Searching for an A3 TDi

[billy12343]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could possibly help me. I'm located in suffolk, currently searching for an 3 door A3 Tdi sport.

I have found a few here and there, mainly looking for the following:

Must Haves;

2.0 Tdi sport/s-line
Symphony 6CD changer,
DIS on the dashboard,
Full service history.

Would likes;

Bose,
Leather / part leather seats,
Auto lights..

To find a car within a reasonable distance (i.e 150miles or below) is the impossible feat.

Seen a few after daily looking, and with the 2.0 TDi's, some have had turbo failures and/or recon gearboxes. This does ring alarm bells in my head wondering if the car has been driven around full pelt and could the turbo failure caused more damage to other components?

Many I'm looking at have 110,000 miles +

Bearing in mind my budget is 5,000 max, do you think there is anything in particular I should look out for, or maybe finding a decent sport or s-line is out of my budget!?

The whole thing is confusing and I'm basically looking for a bit of buying advice, what I should and shouldn't look for etc.

If anyone can give us a hand it would be very very appreciated.

Thanks very much!

[jazzysingh]

I bought my Audi a few months back.

I also wanted a TDI Sline. My Budget was the similar but I managed to raise it and I saw a lot of poo but amongst the poo I managed to find mine which is a 56 plate 2007 2.0 tdi Sline with full leather and Bose. The car also had FSH 120K on clock. Drives like new if I am honest. I really wanted parking sensors but this didn't have them however I did get them retrofitted.

Good Luck with your search.

[UVB]

I've always found that the thing with looking for any Audi is that it takes a while to find the right one. There are plenty of good cars out there, but with so much variation in spec due to the lengthy options lists Audi have, if you're looking for specifics then you have to be both patient and potentially prepared to travel a long way when the right car comes up. Both of our cars took a while to find and I jumped all over them like a rash when they came up for sale.

If you have a smart phone, get the Autotrader app and set up some saved searches on it for what you want. Then check it as many times a day as you can - there is no bulk update time with Autotrader; they just put them up as and when nowadays from what I can see.

In terms of the spec you have listed, I wouldn't worry too much about the Symphony unit as you can hook up a Dension or the like to deliver music for not very much money (I have one in our A3; works very well with Bose too). Having the full DIS is a good idea as it is very hard to retrofit. Might also be worth looking for a car with multi function steering wheel for the same reason.

Although replacement gearboxes/turbo's can be for legitimate reasons, it is the kind of thing that would make me look extra hard at a car. If it has been well-used, you can usually tell. If everything else stacks up about the car, it could be worth a look to see. Chances of finding a car locally will be a lot harder of course - I'm not far from you (Waldringfield) and can't remember the last time I bought a car locally as the prices are usually a fair premium higher than in many other areas of the country; certainly when compared to say a London car. Are you looking only at dealer cars or private sales as well? Personally I quite like private sales as you get to meet the owner and get a better feel for how the car has been treated rather than something that may have been immaculately prepared on a forecourt in a mutton-dressed-as-lamb style.

If you do find one locally, I have VCDS if you want it checked over first.

[billy12343]

Thanks ever so much for your help guys. Looks like I'm not the only with the nightmare of finding the right car. I agree there is a hell of a lot of poo out there, and I'm going to have to keep looking constantly until the right car comes up.

UVB that would be fantastic, you aren't far away at all (I'm in Claydon) so I'll have to let you know if something comes up. Will also be helpful for any issues I quite possibly will come up against during ownership (familiar with the EML on my '05 ibiza I currently own) and I have heard the Ross-tech cables from eBay are crap.

Thanks for help guys!

[UVB]

Yep I've seen what a mess the clone cables can make of a car (genuine Ross Tech ones are good of course but they don't sell for less than 200 so usually easy to tell which is which). Not worth the risk imo given the likely cost of a replacement ECU.

I'm guessing vcds should work on your Ibiza too if you need help with it.