Audi S3 / Golf 7 GTI second hand?

[Nivea]

Hi guys,

So my dad wants to take my M135i off my hands and I was thinking of getting a Golf R/GTI or Audi S3 for around 350k+-, I've noticed they're quite high mileage at this price range, do any of you know whether it's a good idea to go for this or wait a few months to get something better?

Thanks.

 

[DannyBoyOPC]

just be careful with the Golf 7 - there are commonly hijacked, Just yesterday the owner of a modified one was hijacked

 

[Dante_son]

I drive a 2015 S3 got 175'000 km on the clock and not a single major component failure, owned since brand new.

If you do go with Audi i would definitely suggest that you get an extended plan MA though the cost of the services, esp at the dealers is ridiculous.

 

[Mikel89]

They're pretty much the same car. That being said, like @DannyBoyOPC mentioned, the GTi's are higher risk. I would not take the VeeDub.

 

[Nivea]

I see, maybe i'll lean away from the Gti,

thanks guys.

I drive a 2015 S3 got 175'000 km on the clock and not a single major component failure, owned since brand new.

If you do go with Audi i would definitely suggest that you get an extended plan MA though the cost of the services, esp at the dealers is ridiculous.

Awesome, how's the fuel consumption ? My M135i is too thirsty at 13l/100km on average and it's just a bland feeling car.

 

[PancakesZA]

2016 Mercedes-Benz CLA CLA45 AMG

Used Mercedes-Benz CLA CLA45 AMG for sale in Gauteng, car manufactured in 2016 (ID:3770770)

www.cars.co.za

 

[Nivea]

2016 Mercedes-Benz CLA CLA45 AMG

Used Mercedes-Benz CLA CLA45 AMG for sale in Gauteng, car manufactured in 2016 (ID:3770770)

www.cars.co.za

That banana car lol, I prefer the A45, come to think of it I never thought about merc.

 

[SauRoN]

What's your idea of "high mileage" ?

 

[Nivea]

What's your idea of "high mileage" ?

Over a 100k kms

 

[PancakesZA]

That banana car lol, I prefer the A45, come to think of it I never thought about merc.

I prefer them over the others (Bmw/Audi/Vw), just don't see them as often and I feel like their interiors are better. Especially in the newer models.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class A250 Sport For Sale - Autotrader ID: 1274340

Used 2015 Mercedes-Benz A-Class A250 Sport For Sale - R 399,995 - ID 1274340

www.autotrader.co.za

Mercedes-Benz A-Class A45 Amg 4matic Edition 1 For Sale ID: 1450904

Used 2014 Mercedes-Benz A-Class A45 Amg 4matic Edition 1 For Sale - R 399,990 - ID 1450904

www.autotrader.co.za

 

[SauRoN]

Over a 100k kms

No man, that's a brand new car still.

Preferably hit the sweet spot just at 120,000km after someone else has paid for the cambelt service. OR bundle it in as a bargaining chip to bring the price down.

Bought my GTI at 95,000km and drove it to just about 200,000km when it started getting a bit of a whine in the DSG box (suspected input shaft bearing was starting to fail) but was still mechanically sound and mechanic said ignore it if you can and fix it once it actually breaks.

If you want piece of mind just bolt on a warranty, or extension of motorplan or whatever.

Personally, I would like the S3 though, but then when two cars are next to each other for similar money or have a big feature difference that matters more to me.

The S3 can be a little bit more "boring" to drive in the sense that the Quattro works so well that it will just go around corners endlessly, while the FWD nature of the GTI does mean it lives closer to the limit.

How about the Scirocco? That's a surprisingly different and fun car even though it's built around the same thing. Maybe better pricing on them as well now.

 

[Shadow]

I drive a 2015 S3 got 175'000 km on the clock and not a single major component failure, owned since brand new.

You are actually super lucky, with the Audi's that came through our floor most had an issue somewhere along the line. Even knew somebody the other day that had a 2017 Audi A4, the motorplan was already used for R58 000. Yet I still love an Audi

 

[Nivea]

No man, that's a brand new car still.

Preferably hit the sweet spot just at 120,000km after someone else has paid for the cambelt service. OR bundle it in as a bargaining chip to bring the price down.

Bought my GTI at 95,000km and drove it to just about 200,000km when it started getting a bit of a whine in the DSG box (suspected input shaft bearing was starting to fail) but was still mechanically sound and mechanic said ignore it if you can and fix it once it actually breaks.

If you want piece of mind just bolt on a warranty, or extension of motorplan or whatever.

Personally, I would like the S3 though, but then when two cars are next to each other for similar money or have a big feature difference that matters more to me.

The S3 can be a little bit more "boring" to drive in the sense that the Quattro works so well that it will just go around corners endlessly, while the FWD nature of the GTI does mean it lives closer to the limit.

How about the Scirocco? That's a surprisingly different and fun car even though it's built around the same thing. Maybe better pricing on them as well now.

We have very different ideas of a brand new car lol.

Don't like the Sciroccos, funny shaped cars.

I will be looking at a few S3's in the next few weeks and not bothering with ones that have been driven hard or heavily modified.

Thanks guys.

 

[Caliph]

Don’t buy a used performance car. Person buys it, works it to the bone, sells it.

Better off buying a new A3 or Golf 7.

 

[Shadow]

Don’t buy a used performance car. Person buys it, works it to the bone, sells it.

Can agree, I bought a modded 07 Subaru WRX STI. Learnt that lesson very quickly.

 

[SantaMuerte]

Wouldn't buy a GTI secondhand if I were you. Their owners normally drive them hard and even harder just before they sell them.

They say nothing spins like a rental, but nothing revs like a "I know I'm gonna sell it" GTI

 

[Astro_ZA]

What about getting something with low mileage (under 50k KM) with maintenance plan? Personally, I much prefer buying a newer vehicle for the benefit of it having low mileage, warranty and maintenance. Resale of vehicles is an absolute joke, so I probably wouldn't be buying anything above 'satisfactory'. But that's just me.

 

[WernerC]

I'd just keep the M135i. Of all the above-mentioned cars it will still be the most fun to drive. RWD FTW. Also, keep in mind that the new 3 series just launched. You might be able to pick up some bargain F30s at that price soon.

 

[SauRoN]

Don’t buy a used performance car. Person buys it, works it to the bone, sells it.

Better off buying a new A3 or Golf 7.

Citation necessary.

There is no way you can prove that a high-performance car was driven hard...just like there is no way you can prove a "normal" car wasn't.

The difference, however, is that the performance car was built to do it...whereas the normal car wasn't.

If a car looks good on the inside and the outside, odds are the owner cared for cars and looked after it accordingly.

On the flipside buying the car "owned by one older lady" means she didn't have a clue about cars and drove that thing into the red line straight from cold every morning in winter without a care in the world.

Just apply due diligence and walk away from any car that has anything slightly dodgy about it that they will "fix later" because if they didn't fix it before putting it on the floor it means they never intended to fix it and will take the quickest shortcut to make it go away. This applies to any level of car, performance or otherwise.

Rather buy the higher mileage one that doesn't raise an eyebrow and is in pristine condition, than the lower mileage one that has many question marks about it.

 

[SauRoN]

We have very different ideas of a brand new car lol.

Don't like the Sciroccos, funny shaped cars.

I will be looking at a few S3's in the next few weeks and not bothering with ones that have been driven hard or heavily modified.

Thanks guys.

Yeah they are a bit funny looking but it has grown a bit on me since driving one.

The reason it surprised me is that I drove the Scirocco R about a week after driving an RS4 and oddly found the Scirocco to be a lot more fun and challenging to drive.

 

[MSI1104]

Citation necessary.

There is no way you can prove that a high-performance car was driven hard...just like there is no way you can prove a "normal" car wasn't.

The difference, however, is that the performance car was built to do it...whereas the normal car wasn't.

If a car looks good on the inside and the outside, odds are the owner cared for cars and looked after it accordingly.

On the flipside buying the car "owned by one older lady" means she didn't have a clue about cars and drove that thing into the red line straight from cold every morning in winter without a care in the world.

Just apply due diligence and walk away from any car that has anything slightly dodgy about it that they will "fix later" because if they didn't fix it before putting it on the floor it means they never intended to fix it and will take the quickest shortcut to make it go away. This applies to any level of car, performance or otherwise.

Rather buy the higher mileage one that doesn't raise an eyebrow and is in pristine condition, than the lower mileage one that has many question marks about it.

For me service history is very important.... A buddy of mine bought a 1996 Tazz with genuine 56000kms on it. Owner had a heart attack and car stood for years. Its a money pit in fact the mechanic that works on it says that he has 600k kilometer tazz's with less problems. More importantly how do you have 0 itraders after 9 years.

 

[ian_stagib]

going back to the comparison between the brands, i've found audi has the best quality interiors when comparing against mercedes and bmw. I sat in an A45 AMG and was so disappointed when i found plastic all over the place.

And fyi, only the older s3's have a cambelt service. The newer ones don't

 

[SantaMuerte]

going back to the comparison between the brands, i've found audi has the best quality interiors when comparing against mercedes and bmw. I sat in an A45 AMG and was so disappointed when i found plastic all over the place.

And fyi, only the older s3's have a cambelt service. The newer ones don't

Audi, BMW and Mercs are all great brands though.

Each of those brands have top quality cars. At the end of the day it comes down to which you can afford and what your preference is.

I never liked Merc but over the last 2 years they’ve grown on me. Some of the cars do have a lot of plastic in the interior though like the A45 AMG you mentioned. It’s still a decent car though.

@Nivea have a look at the S3 sedan. It’s quite nice.

This one’s slightly above your price range though.

2014 Audi S3 S Tronic

Used Audi S3 S Tronic for sale in Gauteng, car manufactured in 2014 (ID:4595449)

www.cars.co.za

 

[TheVeteran]

going back to the comparison between the brands, i've found audi has the best quality interiors when comparing against mercedes and bmw. I sat in an A45 AMG and was so disappointed when i found plastic all over the place.

And fyi, only the older s3's have a cambelt service. The newer ones don't

I agree with you on that. The A45 has a crap interior but a good 2L engine,BMW M135/140/340 isn’t bad but Audi is definitely on point with their interiors. This’s coming from a guy that owned all three.

The S3 hits a sweet spot with a good interior and decent fuel consumption.
Finding a good one is a problem.

The new A series is leaps ahead of the old one. Only thing it looks like a bullldog.

 

[SILTECH786]

I agree with you on that. The A45 has a crap interior but a good 2L engine,BMW M135/140/340 isn’t bad but Audi is definitely on point with their interiors. This’s coming from a guy that owned all three.

The S3 hits a sweet spot with a good interior and decent fuel consumption.
Finding a good one is a problem.

The new A series is leaps ahead of the old one. Only thing it looks like a bullldog.

Hows that new machine treating you

 

[TheVeteran]

Hows that new machine treating you

Sliding from side to side on B roads like a hooker on a pole. One of the reasons why I didn’t keep the S3 is coz of the AWD. It’s good, but RWD is more fun😛

 

[SauRoN]

For me service history is very important.... A buddy of mine bought a 1996 Tazz with genuine 56000kms on it. Owner had a heart attack and car stood for years. Its a money pit in fact the mechanic that works on it says that he has 600k kilometer tazz's with less problems. More importantly how do you have 0 itraders after 9 years.

Ha ha.

By some magic stuff always gets sold on other forums.

Yeah a car that stood for a long time is a dead end if it wasn’t serviced annually.

All that sludge build up just causes crap.

I’d never touch a car without a full and timely service history.


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[SauRoN]

The new A series is leaps ahead of the old one. Only thing it looks like a bullldog.

It literally looks like a Kia.

Every time I see it I think it’s a new Kia Rio.



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[Rickster]

Citation necessary.

There is no way you can prove that a high-performance car was driven hard...just like there is no way you can prove a "normal" car wasn't.

Actually, there are some cars that store this data, ive worked on a Alfa V6 in my dads shop and the diagnostic software said "times over revved" 97

This may actually be spacific to Alfa's or cars that use that type of Bosch ECU.


So if you get times over revved that was lets say 2000+ you know it was driven kak hard.

 

[MSI1104]

Actually, there are some cars that store this data, ive worked on a Alfa V6 in my dads shop and the diagnostic software said "times over revved" 97

This may actually be spacific to Alfa's or cars that use that type of Bosch ECU.


So if you get times over revved that was lets say 2000+ you know it was driven kak hard.

Yep M3's store this I have seen BMW Motor Plan deny claims based on over revving..