We have been looking for a replacement for my wife's car and keep coming back to the A3.

Really liked many cars but needing the flexibility of four doors, ability to haul larger items, reasonable performance, reasonable mileage, and fun to drive. Budget works best staying below 40K.

We have driven more than a dozen cars and took the A3 off the list once before because of reliability concerns but it has bubbled up again.

Anyone owned one or have a good amount of time with one.

 

I have any experience but if this car came in to the states the 3dr S3 i would consider buying it.

 

don't know about the A3, but the 4-door GTi is out in the US. It's worth a look as well.

 

So far I haven't heard anything bad about the A3, it looks great and is solid, but its pricey and smallish. I loved the A4 quattro avant I drove a while back - it was well put together.

For the money of a fwd A3, you can get a Subaru Legacy GT sedan or wagon that will come with awd, heated seats, great performance and known reliability.

 

Drove all the Subies and since we are buying an auto noted their slush box takes away some compared to the DSG box... that added to the AWD does reduce mileage a bit. The Legacy AWD wagon is a nice car but less fun and no NAV system available.

 

if you limit your options, you can get a 328i sports wagon for under $40K. the A3 is a cool car, but imo, it's too expensive and too small. i'd rather spend a bit more to get an A4. imo, a 328i sports wagon with tiptronic will be more fun to drive than an A3 with DSG.

 

one of my best friends has an A3 2.0 dsg. He's had it over a year now with no problems. I also know a few people with mkv GTI's and they seem to be problem free as well.

 

I have driven both the A3 6cyl and the turbo 4. Thought both were were good handling, fun cars to drive. The performance difference is not as great as you would think because the 4wl drive 6 is several hundred pounds heavier. The 4 also gets better gas mileage.

The big feature in my mind, though, is the DSG transmission. It's a real winner. I didn't feel like I gave up anything to a manual as far as performance was concerned but my wife just left it in automatic and it worked fine for her.

The fit and finish and materials on both were excellent . Whether it's worth the money is another question. I think the four is a better value than the 6 unless you need the 4whl drive.

 

Well, you can get Nav in the Legacy GT, but if you don't like the auto, that's fine. The A3 is a bit on the small side, so I'd look at an A4 avant with dsg if you can get it - I really liked the A4 I drove.

 

The a4 isn't available with dsg