Thinking about an Audi A3

Joined
Mar 28, 2007
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387
Location
York, Pa.
I have a big birthday coming up soon. My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I kiddingly said 'a car'. She said 'go for it'. She wasn't kidding. So now I'm looking for something fairly fun and no more than $40K. I'm not interested in the high end German cars (Porsche, MB, BMW) because of maintenance costs. Aside from oil changes I don't do my own work . I've had a GTI before that I never should have gotten rid of. So I'm thinking along those lines. I could get another GTI or Jetta GLI with the same drivetrain, but in a larger vehicle. I currently have a Kia Sorento V6 AWD which I will be keeping.

I will go test drive a Jetta GLI probably today. But I also have my eye on a '19 A3 Quattro with less than 7500 miles, in that Grey that Audi does so well. Size wise it's the Goldilocks car. Larger than the GTI but smaller than the Jetta. Of course it has the same 2.0T with DCT that the other two cars have. So it would be like a GTI but with AWD without spending big bucks for the Golf R, and of course less HP. I'm thinking I could probably get an A3 serviced at my Volkswagen dealer which is close by. Closest Audi dealer is about 30 miles. Only downside that I'm seeing with a '19 A3 is that I'm pretty sure that it doesn't have the paddle shifters that I liked so much on my GTI.

So, any thoughts about the A3? Any other suggestions? I don't want anything that is going to scream 'hey, look at me'. Fairly subtle looks but fun to drive.

Thanks
 
I like both the A3 and GTI. The GTI is hard to beat and is so much fun to drive.

When looking at audi’s, I preferred the A3 over the A4.
 
The A3 is a nice car, but don't expect the maintenance costs to be less than the "high end" brands you mentioned. Audi competes with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the service costs will be similar. The GTI is a very fun car to drive, and honestly even though the platforms are shared between VW and Audi, the VWs are often cheaper to service especially if you aren't doing your own work.
 
The A3 is a nice car, but don't expect the maintenance costs to be less than the "high end" brands you mentioned. Audi competes with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the service costs will be similar. The GTI is a very fun car to drive, and honestly even though the platforms are shared between VW and Audi, the VWs are often cheaper to service especially if you aren't doing your own work.

Couldn't an Audi A3 be serviced by Volkswagen?
 
My VW dealer IS the Audi dealer also, so there wouldn't be any VW discount there. I'd confirm your VW dealer will work on it beyond routine maintenance if you are concerned about the costs.

The GLI is really nice but you don't get Quattro, decisions decisions.

Have you by chance looked at Arteons? No bigger than a Passat and VW's flagship and available with 4 motion. New with warranty in your budget depending on trim line. Simply gorgeous cars too.
 
Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Or even if it has to be more "family friendly" the Stelvio

I have owned both an A3 and a Stelvio. The A3 was nice, but I like my Fiat Abarth more than that car for pure driving enjoyment. If I were looking for something family friendly, that was still fun to drive, the Stelvio beats it hands down.
 
My VW dealer IS the Audi dealer also, so there wouldn't be any VW discount there. I'd confirm your VW dealer will work on it beyond routine maintenance if you are concerned about the costs.

The GLI is really nice but you don't get Quattro, decisions decisions.

Have you by chance looked at Arteons? No bigger than a Passat and VW's flagship and available with 4 motion. New with warranty in your budget depending on trim line. Simply gorgeous cars too.
The Arteon is the car! With discount you could probably get the premium for your budget.

 
Unless you want the Audi badge or have to have a sedan, a Golf R is a superior vehicle in just about every way, for a similar price. Plus with the Mk8 coming fairly soon you can probably get good closeout deals on the Mk7.5 (which looks better anyway).
 
Mazda MX-5

You will have a lot of fun with top down, a great handling car, decent power and torque, treat to drive, and reliable.
Unless you want the Audi badge or have to have a sedan, a Golf R is a superior vehicle in just about every way, for a similar price. Plus with the Mk8 coming fairly soon you can probably get good closeout deals on the Mk7.5 (which looks better anyway).



Highly recommend it!!!
 

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Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Unless you want the Audi badge or have to have a sedan, a Golf R is a superior vehicle in just about every way, for a similar price. Plus with the Mk8 coming fairly soon you can probably get good closeout deals on the Mk7.5 (which looks better anyway).
Alfa would be a great move since maintenance and reliability arent high on the list of priorities. Its sexy and handles and drives very well.

Base model German cars are not badgewhore material, imo.
 
Essentially an A3 is a GTI (although you can also get the A3 with AWD) and the S3 is a Golf R. So for about the same price you can get a higher performing car if you don't need a sedan.
 
The A3 and S3 are great cars. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either.

As Trav pointed out, the Arteon is worth a look. A real head-turner from VW that drives great and is has some awesome incentives on it right now.
 
I second the recommendation for a Miata (Mazda MX-5) for a fun car that won't break your budget. It's light (almost 1,000 lbs. lighter than an Audi A3), rear wheel drive, one of the best handling cars in the world. They've been in production a long time and have bulletproof reliability.

PS: on reliability. German car owners talk about how great the dealer treats them when the come in for repairs. Japanese car owners don't even know their dealer because after buying the car, they never come back. ;)
 
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Your right, the Mazda's are in the bone yard rotted away before they need a major service job (an exaggeration for sure but not that for off in this area, what rear quarter panels?). LOL
 
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