All you A3 owners/dealers/service advisors:

What have A3s been like off-warranty? My wife's A3 is immaculate and well-maintained, but I worry about it when the warranty expires in December. Right now we're about 18 months from paying it off and I'm well ahead if I trade it in. We're considering an A3 TDI or a TT-S to replace it, but she loves it and I'd love not having another car payment.

Please give me real feedback (that means none of you with the "I heard they suck" comments).

Much appreciated....

 

I heard they suck.

 

You shit - and I can't neg rep you since I just pos repped you... asshole.

 

I heard they're pretty good.

No seriously though, like most modern cars, it ought to be fine mechanically for a long time to come. If anything, it'll be the electrics that start to go first. Have you had any problems with it this far that would lead you to believe it wouldn't last much longer once it's out of warranty?

 

I`ve owned an Audi A3 2.0 TDI and I had an accident with it shortly after I got it.
The not so great thing was that for some reason the front airbags did not deploy,but the side curtain airbags did...and the impact was on the front

 

My -07 A3 2,0 TDI with about 40000miles is going strong, as a matterafact when I picked up the car after its last regular service the dealership gave a warranty on the job and if anything at all brakes down they tow it for free to the dealership and give me a free car till fixed. Gave me a strong impression they are confident nothing will brake on it. Oh, and regarding the TDI, I just made a new record in fuel ecnomy, 3,9l/100km! (about 60mpg)(roundtrip about 250km/155miles)

 

My mother owned one SB and have a A3 cab right now. Both cars have worked flawlessly, except for a coolant leak on the SB and the fuel consumption on the convertible is a bit poor, round 8-10l/100km. Other than that, the A3 is a pretty solid car afaik.

 

Great news - thanks for the info guys! Not having to buy her a new car gets me closer to a GT3!

 

The only things so far have been a rear roof spoiler that popped up (it was a known problem and they fixed it with the "approved" adhesive) and a valve in the intake (another known recall and sorted out). It's been great so far. My wife LOVES it - she wouldn't let me trade it for any other car.