I had an Audi A3 for many years and for me it struck a great balance between sensible practicality and sporty fun. It really combines all those things that are great about German cars - reliability, sturdy build and good performance.
The interiors are a good indicator of the general quality of this motor, plush and smart without being excessively flashy. The suspension is also something that I noticed in particular - it makes for a very smooth and responsive ride. Performance-wise it's excellent, too, I have the 1.8T and it's really quite fast!
The only thing I will say is that the standard equipment is pretty basic, even considering the car's age, and there isn't as much space as I might have liked inside. Apart from those two minor niggles, though, you have an excellent car in the Audi A3 - it never let me down.
A cracking little car and bags of fun. I got my Audi A3 1.2 S Line last year and i have no complaints whatsoever. It's great on fuel and the tax and running costs are reasonable. It's such a stylish little thing too. All my friends love it.
I'd recommend the A3 to anyone. They are so practical and efficient that i can't see myself ever moving away from Audi!
I paid a lot of money for my Audi A3 1.2 TFSi hatchback - more than I thought I would, but me and the missus had our minds set on it so I decided to just splurge on it and pay in instalments. Now it's a great car, don't get me wrong, but I'm not altogether sure it's really worth what I paid for it.
It definitely looks the part, and that's what attracted us to the car in the first place, and it has the feel of a good quality motor. But over and above that I don't really see what's so special about it. Ours is admittedly from the cheaper end of the scale, but the engine really isn't that impressive. Plus the A3 1.2 TFSi definitely handles well, but the ride itself is far from perfect.
Another thing that got me slightly miffed was the lack of kit that it came with. I would have had to fork out a serious amount of money to be provided with what would be considered quite standard on other cars. Maybe I was being a bit naive but really I expected a bit more for my money. Make no mistake though - it's a great car; just not great value.
While it has its own specific name this time around, the Sportback doesn't offer much more than the three-door. The boot is 20 litres larger and the rear seats go nearly flat (boosting the capacity to a maximum of 1,120 litres), but other than that there is little innovation. Getting in and out of the rear is, as you would expect, far easier. And build quality and interior design remain faultless.
Neater
The exterior features Audi's controversial new grille, yet overall the Sportback is better executed than the previous-generation five-door. It looks far neater around the rear, although Audi isn't calling the model an estate as the short overhang simply doesn't justify the company's established Avant tag.
The grille isn't the only bold style statement, however - the brake lights at the back are borrowed from the Le Mans concept and will feature on future models from the company.
Turn the key and the powerplant lacks some of the refinement of the newest oil-burners from PSA Peugeot Citroen. As with BMW's new 120d, it rattles a bit at idle, and even at speed there is still a hint of vibration coming through to the cabin.
This is the only criticism, though, because the car has a superbly smooth power delivery - and is quick as well. The TDI is one of the faster models in the range, but the 0-60mph time of 9.5 seconds doesn't demonstrate exactly how much torque is on offer.
From anywhere above 1,750rpm, the Audi is extremely responsive and powers along at a decent pace - so much so that the front wheels have difficulty containing all the grunt, and it proves really easy to spin them, especially in the wet. The quattro system which is available as an option reduces this, but the additional bulk of the four-wheel drive means that the boot volume is reduced.
Not that it's especially easy to tell when the tyres aren't gripping, as the steering lacks feel. It's precise but, unlike in the BMW 120d, fails to transmit the signals back to the driver - so the A3 doesn't inspire as much confidence as the 1-Series.
This also applies to the chassis. The car we drove was equipped with sports suspension, which made the ride too harsh. We would recommend sticking to the standard tyres and spring settings to make it more comfortable.
The Sportback hardly brings anything radical to the party, but it does have a great image and will doubtless continue to sell as well as the three-door A3.
I wanted a fairly fancy car after I scored a promotion and had some money knocking about. The Audi A3 came up as a decent choice. I wanted fuel economy too and it's delivered that, easily averaging 50 mpg plus. It's a good balance with power too, although as a younger driver I might appreciate a bit more bite now and then. Having said that would probably drive up the insurance premium, and knowing me if I had more power I'd probably just stack it.
I wanted space cos I go mountaineering with mates and we have a fair bit of gear with us. It easily manages that, and we often take quite a bit of camping type gear with us too. The space in the cabin and the boot are both more than enough, no complaints there.
Fuel economy aside, the A3 1.9 TDi SE gets through a little more oil than I'm happy about. The radiator got a bit of a leak at about 2.5 years and (I think) 60,000 miles, which is ok I suppose but a bit early.
I never had a parking sensor in a car before, and it's a bit like when I first got used to satnav. You don't think you need it, but when the Audi A3 came with one after a while I couldn't understand how I'd ever done without it. I'm really confused when I park my parents car now, really throws me off, so maybe that's a down side to it!
Actually the parking sensors are important in the Audi A3 cos the pillars at the back are really pretty chunky. The parking sensors take care of parking but those pillars do make your blind spots a bit tricky. I've got used to it now but it takes practise to know where to look and when. Just don't feel too confident pulling out when you first drive it.
Diesel no problem in the A3, puts petrol to shame. The higher fuel economy and increased power and torque just makes petrol pretty much obsolete for me at least.
You don't often find a drop top car with four proper seats. That's what drew me to my Audi A3 at first. The boot is also big enough for four people's stuff for a day out, maybe a weekend if they packed lightly. It's deep more than it is long, but anyway a good size.
It came second hand with a few extras and gadgets fitted on as well like the 'hill assist' which helps parallel parking on hills, and hill starts -- it is a bit sensitive but overall I find it useful. Speaking of parallel parking that can be tricky with the high boot, when the roof is down. Another feature that it had fitted was a satnav built in, but I think that's quite an expensive option, it certainly was reflected in the price as against those without (although there was also some difference in mileage).
My Audi A3 has been generally reliable. That's another plus. It's just out of the original warranty now, and seems to be holding up well. Inside the warranty there was some work on the cruise control, and I think before we had it there was a fault recorded with one of the windscreen wiper motors. That's a minor enough thing and it's the only receipt for previous work that came with the car.
The only other thing with our Audi A3 is that I think there's a small leak developing in the boot, which might have something to do with the top being down. I can't really tell and it's not happening every time it rains, or at least not yet. We'll see.
It's all round very nice to drive, and really comes alive with the top down in the sunshine, as we've been enjoying recently. It's very comfy generally although isn't as confident and smooth as you might like on some of the bumpier roads out there.
We got our Audi A3 after much soul searching with an old Astra (which had numerous repairs that didn't seem to have an end). The Audi A3 compared brilliantly. It was a few years older actually but handled so much better. The age difference meant a better deal, and we've had fewer repairs so it's been good all round.
That's not to say it's been without repairs. The dealer provided a one year warranty on the used Audi A3, and we've called that in for a few things. Thankfully the clutch went just inside that warranty, so a sizeable bill was on them. They didn't say what it would have been, but clutches don't come cheap, and I know Audi parts are pricey. The other thing was a coolant leak I think.
Since the warranty expired we've had a little thing with the brakes need doing, but not much else. There was an exhaust section replaced last year, and tyres now and then (they last a perfectly acceptable amount of time). I'd definitely recommend going to an Audi specialist independent garage over the dealer, much cheaper and often a better service because they don't have a sense of superiority!
The biggest plus with the Audi A3 I'd say is the boot, really big and spacious. Put our old Astra to shame. Both cars look pretty much the same size, but the Audi A3 packs in loads more stuff, enough for a weekend away for four (us and some friends of ours). That leads to the biggest down side with the Audi A3 though, which is the quite poor space in the back, both vertically and horizontally. Our passengers were very polite about it but were obviously cramped. We'd never come across the problem before as we seldom have rear passengers, and never for long journeys, but this one was difficult and we'll be thinking about it for our next car, which will be soon given the age and mileage. I get the funny feeling there are more repairs round the corner soon, and I'd rather pass those on to the next owner!
I keep thinking this year the Audi A3 will pack in, but it just keeps going and going. It's been great for us over the years, very few problems, although those are increasing nowadays.
From memory, the window motor on the passenger side gave up last year. We've had the air condition refilled a couple of times (but in over a decade that's to be expected I suppose), and things like belts and so on. I think the clutch might have been done when I was away with work once, can't really remember. It's developing some rattles here and there now as well, comes with age I suppose.
Hubby has always said that it's not got quite enough power, doesn't accelerate fast enough, but whatever, that doesn't bother me. One thing I would say is that it's a little heavy on the petrol, and that might be the little engine struggling to lug it along.
I really enjoy driving the A3 still. Even when we go on longer trips to see family or with work it's comfy. Well the driving seat is really nice and comfy, maybe the others a bit less so.
One handy feature is that there's an air vent by people's feet in the back. I don't know why more cars don't have that, but it's good to be able to warm everyone's feet when it's cold. The hot air obviously rises too, so it works well.
The boot is also really nice and big, gets all three kids stuff in there for all their sports on the weekends, plus shopping if I decide to do that on the way home -- with constant complaints from the little brats, is there a car that can stop that??
From the moment i bought this car, it just kept giving me problems. The Battery died on me twice, the ABS light kept flashing and even though it was checked by 3 different mechanics who said that the diagnostics test noted nothing wrong, there was no way of switching the light off.
The Brake switch was replaced 4 times so i ended up buying a polish brake switch that did work (Audi switch kept fusing out).
The Revs also kept fluctuating - again, no mechanic could find the problem.
Water pump was changed, temperature valve was changed, engine was flushed, a lot of expenses and the problem kept coming back.
Front lights kept blowing on the right hand side only.
I was told that this model built in 1998 had problems, but i had 3 years of non-stop hassle with this car.
Audi is one of the biggest names in the business, so why when they were designing the A3, did they make so many mistakes? First of all, to use the handbrake you have to lift up the arm rest - are they serious? Surely 1 of the thousands of people who were making, designing or bank rolling the A3 would have seen this awful error?
Secondly, the way this thing drives is just ridiculous. I like a sporty set-up, but the A3's sport suspension is just unbearable. Even on roads that are as smooth as butter, the A3 still manages to find big pot holes to jump into. It really is a mess!
Thirdly, the design hasn't aged well. When I first bought it, everyone liked it. Now, though, it looks really dated and old fashioned. Not good.
So, my advice would be, buy one if you like them, just make sure it's one of the newer models.