Audi A3 advice?

[K-rover]

The time has come to get rid of the Mazda 3 and find something a bit newer and nicer. I want a hatch back so I can put the seats down and let the dog ride without him being on the seats.
I found a 2011 Audi A3 S line 6 speed with perfect carfax and a detailed service history since new. Its a 1 owner car with only 42,000.
I test drove it today and it was exactly what Im looking for. The only issue I found is that going over speed bumps the front right suspension creaks. No noise going down the road, even over bumps. Did some googling and found its a common issue especially when its cold out. The research I did leads me to believe its a lower control arm bushing. Found the whole control arm with bushings and ball joint already pressed in for $100 online.

I really dont want to buy a car just to have to work spend money fixing it, but the rest of the car is immaculate. After almost 10 yrs of owning my D2, turning wrenches doesnt bother me, and it seems like an easy fix, but is it worth it or should I hold off for something else??

 

[Ballah06]

Always liked the A3s after having one as a loaner, but aside from that do not have any experience with them. Just IMO that maintenance would/could be on the $$$ side. If it were my choice for a hatchback, I'd go the WRX route, but am sure those are more expensive.

 

[cornercase]

Audis are nice but servicing them can be a costly pain. They tend to shoehorn things together in such a way that replacing one thing means taking off 10. As far as I understand, the engines require some special tools as well, even for maintenance work like changing the timing belt. My cousin's A3 was great until it wasn't, and stupid little things failed in rapid succession. He dumped it and bought a Crosstrek. If you're prepared for the repair bills or work, go for it (though as a Disco owner, I understand that comes with the territory).

 

[Maximumwarp]

The A3 is based on what, a Golf? VW/Audi's do require weird tools to do routine services, so that can be frustrating. One of the irritating things about them is that you can't check fuses without a factory manual. When you open the fuse panel, there is no diagram of what fuse is what, and the owner's manual is no help either. They want you to bring it to the dealer for every little thing. Great driving little cars, though.

 

[Tugela]

I spent a lot of time driving an A3 as a work car. The fit, feel, and quality of interior materials didn't impress me, it felt like a VW interior and was a step down from the A4 and A6 that I was used to. That said, it was lots of fun for being front-wheel drive. The 2.0TFSI engine (I think that's what it had) almost seemed overmatched for the car. If I was too aggressive with the throttle it wasn't hard to get torque steer. As a commuter car or for city driving on decent roads it's a fine choice. The low-profile wheels are not forgiving on rougher surfaces. I would certainly be happy owning an A3 hatchback, albeit a Quattro TDI (if those even exist). I think turning the A3 into what is, size-wise, a 1998 A4 sedan, was a poor choice. No more fun sporty hatch? Guess there's still the Golf GTI and R. You might also consider a Golf R32.

 

[Mike_Rupp]

I got a loaner A3 tdi a while back. Like Tugela, I thought it wasn't up to typical Audi fit & finish.

The front wheel drive with the tdi just sucked. I was getting on the highway and took the inside HOV lane to get ahead of a Mini Cooper S and he fucking blew me away around the turn. My front end was getting serious understeer and the mini just kept blasting through. Audis without Quattro suck.

 

[Ed Cheung]

Don't think the Audi A3 is any better than VW Golf.

 

[K-rover]

Thanks guys.. I decided to pass.

 

[Ballah06]

On a similar note... I did test drive the 2015 GTI (wife was kinda thinking of getting a new car) and liked it for what it was. Still though, we decided to pass on that one and look for something else.

 

[rover4x4]

Thanks guys.. I decided to pass.

Good call. The current Mazda 3 is at the top of my list.

 

[paxton]

I don't think the Mazda 3 has solved torque steer like the GTI.

Saab (rest in pieces) engineers said a long time ago that 250HP is the limit of FWD vehicles.

Engineers on the GTI have finally worked around that. Although they may not have more than 250HP (it's very capable of that, but it's not there from the factory) the LSD in the GTI even got our collective favorite Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear to compliment the GTI's prowess.

I prefer the Golf R. I had a 2012 stage one with 300HP that was insane. A lightly-used one can be found at reasonable prices. The one I had came with 256HP from the factory, but the new ones I think are closer to 300HP without a flash right from the factory.

 

[K-rover]

I don't think the Mazda 3 has solved torque steer like the GTI.

Saab (rest in pieces) engineers said a long time ago that 250HP is the limit of FWD vehicles.

Engineers on the GTI have finally worked around that. Although they may not have more than 250HP (it's very capable of that, but it's not there from the factory) the LSD in the GTI even got our collective favorite Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear to compliment the GTI's prowess.

I prefer the Golf R. I had a 2012 stage one with 300HP that was insane. A lightly-used one can be found at reasonable prices. The one I had came with 256HP from the factory, but the new ones I think are closer to 300HP without a flash right from the factory.

I literally just saw one of those at the dealership earlier today. 2013 for $30,000!!!!!! Iknow the Golfs are nice, but not that nice.

 

[rover4x4]

VW says it has four electronic diff locks, impressive.