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I've owned 9 cars over the years (some simultaneously) and while my Mazda MX-5 Miata '99 never had a single issue, my ownership was only 3 fun years. My Audi TT QR '03 was also owned for about 3 years and while it had some electrical quirks, they were covered under warranty. But my Audi A3 '07? Phenomenal reliability across 17 years. I put a large portion of mileage on it for the first 2 years of ownership when I had to commute 50 miles each way, every work day. After that, I either worked remotely or took public transportation to work, which helped offset the initial high yearly mileage. The only "performance" mod I've done was a rear sub-frame brace, which helps keep the car level in sharp turns. It's like it's on rails and reminds me of my former TTQR. Cosmetically I replaced the front grille (changed chrome to black) tail lights with amber turn signals, CANBUS compatible LED bulbs for rear turn signals, fog light switch, upgraded rims, and converted the single DIN center panel to double DIN with a Kenwood LED display head unit equipped with two USB sockets (one in glove box, one on side of center console). I was tempted to upgrade to an A5 when it came out, but it was too expensive for my blood. I eventually planned to buy a used one some years later, but my A3 won't quit. And I enjoy having 5 doors. It's like a good, dependable friend. I will be heartbroken on the day I finally give it up (when I can afford an S6 avant!).

Hello everyone, I’m in a bit of a pickle with me car. Got it end of Nov last year. In Dec I had a knocking noise coming from under the car, it was loosing power and the engine light was flashing. Took it back and they told me to leave the car for a couple of days cuz they have to order some parts for it which I did. Got the car back and was absolutely fine but not long after every now and then I could smell kind of like a burning smell. Never knew where was it coming from. Beginning of June I had my first servicing and was told I have an exhaust leak (among other issues). Contacted the warranty company but they doesn’t cover that (it’s pretty useless cuz doesn’t exactly cover anything…) The garage who done my servicing said I supposed to have 2 flexi pipes under the car and one of them was replaced by a straight pipe. Looks like a hoover pipe was welded in. It’s leaking where they welded init to the old exhaust. According to them it’s a poorly made repair. I have taken the car to another garage (was advised by the warranty) and they confirmed the same. It’s a poor fix for the sake of cheap repairs. I’ve contacted the finance company as well because the car is still on finance for the other issues. They got in touch with the dealership and they’re adamant for this model I should have just 1 flexi pipe and 1 straight pipe but then the 2 garage both states I should have 2. If you look under the car it also looks like it supposed to have 2 because there’s an identical space for both and looks odd with 1 being straight piped. I’ve contacted Audi as well to confirm it but heard nothing back. I am a female and know pretty much nothing about cars so would be appreciated if someone who has the same car or knows more about A3s could advise? Because it’s a poorly made job I want the dealership to take ownership of the repairs as I feel like it’s not fair on me having to fix something that they should’ve done but didn’t do properly… I have attached a picture to make more sense of it Thank you in advance!

Hi all, I have just gotten myself a second-hand 2008 A3 8P 1.9TDI with the dreaded BXE engine and was wondering if it was worth it to repair it to tip top condition. I bought it off someone for £1000, which I thought was a good deal since other examples went for about £3000 and autotrader quoted me £2000 for it. It has 186,000 miles on it right now and I did a full servicing on it myself. So far, the car has no major mechanical or electronic problems that I can tell, except for a minor oil leak which I think might be from the rocker head gasket. I am not sure if the head gasket might be leaking oil too, though, as I vaguely remember seeing some oil marks near there. I haven't had the time yet to check on it yet, and because of how rare it it for head gaskets to leak oil externally, combined with no oil and water mixing in the block, and no power loss, I feel like it might be unlikely. The oil leak, however, is nothing major as there is no visible dripping and no oil on the lot despite being parked up for more than a week. It also require suspension bearings to be replaced along with the drop links. The underbody is quite clean with only surface corrosion and no structural issues. I have already spent £350 on it so far with a new set of tyres and a new battery I am considering if I should invest about £1000 in it more in repairing the suspension bearings and doing some preventive maintenance on it. What I have noted down so far is to replace the timing belt along with the water pump as I do not have a full service history for the car. I am also thinking of getting the main and big end bearings changed to sputter coated ones to prevent the conrod failures along with doing up the clutch at the same time since the engine will be out for it. I have been quoted £500 for the sputter bearing change and labour but I can't imagine adding on the timing belt, water pump and the clutch would be more than £200 extra. The clutch and timing belt is still fine so far but I was thinking that if the engine was going to be out, it might be worthwhile to get them done together to save on labour costs. I must admit that I have not worked much on cars, only doing my own servicing. I have however, bought up some tools and am willing to work on the car for easier components to keep costs down, such as ones that only require me to undo bolts to replace parts. I also have VCDS with me so I can do my own diagnosis for the most part. I guess my main concern is if I should invest the money into repairing the car entirely or if I should just do the bare minimum (suspension bearings and topping up the oil every now and then) and run it till it stops. I am looking for a car that is quite reliable and will not throw up any issues daily, which I have heard the 1.9TDI is quite renown for (except the BXE). I haven't heard of anything else that could go wrong with the car I have except for the conrod. I might have to change the brake discs in the near future along with the front springs as they are rusty but not broken yet. (Brake pads are fitted new by previous owner hence not changing them now) It doesn't have a DPF and I do not live near any ULEZ zones which is why I chose the model I got. My budget would definitely be around spending £1500 max on it this year before I consider just running it till it stops, or if I could delay some of the servicing for 3/4 years down the road, it would be much more palatable for me. In short, I have a 2008 A3 8P 1.9 TDI (BXE) with 186,000miles. No Service history except the one I just did. Wondering if it is economical to do preventive maintenance on it or to just run it and wait for issues to develop. Faults: Worn suspension bearings Worn drop links Preventive maintenance measures I am considering: Minor oil leak (rocker head gasket, maybe head gasket?) Change conrod main and big end bearings to sputter coated ones Timing belt and water pump Clutch Brake discs + pads Front springs Thanks!

Hey! I have Audi A3 8P 3.2 V6 and my transfer box is broken and now im trying to find new one... does it need to be exact same model than mine or is it just okey when part number (0AV 409 053P) is right? does it matter if the box is from 4 cylinder car? 🙂

I jet wash the car to find out later on my front right dip head light, right fog light, right rear indicator, front right indicator and the left rear side light isn't working. Any ideas what the story is here?

Hi everyone. Was hoping for some advice. Looks like my abs pump/ module has a fault as traction light comes on and won't clear. Was just wondering if for this model can you take the electric module off without disturbing the actual pump so I don't have to bleed it again. Thanks any advise will be great