and got it down from about £800, well worth a look.
I drove a 1.8SE and was shocked at what a dog it was, jumped in a 1.8T and never looked back. If you have 4k to spend you'll be looking at one with fairly high miles on, make sure its got all its service history.
T
Cheers for the input.
I've started looking at 1.8Ts, went to see a few, £4000 W Reg 77,000 miles on the clock, Silver with some black rims which look quite nice. Includes long MOT and Tax, 6 month warranty as well, salesman says there is complete service history but we were unable to take a look at it, so if that's all ok then I may well have what I want.
Insurance is working out at about £950 with me just as a named driver, which is the best quote I've found (used both confused.com and moneysupermarket.com) so it's cool.
One last question: I've noticed that the cambelts need to be changed around 60,000 miles, how much does this cost on average?
I've started looking at 1.8Ts, went to see a few, £4000 W Reg 77,000 miles on the clock, Silver with some black rims which look quite nice. Includes long MOT and Tax, 6 month warranty as well, salesman says there is complete service history but we were unable to take a look at it, so if that's all ok then I may well have what I want.
Insurance is working out at about £950 with me just as a named driver, which is the best quote I've found (used both confused.com and moneysupermarket.com) so it's cool.
One last question: I've noticed that the cambelts need to be changed around 60,000 miles, how much does this cost on average?
Don't take it to a dealer, whatever you do!! They will want at least £400 to do it, plus if you have a service on top, a couple of new tyres, and you're looking at nearly a grand!! lol
I did my cambelt myself, in april last year. I had only done an oil change before that, so it's not beyond you, you've just gotta be handy with a spanner! I changed the plastic water pump for a metal one (ABSOLUTELY neccessary). I did some other jobs while the coolant was out, new 'stat, flush engine and rad, and Audi wanted £700 to do that! All in I saved about £670!
OK, it did take a little longer that the dealer would have had it done in, but a) I saved a lot of money, b) I know that it was done properly, all stretch bolts replaced (some cases where they haven't and engines have fallen out where they've snapped!) and c) it gives me the confidence to take on other stuff. I've since changed front and rear brakes, changed the turbo, and will be doing starter motor soon!
I did my cambelt myself, in april last year. I had only done an oil change before that, so it's not beyond you, you've just gotta be handy with a spanner! I changed the plastic water pump for a metal one (ABSOLUTELY neccessary). I did some other jobs while the coolant was out, new 'stat, flush engine and rad, and Audi wanted £700 to do that! All in I saved about £670!
OK, it did take a little longer that the dealer would have had it done in, but a) I saved a lot of money, b) I know that it was done properly, all stretch bolts replaced (some cases where they haven't and engines have fallen out where they've snapped!) and c) it gives me the confidence to take on other stuff. I've since changed front and rear brakes, changed the turbo, and will be doing starter motor soon!
Damn, I can't say I've ever done much except change some tires but I don't have much of a car history...never too late to learn though!
I'm hoping this silver 1.8T has already had that changed (its done 77k miles, I'd prefer to do some smaller scale work before moving onto stuff like the cambelt. Stupid question...but how confident did you feel that you were fitting the parts correctly onto your car? I've never done any work on a car before (never had to) so I'd need to make sure I was doing it correctly.
I'm hoping this silver 1.8T has already had that changed (its done 77k miles, I'd prefer to do some smaller scale work before moving onto stuff like the cambelt. Stupid question...but how confident did you feel that you were fitting the parts correctly onto your car? I've never done any work on a car before (never had to) so I'd need to make sure I was doing it correctly.
Diablo SVTT said:
Damn, I can't say I've ever done much except change some tires but I don't have much of a car history...never too late to learn though!
I had only changed the oil before doing mine! The way it happened was, it needed doing. At the time, I didn't have the money to get it done, and didn't want to leave it any longer. So I looked at the Haynes manual, and asked on forums, and decided to do it.Diablo SVTT said:
Stupid question...but how confident did you feel that you were fitting the parts correctly onto your car? I've never done any work on a car before (never had to) so I'd need to make sure I was doing it correctly.
As long as your methodical, i.e. you lay the parts out in the order you took them off, then I substituted the bits i was replacing with new ones, and then go back to putting back together. You need a decent tool kit, big spanners, a GOOD socket set, torque wrenches big and small, and some more I can't remember.Just remember if you follow the instructions, you shouldn't go wrong.
And the feeling you get when you start it up when it's all back together is worth the grazed knuckles, aching muscles, cuts and bruises!!
now I have to keep on looking!So, on Friday my dad and I went to have a look at a 2000 1.8T at a Trade place near Didcot. Car looked in good order, so we took it for a spin, and once we'd had a look at the service history to check it was a-ok, we took it there and then!
Got a few pics here
Before I washed it, a few days ago: (Camera phone)
After washing: (Camera phone and some shitty Sony camera)
It's not a quattro, just a badge some previous owner decided to add to the car, looks ok though.
It's completely stock, I don't have any plans to do anything, I don't know how long I'm gonna keep it, but I might remap the ECU (end up around 190bhp). It's got 100,000 miles on the clock and I've already hit 210miles since Friday, and the sole niggle I have is that the passenger side window is slightly loose so you can hear the air gushing in when driving above 50mph, it's hardly noticeable most times. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier with my purchase
So thanks again for all your help, it came in nice and handy.
PS, I have already dispatched with some punk in a 1.6 FSI Golf, a MkIV GTI and some ricer Escort driver
Got a few pics here
Before I washed it, a few days ago: (Camera phone)
After washing: (Camera phone and some shitty Sony camera)
It's not a quattro, just a badge some previous owner decided to add to the car, looks ok though.
It's completely stock, I don't have any plans to do anything, I don't know how long I'm gonna keep it, but I might remap the ECU (end up around 190bhp). It's got 100,000 miles on the clock and I've already hit 210miles since Friday, and the sole niggle I have is that the passenger side window is slightly loose so you can hear the air gushing in when driving above 50mph, it's hardly noticeable most times. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier with my purchase
So thanks again for all your help, it came in nice and handy.
PS, I have already dispatched with some punk in a 1.6 FSI Golf, a MkIV GTI and some ricer Escort driver
Ah well the window rattle is usually a quick fix!
Dismantle the door, and unbolt the winwod frame from the sliders.
You will see a green plastic clip at the front and rear of the glass going through two holes in the glass.
You need one or maybe two of these to do the job. Your local Audi dealer probably has them on the shelf. (dismantle to ensure this is the part you need before you buy them!)
It's a cheap part.
Replace those, glass held in place securely, re-assemble, and robert is your mother's brother.
Dismantle the door, and unbolt the winwod frame from the sliders.
You will see a green plastic clip at the front and rear of the glass going through two holes in the glass.
You need one or maybe two of these to do the job. Your local Audi dealer probably has them on the shelf. (dismantle to ensure this is the part you need before you buy them!)
It's a cheap part.
Replace those, glass held in place securely, re-assemble, and robert is your mother's brother.
Cheers drybeer, I'll get round to that eventually.
I've not had any problems with my car as of yet (touchwood) but through curiosity I've been trying to find out exactly when the cambelt was changed on my car (I know when it should have been done). It's got 103K on the clock so it really should have been done already. The car was serviced at West London Audi till 55k miles but they said it hadn't been done with them. I've phoned Audi customer services, but they tell me they aren't able to tell me what work is done to the car. So I phoned West London Audi back again and they said I have to phone Audi UK (is this customer services?)
The service booklet doesn't explicitly include any details of this work being done, but is there any way I could look at my car to see if/when the work's been done, or how else I could find out when it was changed?
Thank you in advance, you guys are a lot of help.
I've not had any problems with my car as of yet (touchwood) but through curiosity I've been trying to find out exactly when the cambelt was changed on my car (I know when it should have been done). It's got 103K on the clock so it really should have been done already. The car was serviced at West London Audi till 55k miles but they said it hadn't been done with them. I've phoned Audi customer services, but they tell me they aren't able to tell me what work is done to the car. So I phoned West London Audi back again and they said I have to phone Audi UK (is this customer services?)
The service booklet doesn't explicitly include any details of this work being done, but is there any way I could look at my car to see if/when the work's been done, or how else I could find out when it was changed?
Thank you in advance, you guys are a lot of help.
Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing.
First, I would unclip the timing belt cover, and check the general condition of the belt. Any signs of fraying or undue strain then I would look at getting it done as soon as possible. A reworked head and new valves/pistons etc are NOT going to be cheap (should it break while you are looking around).
If you have any of the contact details of previous owners, I would contact them and ask them if they had the work done.
Best of luck with it.
Andy
First, I would unclip the timing belt cover, and check the general condition of the belt. Any signs of fraying or undue strain then I would look at getting it done as soon as possible. A reworked head and new valves/pistons etc are NOT going to be cheap (should it break while you are looking around).
If you have any of the contact details of previous owners, I would contact them and ask them if they had the work done.
Best of luck with it.
Andy
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff