2004 Audi A3 1.6 petrol....what to look out for....

terrydel

I've moved on from the focus and am gonna have a look at one of these.

Checking one out with 80k miles on it, will have full nct, service, 1 year warranty and timing belt sorted by the dealer.

I know the timing belt/water pump is an issue with these in and around that mileage, but what else should I look out for?

Its the standard 1.6 petrol engine.
Thanks in advance?

L-M

They're basically a Golf so once everything is in order you can't go far wrong.

terrydel

Limerick man wrote: »

They're basically a Golf so once everything is in order you can't go far wrong.

Cheers.
Its an 8 valve engine i believe. Does that mean it will be underpowered and slow?

Johnny_Fontane

a good mate of mine is selling an 05, he basically is minted, cycles everywhere in Dublin and never uses his car. I think it might have 25,000 miles. absolute mint condition.
I think he is looking for around 9k, but I am sure I could get you a deal

terrydel

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

a good mate of mine is selling an 05, he basically is minted, cycles everywhere in Dublin and never uses his car. I think it might have 25,000 miles. absolute mint condition.
I think he is looking for around 9k, but I am sure I could get you a deal

9k for an 05? Thats insane based on what i've seen!
Is it advertised anywhere? Put up a link if so, cheers

bazz26

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

a good mate of mine is selling an 05, he basically is minted, cycles everywhere in Dublin and never uses his car. I think it might have 25,000 miles. absolute mint condition.
I think he is looking for around 9k, but I am sure I could get you a deal

Lol, €9k for a +7 year old A3.

L-M

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

a good mate of mine is selling an 05, he basically is minted, cycles everywhere in Dublin and never uses his car. I think it might have 25,000 miles. absolute mint condition.
I think he is looking for around 9k, but I am sure I could get you a deal

It woild nearly want to be buy one get one free at that.

Katunga

I know some one that got a 06 Audi A4 2.0 TDI for that price.
Keep looking.

terrydel

Katunga wrote: »

I know some one that got a 06 Audi A4 2.0 TDI for that price.
Keep looking.

what price?

Katunga

terrydel wrote: »

what price?

€9000

The Pontiac

Katunga wrote: »

€9000

That's mental money for an 06 Audi A4 2.0 TDI. On the old tax system too. €660 per year.

art davidson

Irish people ...., they shun 'big' 2 litre+ cars and the like and make no problem forking out crazy money for bog standard 1.6 cars for the badge.

Katunga

<Ollie> wrote: »

That's mental money for an 06 Audi A4 2.0 TDI. On the old tax system too. €660 per year.

Take it you don't know the value of cars look at donedeal.
Its very high spec sat nav cruse control etc.
I was highlighting how over priced the 1.6 A3 A poster was on about.

The Pontiac

Katunga wrote: »

Take it you don't know the value of cars look at donedeal.
Its very high spec sat nav cruse control etc.
I was highlighting how over priced the 1.6 A3 A poster was on about.

Forgot we moved on to A4 there.

Still looks pricey though.

I'd prefer this with the more reliable 1.9 engine. Irish car with low mileage and FSH. Surely buy it for €8k.

Seems to fetching the money alright. They do nothing for me though. Incredibly boring, and they're everywhere.

The Pontiac

art davidson wrote: »

Irish people ...., they shun 'big' 2 litre+ cars and the like and make no problem forking out crazy money for bog standard 1.6 cars for the badge.

Eh?

I just purchased a 2005 2.0 car last week, and will happily pay the €660 tax. I didn't pay €9,000 for it though. That was my whole point. The extra tax cost on pre-2008 cars has to be factored into the price, obviously.

Andy454

terrydel wrote: »

I've moved on from the focus and am gonna have a look at one of these.

Checking one out with 80k miles on it, will have full nct, service, 1 year warranty and timing belt sorted by the dealer.

I know the timing belt/water pump is an issue with these in and around that mileage, but what else should I look out for?

Its the standard 1.6 petrol engine.
Thanks in advance?

Everything - Audi Petrols are rubbish!!

Here's a list of things that went wrong on my audi 1.8T (110k) in the past year

Engine Speed sensor
Lamda Sensor
Air Mass Flow meter
Cam Shaft sensor
Gear box
Clutch
Fuel pump
2 Engine coils - (all four had been replaced at 50k)
oil valve (could have destroyed engine)
leaky Waterpump
Rocker seal
Gasket seal
Driver side window cord broke and had to be replaced with a totally new unit!






Engine coils blow every 45k
Put a new fuel pump in at 90k

spiggotpaddy

Andy454 wrote: »

Everything - Audi Petrols are rubbish!!

Sweeping statement there. Rubbish is a bit OTT.
Any who the OP asked about the 1.6 8 valve which is probably the most reliable VW engine out there. Not very powerful or super lean but very simple and long lasting. No chocolate coil,
no sludge in the pan or oil pump trouble
no turbo no supercharger, clean egr
no stretching timing chain, allah TSI
no dmf, dpf
A well suited engine for A3 if it stays in the city for most of the time.

Neilw

Andy454 wrote: »

Everything - Audi Petrols are rubbish!!

Here's a list of things that went wrong on my audi 1.8T (110k) in the past year

Engine Speed sensor
Lamda Sensor
Air Mass Flow meter
Cam Shaft sensor
Gear box
Clutch
Fuel pump
2 Engine coils - (all four had been replaced at 50k)
oil valve (could have destroyed engine)
leaky Waterpump
Rocker seal
Gasket seal
Driver side window cord broke and had to be replaced with a totally new unit!






Engine coils blow every 45k
Put a new fuel pump in at 90k

I ran a 1.8t for 3 years and the only thing to go wrong was 1 coil pack, I replaced all 4 with genuine ones and never had a bother after that, oh and it was mildly tuned, +50bhp and +60 lb/ft

Problems can happen with any engine, maybe you just got a Monday morning engine. The 1.8t is a reliable engine if looked after.

terrydel

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

Andy454 wrote: »

Everything - Audi Petrols are rubbish!!

Sweeping statement there. Rubbish is a bit OTT.
Any who the OP asked about the 1.6 8 valve which is probably the most reliable VW engine out there. Not very powerful or super lean but very simple and long lasting. No chocolate coil,
no sludge in the pan or oil pump trouble
no turbo no supercharger, clean egr
no stretching timing chain, allah TSI
no dmf, dpf
A well suited engine for A3 if it stays in the city for most of the time.

Cheers mate, much appreciated.
Would it be an ok engine for the odd spin down to Cork and the like?

spiggotpaddy

terrydel wrote: »

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

Cheers mate, much appreciated.
Would it be an ok engine for the odd spin down to Cork and the like?

Absolutely, the thing is on longer trips if you have a heavy boot it will guzzle the juice, however if you keep it at say 115 kph instead of 125 kph the difference is night and day.

terrydel

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

terrydel wrote: »

Absolutely, the thing is on longer trips if you have a heavy boot it will guzzle the juice, however if you keep it at say 115 kph instead of 125 kph the difference is night and day.

Cheers man, excellent advice.
Im really hoping the one I look at Saturday is the one.
Its an 04, hes offered it at 5900, with 1 year warranty (main dealer), full nct and timing belt all done.
Its got 85k miles and is the 1.6 Ambition model, with climate control, cruise control etc, in metallic grey.
What do you think of the price there?

terrydel

Anyone got an opinion on this?
Ive been offered an 04, offered it at 5900, with 1 year warranty (main dealer), full nct and timing belt all done.
Its got 85k miles and is the 1.6 Ambition model, with climate control, cruise control etc, in metallic grey.
What do you think of the price there?
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Audi/A3/1.6-102H/30013452905053560/advert?channel=CARS

bazz26

Still sounds like crazy money to me for a basic hatchback approaching 9 years old. Those A3s are really poor value second hand, I never understood the fascination and willinness that people have with paying big bucks for them. S3 aside, they do nothing better than competition from lesser brands to justify their higher resale values.

terrydel

bazz26 wrote: »

Still sounds like crazy money to me for a basic hatchback approaching 9 years old. Those A3s are really poor value second hand, I never understood the fascination and willinness that people have with paying big bucks for them. S3 aside, they do nothing better than competition from lesser brands to justify their higher resale values.

Even with 1 year warranty, full nct and timing belt change?
Should I keep haggling?