Audi A3 1.9tdi e (sportback)

Soldato
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Hey all I've found myself in the situation where I need to buy a new car.

Being a single income househokd with 1 vehicle shared the budget is always tight and I want to make the smartest purchase possible.

We are a family of 4, 2 kids under 4.

Currently we have a 57 plate seat altea which the misses has never been overly happy with. So it's time to go!

We have a friend of a friend selling a car which he states had been really well looked after.

It's an 09 plate A3 tdi-e ( I think it's a sportback but not 100 percent sure). It has 79k on the clock.

Checking the DVLA site shows its passed all recent Mots and has only done an average 5k a year tops for the last 4 years or so.

He wants 3.5k from us (due to being friends of a friend) which checking online with my little knowledge actually seems a very ressreason price...

So i giess what I'm asking is there anything I should be wary of on this model of car?

Is the price reasonable?

Is there a better alternative I should consiser or look at etc. etc.

Thanks for any advice in advance
 
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This therefore isn't likely to be a 10 year old Audi.

I can't see the point in changing a similar generation Seat Altea for one. They are very closely related cars!

Yes, I see what your saying. We have actually been happy with the performance and economy of ours - but ours has been a bad egg in terms of unlucky issues..

Things like £30 road tax a year are quite appealing as well as a bit more of a comfortable drive, as this seat basically feels like a van are two things that are swaying me that way
 
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Man of Honour
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I can't see an old A3 and an Altea being that different - they are both the same generation of VW Group car on the same platform with the same engines. There will be no material difference in comfort, for example, especially as the 1.9 TDI version of that model A3 was the bottom of the range model.
 
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I'm not talking performance of the engine really, more so everything else. As I am aware they are basically the same lump from the same year in terms of mechanicals of the engine etc.

I also appreciate what you are saying in terms of it being the same kind of car for most parts, and taking the time to give me some feedback.

Can you not see there being any difference on comfort to drive, handling etc? Out of interest have you owned one of these Fox? Do you know how they are to drive and handle etc.?

Maybe ill take one (local) for a test drive as a dealer near me has one for sale (at around 4.5k similar miles same year) That way I guess I can have first hand experience.

Is there anyone on here that has owned on of these though who might be able to give me an honest account of their experiences in ownership? It would be appreciated. Be curious to see if anyone with ownership experience would report the same kinds of issues i have had with our Altea, as if so that might make things a bit easier to decide.
 
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Having owned an 07 plate A3 - I wouldn't be buying it purely on reliability/build quality - mine was 4 years old when I bought it and had plenty of little issues. I wouldn't entertain a near 10 year old one!

Hey Armageus,

What kind of issues did you have? Just out of interest if you dont mind sharing.

Also how did you find the actual drive, economy and handling etc?

I think despite what car i buy at my budget there is always a risk there, so I will have to ensure i do all I can (like anyone would) to check over what I can, check service history and repair bills and look for the normal, but anything beyond that is a risk on any car.

If you wouldn't entertain one at that price and mileage, what would you entertain? I am merely after opinions and first hand experiences to make the best informed decision i can.
 
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I've got the A3 1.6 tdi, I don't think they made the 1.9 for my cars era so this one must be the older model - indicators on the side panels as opposed to the wing mirrors.

I've had mine just under 3 years and clocked up 50k miles so far. Work I've had done:
-EGR valve replacement
-Wheel bearing kit
-brake pads + tyres
-regular servicing

All in, its not been too bad, and she's very fuel efficient, Fuelios logged ~63mpg for 35k miles (95% motorway).

What's your driving profile? If this is just to do a school run and to get a weekly full shop in, then this isn't the car for you - infact no diesel is really. Short distances won't give the dpf chance to regen and will eventually clog up leading you to big bills. If you're doing 12k a year with a good portion of A roads/motorways then that's ideal. I'd just be weary of the repair bills a ~10 year old Audi might throw up, and being at the premium end of VW, repairs can be expensive.
 
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Thjanks Sempie!

Our driving profile is mixed bag really: Roughly 8-10k miles a year mainly made up of work drives 3 days a week (which is 30+ mile round trips) and weekend longer trips out as a family. With the yearly jaunt down to cornwall etc.
 
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Oh one thing to double check is that it's not got an EA189 engine, these were the ones involved in the emissions scandal and thousands of users who put their cars in for the fix have had nothing but problems. If it's not had the fix, then no problems.
 
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how would i go about checking that?

Ok never mind, checked the NP on the Audi site:

Dear Sir/Madam,
We are pleased to confirm that your vehicle is not affected by the EA 189 NOx emissions issue.

Thanks for the heads up though
 
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Things like £30 road tax a year are quite appealing

Let's say you save ~£100 a year on VED. You sell your Altea for ~£1000-1500(?). It then takes you 20-25 years to break even, by which point the car will probably be useless anyway.
I know the new car isn't just about saving on tax, it will bring other benefits, but that's not a strong enough driver.
 
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Not really sure to be honest. Second hand market on the Altea's is a bit worse than I had hoped. Probably between 1k-1.5k (at a big push)

The main reason for getting rid of the Altea is that its becoming a huge money pit for us. We must have got a "tea break" car from the production line, As literally all the stuff you could imagine (not engine related) has gone wrong for us, which we have repaired, but who knows whats next - our confidence in the car is just knocked.

I understand an Audi A3 is a side grade, but then I'm sure the same could be said for anything in that budget? Its more my partners and I's confidence in the car being the catalyst for a change.

I'm also not expecting any car in this price range to be a "safe" bet. I am merely after peoples opinions on ownership and one for that price point. Would 3.5k be better spent on something else? if so what?

I guess if i approached the topic in a different way (taking out of the picture the current Altea) I would be asking what car for 3.5k? or is the Audi A3 I can get my hands on worth that cost?
 
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The main reason for getting rid of the Altea is that its becoming a huge money pit for us. We must have got a "tea break" car from the production line, As literally all the stuff you could imagine (not engine related) has gone wrong for us, which we have repaired, but who knows whats next - our confidence in the car is just knocked.

This is the key part for me. If you've already spent the money and had a large number of issues repaired those things are unlikely to break again. If you sell your fully repaired card, for anything 10 years old there is a very real possibility that it will start throwing bills at you as well. At this kind of budget I'm off the opinion that the the chepeast car is probably the one you already own. Paticuarely as you aren't changing to do something like go up in size, or newer in age.

If you absoutely do want to change I would suggest going for something known to be exceptionally reliable such as a manual petrol Civic. You aren't going to get the same kind of economy as you would from your current diesel, but if you are only doing 8000 miles a year in your current diesel this could likely be where some of your problems are occuring from. Something like this would be a nice example;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201808149474385
 
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Thanks for the reply BinnsY

Yes, your right, lots of the niggles we have had and repaired are unlikely to happen again - totally logical. And lots of things: Failed window regulators, Central locking/door lock issues, Climate control (blower) issues etc. etc.) All kinds of things ive never really had with any other car I have owned ( 00 plate Audi S3, 53 plate Octavia VRS - being the more recent ones).

There is also one main issue that has happened recently that leaves us with no confidence in the car. Which is the main reason for the current "looking" for a replacement.

To cut a long story short, the instrument cluster completely failed on us and as a result the IMO was kicking in resulting in a total breakdown (misses stranded with the 2 kids on her own etc.)

The car was recovered and the cluster was diagnosed as faulty after many hours of checks over all other components.

This was sent away for specialist investigation and repair. the specialist deemed the clocks irreparable. I purchased replacement clocks with the hope that my garage could refit these (and code IMO and mileage etc.) and during the process of trying (which failed) plugging the original clocks back in everything was working again....

This now leaves us with an "undiagnosed" problem which (with my nature, as well as my partners) gives me absolutely no trust in this vehicle lasting much longer before the next large repair bill.
 
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To cut a long story short, the instrument cluster completely failed on us and as a result the IMO was kicking in resulting in a total breakdown (misses stranded with the 2 kids on her own etc.)

The car was recovered and the cluster was diagnosed as faulty after many hours of checks over all other components.

This was sent away for specialist investigation and repair. the specialist deemed the clocks irreparable. I purchased replacement clocks with the hope that my garage could refit these (and code IMO and mileage etc.) and during the process of trying (which failed) plugging the original clocks back in everything was working again....

This now leaves us with an "undiagnosed" problem which (with my nature, as well as my partners) gives me absolutely no trust in this vehicle lasting much longer before the next large repair bill.

This bit is fair enough and having recently had my first child I can appreciate your point of view!

In that case though I still echo what everyone else has said that a 10 year old premium diesel is the wrong way to go. Diesel engines from that era are simply more complex and the very nature of them once having been a premium option means that parts / repairs still carry those premium prices. If you are going to change to something liess than £4000 and 10ish years old you want it to be as simple and reliable as possible. This in my mind means Japanese, petrol, manual, and with no turbos / superchargers to add complexity to the engine. From that line up i'm of the opinion that the Civic is probably the best car from that era (it's certainly still the most fresh looking) but things like the Auris are probably a good shout as well, they are just much more mundane.
 
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Anecdotal I know, but I wasn't happy with the reliability (or lack thereof) of my 55 plate A3 2.0 TDI. Bought at 95k miles, excellent service history. I treated her well, long enough journeys to keep a diesel happy, good maintenance etc - 10k miles later, limp mode kept activating, suggesting a clogged turbo. Then on a long trip to cambridge, I think the clutch release bearing conked out, snapping the clutch up, shearing teeth off 5th gear and damaging the clutch enough that it'd slip in 1st and reverse. Very surprised I made it another 150 miles after that with only four gears, no power and a gearbox that sounded like it'd be happier strapped to a Boeing :D

Not to scare you off, it was a brill little car while it worked, just that despite impeccable servicing, she still decided to engage rapid unscheduled disassembly after 100k. It's put me off older Audi's at least.
 
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