Re. TimOrridge's linked car, good link it proves the point - £5k for for a 6 year old 1.8 hatchback with 90k on the clock. It's crazy money for a car that really isn't all that special (by no means bad, but we are not talking about something clearly better than run of the mill).
I fully understand why people buy A3s new, but to pay that sort of money for an old one just seems like madness.
evie_b - if you want value for money and cost-effective motoring for £5k, but also desperately want something from the VW group, then take a look at the Skoda Octavia or Seat Leon Mk1.
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Before you buy an Audi get quotes from dealers for servicing.
(Of course you should do this for all cars:-)
It will explain why Audi are so profitable.
madf
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5K on an A3 will only buy you a low spec/tired old dog/rubbish engine version
At least compared to a 5K Skoda Octavia VRS which is based on the same chassis. The question is are you brave enough to buy the better car?
Of course you could always up you budget to 10k+ in which case the S3 Audi is quite a nice car.
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Older Golf's and A3's are very expensive to fix and in my experience a lot does tend to go wrong and the servicing can end up costing £600 a go and VW still dont manage to fix the car. I've know big parts go like the gearboxes and driveshafts.
I would much rather put my money into a Focus. It sounds like you want something with a nice badge on but for that money you could pick up a reliable fairly new jap car that will cost you a lot less to run and service.
A3 v Golf i just wouldn't go there on either for 5k i'm afraid, i'd rather buy a Focus / Corolla / Seat / Skoda.
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5k on an A3?? Forget it. It'll be very very very tired/peppered with stone chips/ resprayed etc... Either spend 16k on a new one or buy a mk4 golf/Corolla/Fabia/focus/ibiza...
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evie_b, the A3 will soon not be big enough for you and your family. Like others have suggested, I'd lok at a bigger and newer car - Octavia, Focus, Mondeo (cheaper than Focus) or if you want feelgood reliability something Japanese - a plain low to mid spec A3 is IMO nothing too special, nice interior but cramped and distinctly average to drive and comparatively expensive to run.
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Its been said already, but for A3 read Octavia and Leon. With that sort of budget I would prefer a newer car and one that is cheaper to run. Everyone seems to have an A3 these days so get yourself something with a bit of individuality!
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Re. TimOrridge's linked car good link it proves the point - £5k for for a 6 year old 1.8 hatchback with 90k on the clock. It's crazy money for a car that really isn't all that special (by no means bad but we are not talking about something clearly better than run of the mill).
As you say, total madness. My last car was a 7-year old 1.6 5-door Megane.
60k miles at the time, paid £1k, only a couple of minor scrapes on the bodywork.
No major problems in 3 years.
You would have to be bonkers to pay 5 times as much for a similar car with 50% more miles.
And with only 3-doors!
Forget battered ancient hatchbacks, for less money you could get a nicer car, with far fewer miles on it, and 2 years younger into the bargain
www.cargiant.co.uk/cars/detail.asp?Id=328476
Madness.
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I'm with others forget a £5,000 model - much better younger cars available for the money including the Focus.
If you want 5 doors remember the original A3 was never meant to be available in a 5 door version. Demand meant Audi produced one and it was a bodge, thats why the current A3 has two distinct versions, the five door being longer than the three to give rear seat passengers some leg room.
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