57 plate Audi A3 purchase, anything to look out for?

Agreed that age is more of a factor than mileage. And with Audi, you're paying for the badge.

2012 Ford Fiesta 60k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201906128945236

2013 SEAT Ibiza 35k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201906279455966

2013 Mazda 2 50k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201906068732982

2012 Vauxhall Corsa 55k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201906289522824

All between £3-3.5k. I limited it to under 70k miles and from 2012. That's just a quick 5 minute search.
 
Those cars are not the same category, all under power.

The Seat granted isn't that far off, 1.4 petrol 84bhp is probably just enough, low mileage also, the dealer is in Bradford ....
 
BUDFORCE said:
Those cars are not the same category, all under power.
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Erm... You realise that an A3 weighs a lot more than an Ibiza or fiesta?

102bhp 1.6/115bhp 1.6 FSI in an A3 will be comparably slower than any of the above small cars
 
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Anything below about 200hp in an A3 s going to be slow. They are heavy.

MG are Chinese now. I dont know much about them but I think they are still using K-series derived engines.
 
The issue with low mileage but older cars is that all of the perishable parts (bushes, belts, brake lines etc) are more than likely going to start to fail, not to mention the fact that the Audi would have more than likely only driven very short journeys, which probably means the engine itself, a lot of the time, may not have warmed up properly before being turned off which is never a good thing.
Have you checked it MOT history, worth a check to see if it has had any advisories etc.
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
 
Nasher said:
Anything below about 200hp in an A3 s going to be slow. They are heavy.

MG are Chinese now. I dont know much about them but I think they are still using K-series derived engines.
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Not eveyone needs a car which does 0-60 in 6 seconds, from that generation of A3 the cars with 150 - 160 HP have respectable performance numbers for an everyday driver.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Not eveyone needs a car which does 0-60 in 6 seconds, from that generation of A3 the cars with 150 - 160 HP have respectable performance numbers for an everyday driver.
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Heck, the 1.6 in the aforementioned Audi will be perfectly fine for keeping up with traffic. Contrary to what Nasher insinuates, it's not a 2.5-tonne barge.

There are other reasons why it's not a great buy, ofc.
 
Nasher said:
Anything below about 200hp in an A3 s going to be slow. They are heavy.
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Disagree - The 197hp 2.0T was "quick" imo - perhaps too much so.

Whilst I would avoid the gutless 1.6/1.6FSI and likely the 2.0FSI, the 160bhp 1.8TFSI would likely be about right imo. The 140bhp/170bhp diesels are also plenty good enough.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Fail to see the fascination with ulta low milage old cars.
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This. Low mileage isn't a reflection of how well the car has been maintained or how it has been driven.

Has he actually driven a similar car? The majority of examples shown here would be a much nicer driver and a newer car.
 
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