Thinking of replacing the Yaris...

mr fox, you are guilty of many things... least you can laugh at some of the guff thats chucked at ya

back ot

seriously dude... a leon IS an a3/s3 but with that badge on its just sooo much cheaper. go take a look at one... wish i had.

A leon is not an A3 without the badge, their share the base and some of the componants. An LCR is certianly not an S3 with a different badge on.

It's amazing how two cars that share the same dashboard can have such a different interior feel..
 
It's amazing how two cars that share the same dashboard can have such a different interior feel..

I know exactly what you mean by this comment. Toyota built the Yaris in both France and Japan. I've been in some of the French ones and although they look identical inside, the quality of the plastics and the general way they were screwed together was worlds apart. The glovebox on the french one felt like it could fall off in your hand at any minute.

Imagine how pleased I was when ordering mine that Toyota were building Silver diesels in Japan at the time! :)

pitchfork: The 3 series is a little too big for my liking. Parking is always a problem on my street so the smaller the car the better really.
 
Ford Sport Ka, I know it isn't really pokey, but it is such fun to drive! I had one for a bit, and aside from midrange acceleration they are brilliant, they sit happily at a good speed on the motorway, and the handling is excellent, as in better that most premium makes. The design is excellent, literally a wheel in each corner! If I could get away with a 2 door car, I'd happily buy another one! Best car I have ever owned for driver fun!
 
Ford Sport Ka, I know it isn't really pokey, but it is such fun to drive! I had one for a bit, and aside from midrange acceleration they are brilliant, they sit happily at a good speed on the motorway, and the handling is excellent, as in better that most premium makes. The design is excellent, literally a wheel in each corner! If I could get away with a 2 door car, I'd happily buy another one! Best car I have ever owned for driver fun!

I'm looking to replace my girly car with something manly, fast, and with good build quality. How does the Sport Ka fit into any of those requirements?! :)

Sorry for shooting down your sugestion like that, but the Ka would be a downgrade from what I have already.
 
There aint a lot to choose from with that criteria tbh. Fast manly cars are normally larger cars.

Stop being a girl and learn to park a bigger car. You will get a lot more for your money :p
 
There aint a lot to choose from with that criteria tbh. Fast manly cars are normally larger cars.

Stop being a girl and learn to park a bigger car. You will get a lot more for your money :p


lol :) It's not my parking that sucks..it's all theneighbours! I drive works Galaxy quite frequently and can park that fine. At home we have to park on the street (terraced houses with no front gardens) and the neighbours tend to fill 2 spaces with one car. It's at times like that where a smaller car comes into it's own. I don't want to be parking my new car half a mile down the road in this area!
 
the neighbours tend to fill 2 spaces with one car
I wouldn't let that dictate my purchase. If that's the only reason you're buying small then start asserting some authority. You're just as entitled to park as anyone. :)
 
I wouldn't let that dictate my purchase. If that's the only reason you're buying small then start asserting some authority. You're just as entitled to park as anyone. :)

It's not the only reason for a smaller car, no. I just don't see the point in driving around a large barge when I can have something smaller.

The Yaris is perfectly big enough for me..in fact a 2-seater would do because 99% of the time I'm the only person in my car. One advantage of a smaller car is that I'm able to park in spaces which something like a Mondeo or a 3 Series would never fit in, but it certainly isn't a deciding factor in my car choice.
 
It's not the only reason for a smaller car, no. I just don't see the point in driving around a large barge when I can have something smaller.

The point is that, as you are discovering now, high quality, decent, properly built performance cars don't generally come in pint sized packages. You can have an Audi S3, an Audi S3.. or... erm, what else is there?

So, the point is that you dramatically increase your choice of decent cars if you compromise on size. Nobody is suggesting a barge, a 2 door Coupe is hardly a barge.
 
Oh yeah I appreciate that having quite strict requirements has the effect of narrowing down my choice of cars but that's what this thread is about. If the S3 is the only sensible choice I have then so be it..I'm quite happy with that :)

When I say "large barge" remember that my car history consists of a Renault 5, two Mk4 Escorts, a 106, and a Yaris, so anything like a 3 series upwards is a big car to me! :)
 
I'm looking to replace my girly car with something manly, fast, and with good build quality. How does the Sport Ka fit into any of those requirements?!

Sorry for shooting down your suggestion like that, but the Ka would be a downgrade from what I have already.

I see, manly has to be big!

It's not the only reason for a smaller car, no. I just don't see the point in driving around a large barge when I can have something smaller.

Getting a tad confused, you want a big manly car, but you want a small car that isn't a barge.

One advantage of a smaller car is that I'm able to park in spaces which something like a Mondeo or a 3 Series would never fit in, but it certainly isn't a deciding factor in my car choice.

If you need to be able to park a car, in a modern city, then small is best! You currently have a Yaris which you feel is too girly for you, but you want something that is easy to park so no bigger than a mondeo. That leaves you a choice, pocket-rocket such as a clio, or a barge such as a BMW, MB, or AUDI. Try shortlisting your actual priorities before you explore further possibilities. E.G.

1. How far do you need to drive each month?
2. How many seats do you realistically need?
3. How much do you want to pay? Tax, Insurance, capital purchase price?
4. How long do you intend to keep it.
5. Are you after a car for practicality, load lugging, people transport, golfing, willy waving to friends or colleagues? (be honest)
 
Not quite sure where you got the idea that I think manly=big as I've never suggested that. In fact I'm the one saying I'd like to stick with something more medium-sized.

Having a "manly" car isn't my main priority, I'd just like to get away from the shopping trolley type vehicle of which both the Yaris and Ka are good examples. They're the sort of quirky little cars that women fall in love with. I've enjoyed my time as a Yaris owner as it's been a good little car but I'm after something with a bit more grunt and finesse. Find me a small car from the last 10 years that's quick and with German build quality and I'll gladly consider it. That's half the point of this thread!

I do 20 miles to work and back each day on the motorway so don't need a diesel any more, don't need any more than 2 seats but ideally 4, not bothered about tax cost, insurance isn't too much of a worry as I'm 28 with 8 years NCB (the S3 would be £400/year fully comp!), the car shouldn't be any more than £9000, will keep it until I get bored which is usually about 3 years for me (around 30k miles), and finally I'm looking for something which is quick, could be easily modified, would be refined on the motorways but also capable of a bit of b-road twisty action...basically a car to reignite my love of driving. It would be nice to have something I can be proud of owning..something to suggest that I'm a car enthusiast.
 
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Well I think fate has shone down on me today!

Was browsing through Autotrader at S3s when I see one only 15 miles from my house in black (am after either black or silver). It was being sold by a trader and I recognised the dealership name. Looked at their website noticed they were based in the town I was born in, and then looked even closer and and it's only being sold by one of my dad's old salesmen who's a good family friend and runs his own dealership. Phoned him up and he's gonna do me a good deal on it.

It's a 2001 facelift with 106k miles on the clock, which is a bit more than I was looking for, but it's got a full Audi service history and is specced up as I want it. He's got it up for £7995 but as he's a good mate of my dad's he should be able to do it for £7k.

I'm going to take a look at it on Saturday but before I do, can any of you tell me what stereo it has? It appears to be a double DIN tape/CD deck, but can I tell from the pic if it's the BOSE upgrade unit? One thing I have noticed is that it's gota multifunction steering wheel which I've not seen on any other S3.

media.jpg
 
Looks and sounds good. The Bose audio setup is seperate from the headset (it's an amp and speakers basically) so you can't tell from that picture.

Hope it works out for you :)
 
Ah ok thanks for the info. Is there any way to identify this amp or the speakers then, or would I have to contact Audi for the original spec list? Was the multifuction wheel a factory option do you know?

It's got black leather with "silver" alcantara, although the drivers seat has a few marks on it, but the guy is gettig it retrimmed next week.

Here's the front of the car. The pic shows a few stone chips which are also being sorted, and it will havea full service before handover:

media-1.jpg
 
Ah ok thanks for the info. Is there any way to identify this amp or the speakers then, or would I have to contact Audi for the original spec list? Was the multifuction wheel a factory option do you know?

It's got black leather with "silver" alcantara, although the drivers seat has a few marks on it, but the guy is gettig it retrimmed next week.

Here's the front of the car. The pic shows a few stone chips which are also being sorted, and it will havea full service before handover:

media-1.jpg

Head over to www.tyresmoke.net and ask in the A3/S3 forum over there. Great bunch of lads and will be able to answer the question regarding the Bose. The multifunction wheel was a factor option.

Looks nice though, we need more Audi owners to counter the BMW bias :D
 
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