Tell me everything about 2000-2002 Audi S3's

Gaygle

Gaygle

Gaygle

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hi,

right, my sister is looking for an S3 and has about 9k to spend on one and we're looking for ones about 60k miles. How long do these cars last before becoming expensive to fix?. Basically she's looking for the 1.8t 210bhp version (for tax reasons among others) and we need to know everything about S3's before we go to look at any.

What are the MPG, servicing costs, parts and reliability like? Any common problems that can be expensive?

cheers
 
Not too sure on how expensive things can get yet, I've only had mine since February. Half the reason I bought it was due to the reliability factor though! I did have it serviced and the only item that wasn't a service item was a new brake light switch at £7! You really want to be looking at the facelift version (2001 onwards). Think of it as a more rounded package. Slight changes all over that contribute to making the car feel better.

On a serious note (before everyone else says the same thing). 9k on a car and you're worried about another £100 a year on tax? You need to rethink your expenditure. These cars are not your average Ford Focus. They aren't cheap to run! I have averaged about 27mpg since purchase but I have given it a good thrashing on occasion! Add that to the servicing and the cost of anything that goes wrong, tax should be the least of you worries... Really...

That said though, it is a lovely car. I've still not gotten over the honeymoon period with mine! (also the 210bhp). It's a good choice in my eyes!

Look out for ones with Bose sound system and heated seats, they command a slight premium but offer "better" depreciation. I've managed to luck out and get one with a sunroof too which is nice!
 
Thanks for the replies.

And just so you know it isn't just because of the tax reasons, it's also because the 2002 cars (which may just about be in budget) offer no signifcant advantage, so she'd be paying £100 a year more for no reason whatsoever.

She knows how much these cars cost because i have been telling her ever since she said she liked them. I keep telling her that they were the flagship A3 a few years ago, and as such will be very expensive to run, but she has a good job and can afford the running costs. I've also suggested she put £1k into a bank account to just be for the car in the event something expensive goes wrong.
 
the 2002 models DO offer an advantage. An extra 15bhp from Aug 2001 onwards.

ninja edit: They are however a higher insurance group! If you want a facelift model, you WILL pay the higher tax. The facelift model does offer lots of advantages. They're just small and add up to making for a nicer package as I said.
 
She is looking at an Y/51 model. I wouldn't call 15bhp a significant advantage if it costs £120 more a year (and possibly liable to increase) as well as higher insurance costs.And especially when she drove a Golf GTI/A3 2.0TFSI today with 200bhp and thought they were mental quick and definately didn't want anything quicker.

Also, the 210bhp models (which are facelifted) have a rating of 223g/km which puts them in the £310 bracket instead of the £430 bracket for the 225bhp models, which have a rating of 226g/km.
 
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Does she particularly want a fast car with the running costs associated? I'd have thought that for a woman with a flash job a new shape A3 TDI would be a better car and offer her a more enjoyable ownership experience.

Instead of paying lots of running costs and having an older car in return for performance she isn't bothered about, she could pay less running costs and have a current shape model with all the benefits that would give her.

If she's dead set on an older Audi with the 1.8T I'd go so far as to recommend a TT over the S3. It's a better car in every way IMHO.
 
Well she wants a quick ish car (ie. circa 0-60 7 secs) but she also wants something that looks a bit special. She understands the running costs now (i hope!). She doesn't want something which looks bland like most A3's do apart from the S-lines/S3's.

Anyone know what kind of age the turbos or clutch pack up on these engines? Because if the clutch goes i've told her to expect to pay around 1k for it.
 
there's some sort of deal where the lower bhp s3's get a free remap from audi to 210bhp...can't remember the ins and outs would need to look it up
 
[TW]Fox;12194893 said:
Instead of paying lots of running costs and having an older car in return for performance she isn't bothered about, she could pay less running costs and have a current shape model with all the benefits that would give her.

If she's dead set on an older Audi with the 1.8T I'd go so far as to recommend a TT over the S3. It's a better car in every way IMHO.
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She's not very keen on the TT (the new one she loves but unfortunately it's slightly over budget). She'd like a new model A3, but again, for one that doesn't look bland, it's around 13k (for a 2005 S-line 2.0T), which is way out of budget, even if you factor in 2001 S3 running costs.

I had a look at the 3.2l new shaped model but they are just too quick, she wants something fairly quick, but not mental.

Anyone got any more advice on part prices/common faults?

Thanks for the replies
 
An S3 is probably on a par with a 3.2 V6 in terms of performance. The more you describe her needs the less suitable I think an S3 is. They dont even stand out, the differences are very subtle and something only somebody interested in cars is likely to spot anyway.
 
Ahh thanks for the advice... I've just looked at the 3.2 quattro A3 and i must say, it looks very good. What will the running costs be like in comparison with the S3. I can see that the MPG is only around 26, the insurance group is the same, but what about services/parts? Also reliability?

My sister likes the 3.2 better, because it has a very similar interior to the one we test drove today and obviously is the new model. However, one thing we were confused about is how a 3.2 A3 was only 9k for a 2004 ~40k miles, when a 2001 S3 with 60k miles on it is about the same? I know S3's command a premium, but surely not that much?

And why is the 3.2 one of the cheapest of the new A3's - i'd expect it to be up there with the 2.0TFSI price wise, whereas it is around the price of a 2005 2.0TDI.

EDIT: Fox, you think you'd be able to check glass's guide in relation to a 50k 04 A3 3.2, just as a rough valuation? TIA
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/563206.htm It's just one like this looks very good, but the price is just really low which has got my scam alarm going - although having said that the advert is set out very well, has fairly good pictures, FASH and only 1 owner from new.
 
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They are cheap but not THAT cheap. You find a good one for £9k. Something very fishy about that one, it trade books at more than that..
 
[TW]Fox;12196124 said:
They are cheap but not THAT cheap.
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Hmmm...what i was thinking. But it doesn't look like your typical scam advert... Also, there are at least 15 3.2's that i can find for between £8k-£9.5k? It's strange. Could it have anything to do with people panic selling due to tax/fuel increases?

[TW]Fox;12196124 said:
You find a good one for £9k.
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Sorry, did you mean "you will find a good one for 9k"? Or were you saying "you won't find a good one for 9k"?
 
[TW]Fox;12196261 said:
I meant you wont but... 15? Blimey, surely they cant all be scams and nails?
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There are quite a few about at £7-8k (the lower end of the 3.2 market), and most of them *look* okay. Theyr'e not even all high milers, and seem to offer ridiculous value over the 1.8's and like said earlier, potter about the 2.0 TDI mark.

Either they all have fubarred DSG or similar or people really are being scared by instadeath tax and fuel cost increase.
 
The reason the 3.2s are so low is due to the poor mpg over a turbo, road tax and the current economy.

Recently a 45k mile fully loaded 3.2 A3 went for 9k down from 15k, he was trying to sell it for about 9 months. Look at the advert age! Oh and that A3 is a Sport not an S line, they are not stock wheels and the S line badge has been stuck on the back.

That's not to say there defo will not be problems its just the downturn big engines are suffering, especially the lower level ones that are not better than a 2.0T.

If tax reasons are why she wants a 1.8T then a 3.2 really won't help.

Try looking at an a3 2.0T, maybe even a quattro with a little stretch and a high spec 330ci (which I would have over a 3.2 V6).
 
zain said:
If tax reasons are why she wants a 1.8T then a 3.2 really won't help.
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Thanks for the reply. She didn't want a 1.8t JUST because of the tax reasons, she decided that a 225bhp S3 didn't have any significant advantages over the 210bhp one, but the 225 one cost £120 in road tax a year and was more costly on the insurance, so it kind of made sense.

zain said:
Try looking at an a3 2.0T, maybe even a quattro with a little stretch and a high spec 330ci (which I would have over a 3.2 V6).
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An A3 2.0T? Just of the top of my head, don't they start at like 14k??? And the first thing i recommended to her when i knew she wanted a new car was a 325ci, but she doesn't like them because they seem to "blokeish" - which, in all fairness, i can understand.
 
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