2003 Audi A3 Sport from UK and Ireland - Comments

We bought an Audi A3 in June 05 for my wife and after about 600 miles we started hearing the grinding noise from the steering column at low speed. Audi told us it was a known problem and we would have to wait for a fix. Three weeks ago (April 06) we rang the dealer again for an update (nobody had bothered to contact us or keep us informed). They booked the car in for a new steering rack today (27/04/06), we took the car in and were called this afternoon to be told they hadn't ordered the rack so the car was returned to us untouched and they can't get a replacement until the end of June. My wife was told they'd replaced 4 racks this month so it's obviously not an isolated incident. It's an absurd situation given that we paid a premium for a "quality" car and 9 months on they still haven't fixed the fault and from the experience of others it seems the fix is only temporary. Oh, an the parking distance senors aren't working either. I considered buying myself an A6 at the same time and have to say that I'm glad I stuck with BMW! I'll be writing to Audi about their poor service and inability to fix this problem. Having seen the recent Watchdog episode on Audi TT dashboards I'm concerned that they will simply deny liability, I wish we had rejected the car when the problem first occurred and insisted on a replacement. Needless to say I won't be buying any more Audi's... Might need to write to Watchdog, they may like to follow up on the TT issue. Not happy!

I have an Audi A3 TDI Sport 2004. So far I've had problems with the engine management light coming on, which they tried to fix, but couldn't, but then the car seemed to fix itself! Now the car won't start after being left overnight, and it has coolant loss nearly everyday.

The fan was staying on permanently, so Audi told me they would replace the fan unit, which would fix the problem. £750.00 later I still have the same problem. Now I'm wondering what else they are going to charge me for!!

I have a six year old Audi A3 1.6, and overall the car is not too bad.

I've had to have a new water pump, engine water sensor, inlet manifold sensor, and had to have the exhaust keeper bracket welded up under neath several times.

My biggest gripe is the level of service from Audi dealers and the chip on their shoulder they have. My car ran out of oil less than a thousand miles after a service, which obviously wasn't done. After writing to the dealer concerned, Audi UK and Audi in Germany about the issue, I can say that Audi cars are as good and bad as any body elses, but it is Audis attitude that gets me.

They are not the car company they would like to think they are.

My £0.5 worth: my A3 2.0TFSI DSG started making this grinding noise after a few weeks, together with other grinding and squeaking when cornering over mildly bumpy surfaces - does it left or right, at lower speeds (round car parks for example). It went back to the dealer - they couldn't replicate it. It's worse now, so time for a return trip.

Other faults on this Oct 06 car now with 16,000 miles: auto close on the windows has stopped working, the locks now make all kind of noises when locking the car, and this week, the aircon has packed up. It also chews through a litre of oil every 3000 miles, although I think this is expected - the car was delivered with spare oil, gloves and wipes in the boot! The tailpipe is covered in it.

The gearbox is downright dangerous - when pulling out at junctions, sometimes it starts moving a few feet (i.e. into the path of the oncoming juggernauts on the road you're turning onto) and then goes into limbo - no drive, and no throttle response for 1-2 seconds and then sorts itself out. They "reset" the gearbox at the last service and updated the gearbox computer but it hasn't made any difference.

Finally, the car seems to be painted with poster paint - I've never seen the paint strip off the nose of a car so quickly, and I do very little motorway driving these days. I reckon in a collision with a particularly hefty fly, the car might actually come off worse.

All in all, a cheap hatchback in a 26 grand suit (and these cars are actually a lot cheaper in the USA - figure that one out) - back to BMW for me next time.