[amol4184]

Existing owners - does the 35 TDI use DQ250, or its DQ200? Any reliability issues faced regarding DSG?
Review mentions this

The A3 gets dual-clutch DSG transmissions which Audi calls the 'S-Tronic'. These are essentially the same DQ200 & DQ250 DSGs used in a host of other VW group cars.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Existing owners - does the 35 TDI use DQ250, or its DQ200? Any reliability issues faced regarding DSG?

The diesel uses the DQ250.

It's a fairly reliable gearbox in comparison to the DQ200 looking at the scores of other VAG vehicles running this set up.

[Dracoon]

Hi Folks,

I moved to Pune 3 months ago and was in need of a car. While I had booked venue and sonnet, I had some apprehension over their safety ratings or rather the lack of safety ratings. While doing hours of researching and reading BHP posts, I thought of checking out if any safe pre-owned car and dialed the Audi approved showroom.

I gave requirement of not more than 3 year old car, running less than 30k km, good condition etc. Incidentally they had an Audi A3, which met most of the criteria and as a cherry on cake was Cosmos Blue color which is what my wife had always wanted. She also wanted us to by a sedan and not SUV, I was personally neutral for both. Had earlier owned a Honda City and is served me well. We were seriously considering Honda city hybrid signature blue color but they did not launch that in India.

So I did the test drive, really liked the car, negotiated on price and instantly booked the Audi Approved A3 Technology Diesel with 2 year warranty, all 4 tyres new and road side assistance (they also changed the floor mats and gave audi connect device free). It was an impulse decision but I do not regret it. So now have driven the car for more than 2 months and here are some of my observation:

Pros:

• Excellent drivability
• Smooth gear shifts
• Killer looks - It is a head turner, plus I and my wife love it
• Power: More than enough for me even in drive mode, rarely use the sports mode
• Safety: Feel so safe with 7 airbags and great body build quality
• Comfortable: Leather seats are very comfortable, love the lumber support in front seats. Why don't more cars have it, it seems so useful specially on long drives

Now coming to the cons:

• Very basis MMI screen: No apple/android play - kind of irritating. I want to upgrade it. Can anyone help? I know there are some retrofit devices available. However, is there a simple software fix? Or do I need to buy the car play retrofit. Will is impact my warranty?
• Ground clearance: While it is not bad for a sedan, now I understand why the craze for SUVs, whenever my car belly get scratched, I feel the pain ,
• Space saver wheel: It is such a bad idea in India. Read below why:

My first long drive: In the first month, took my car to Lonavala and got a flat tyre. So had to change to the space saver wheel (first time ever driving with space saver wheel was disappointed on how small it was looked really weird). I could not get the main tyre repaired as it was a side tear and wanted to claim warranty on the tyre (another story of how that went). Driving with space saver tyre was such a nightmare. While there is a speed restriction of 80 kmph, the car continuously kept showing TPMS warning, which is generally shown when you have a flat tyre, stopped to check a couple of times when realized will have to drive like this only although it was very distracting. Another revelation, you can't use cruise control with spare wheel tyre. Ok that was also fine, what really irked me the most was that the central locking got disabled (i don't know maybe because of TPMS warning). My son is 2.5 years old and he likes to sit in my wife's lap, he opened the door while i was driving and we were like shocked (thankfully road was empty) and found that central locking is disabled, we had to use child lock and send my son to the rear. I had to drive more than a 100 km with the space saver tyre, was not a good experience at all . I wonder how no one has sued these companies coz it is actually unsafe to drive with the space saver tyre.

So people, I want to get rid of my space saver wheel and get a full proper spare wheel. Can anyone help in Pune without is ripping a hole in my pocked. I got the quote from Audi and they have given estimate of 70k including the tyre. I want to get this done before Dec as I plan to do a one month road trip from Pune to Kerala.

So here was the brief ownership experience, overall love the car, just did a trip this weekend from Pune to Ajanta/Ellora without any hiccups. But I need to upgrade to a full tyre before any long trips. MMI upgrade is something I want (to be able to see google map on screen), but if that will impact warranty i'll wait.

[IanNazareth]

Congratulations on your car. The diesel 2.0 is a beautiful engine.

I picked up a 3y old A3 TDI from Audi Approved last September and has only done one oil change visit since - Running 50500kms at present.

Do drop me a DM with your contact! We should stay in touch!

Originally Posted by Dracoon

Hi Folks,

I moved to Pune 3 months ago and was in need of a car. While I had booked venue and sonnet, I had some apprehension over their safety ratings or rather the lack of safety ratings. While doing hours of researching and reading BHP posts, I thought of checking out if any safe pre-owned car and dialed the Audi approved showroom.

I gave requirement of not more than 3 year old car, running less than 30k km, good condition etc. Incidentally they had an Audi A3, which met most of the criteria and as a cherry on cake was Cosmos Blue color which is what my wife had always wanted. She also wanted us to by a sedan and not SUV, I was personally neutral for both. Had earlier owned a Honda City and is served me well. We were seriously considering Honda city hybrid signature blue color but they did not launch that in India.

So I did the test drive, really liked the car, negotiated on price and instantly booked the Audi Approved A3 Technology Diesel with 2 year warranty, all 4 tyres new and road side assistance (they also changed the floor mats and gave audi connect device free). It was an impulse decision but I do not regret it. So now have driven the car for more than 2 months and here are some of my observation:

Pros:

• Excellent drivability
• Smooth gear shifts
• Killer looks - It is a head turner, plus I and my wife love it
• Power: More than enough for me even in drive mode, rarely use the sports mode
• Safety: Feel so safe with 7 airbags and great body build quality
• Comfortable: Leather seats are very comfortable, love the lumber support in front seats. Why don't more cars have it, it seems so useful specially on long drives

Now coming to the cons:

• Very basis MMI screen: No apple/android play - kind of irritating. I want to upgrade it. Can anyone help? I know there are some retrofit devices available. However, is there a simple software fix? Or do I need to buy the car play retrofit. Will is impact my warranty?
• Ground clearance: While it is not bad for a sedan, now I understand why the craze for SUVs, whenever my car belly get scratched, I feel the pain ,
• Space saver wheel: It is such a bad idea in India. Read below why:

My first long drive: In the first month, took my car to Lonavala and got a flat tyre. So had to change to the space saver wheel (first time ever driving with space saver wheel was disappointed on how small it was looked really weird). I could not get the main tyre repaired as it was a side tear and wanted to claim warranty on the tyre (another story of how that went). Driving with space saver tyre was such a nightmare. While there is a speed restriction of 80 kmph, the car continuously kept showing TPMS warning, which is generally shown when you have a flat tyre, stopped to check a couple of times when realized will have to drive like this only although it was very distracting. Another revelation, you can't use cruise control with spare wheel tyre. Ok that was also fine, what really irked me the most was that the central locking got disabled (i don't know maybe because of TPMS warning). My son is 2.5 years old and he likes to sit in my wife's lap, he opened the door while i was driving and we were like shocked (thankfully road was empty) and found that central locking is disabled, we had to use child lock and send my son to the rear. I had to drive more than a 100 km with the space saver tyre, was not a good experience at all . I wonder how no one has sued these companies coz it is actually unsafe to drive with the space saver tyre.

So people, I want to get rid of my space saver wheel and get a full proper spare wheel. Can anyone help in Pune without is ripping a hole in my pocked. I got the quote from Audi and they have given estimate of 70k including the tyre. I want to get this done before Dec as I plan to do a one month road trip from Pune to Kerala.

So here was the brief ownership experience, overall love the car, just did a trip this weekend from Pune to Ajanta/Ellora without any hiccups. But I need to upgrade to a full tyre before any long trips. MMI upgrade is something I want (to be able to see google map on screen), but if that will impact warranty i'll wait.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by Dracoon

Hi Folks,
]

My first long drive: In the first month, took my car to Lonavala and got a flat tyre. So had to change to the space saver wheel (first time ever driving with space saver wheel was disappointed on how small it was looked really weird). I could not get the main tyre repaired as it was a side tear and wanted to claim warranty on the tyre (another story of how that went). Driving with space saver tyre was such a nightmare. While there is a speed restriction of 80 kmph, the car continuously kept showing TPMS warning, which is generally shown when you have a flat tyre, stopped to check a couple of times when realized will have to drive like this only although it was very distracting. Another revelation, you can't use cruise control with spare wheel tyre. Ok that was also fine, what really irked me the most was that the central locking got disabled (i don't know maybe because of TPMS warning). My son is 2.5 years old and he likes to sit in my wife's lap, he opened the door while i was driving and we were like shocked (thankfully road was empty) and found that central locking is disabled, we had to use child lock and send my son to the rear. I had to drive more than a 100 km with the space saver tyre, was not a good experience at all . I wonder how no one has sued these companies coz it is actually unsafe to drive with the space saver tyre.

Congratulations on the car ! Central locking will anyway allow you to open the door from inside and is in no way related to Space saver tyre. And what do you mean when you say it is "unsafe " to drive on space saver? It is rated to be driven at upto 80 Kmph.

Kids are advised to be seated at the back , in a child seat.

[Dracoon]

Originally Posted by agambhandari

Congratulations on the car ! Central locking will anyway allow you to open the door from inside and is in no way related to Space saver tyre. And what do you mean when you say it is "unsafe " to drive on space saver? It is rated to be driven at upto 80 Kmph.

Kids are advised to be seated at the back , in a child seat.

Hi @agambhandari, let me explain why I said/felt unsafe driving with space saver tyre:

• Continuous TPMS warning: Driving with space saver wheel resulting in regular TPMS warning. Checked with dealer they said since wheel is smaller, it would keep showing this warning. Now it is really distracting while driving and what if there is actually another puncture, I would not know whether the warning is because of space saver tyre or the other puncture. First 2-3 times I did stop the car and checked, after that had to just had no option but to ignore the warnings and continue driving with faith. Hence I say it is unsafe.
  
  
• Auto central locking disabled: Now we agree this is a safety feature (also advertised by car manufacturers as one), as soon as the car picks up speed the central locking is supposed to be auto-enabled. This gets disabled because of TPMS warning. Since a safety feature gets disabled because of using space saver wheel. Hence, in my opinion it is unsafe.
  
  I don't think central locking just allows one to open the door from inside while central lock is enabled (but i may be wrong here). As soon as car comes to stop central locking get auto-disabled or you have to specifically unlock the lock of the door. Anyways for the kid I have enabled child lock in back-seats.
  
  
• Space saver wheel has 135 mm width wheel: Now the Audi service person told me that this tyre is easily susceptible to getting punctured and he has to very carefully drive avoiding potholes. Driving with 3 wide tyres of different size and 1 thin tyre would lead to problems in situations where we need traction control or emergency breaking. If this was not the case why do manufacturers insist on having all 4 tyres exactly of the same make and tread, here it is totally of a different size. I know you might argue its supposed to be temporary, but in situation like mine I had to drive >100 km with the space saver tyre (add rain and wet roads thankfully no poor visiblity) and I have heard many other people also in situations where they have had to do it. In our country where bad roads and side wall punctures are common and sometimes tyres of some sizes are difficult to find this is a very real scenario. Hence, I feel it was unsafe.

Now in addition, I did mention that cruise control becomes disabled, but that is not a safety hazard.

Lastly, I will say when you just look at the car with space saver tyre and you will not get the confidence. If the roads are bad or there are potholes (which can lead to sidewall punctures) and if at some stretch of highway there is no/bad road (all these very common in our country). I for one will not be able to drive with a peaceful mind and stressful driving is not safe.'

On the bright side, I did manage to get fuel efficiency of 27 kmpl diving at constant 80 km speed on the space saver with AC on tyre

[Dracoon]

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

Congratulations on your car. The diesel 2.0 is a beautiful engine.

I picked up a 3y old A3 TDI from Audi Approved last September and has only done one oil change visit since - Running 50500kms at present.

Do drop me a DM with your contact! We should stay in touch!

Hey @IanNazareth, I am sorry I don't know how to DM. I am a newbie is that why i can't. I went to your profile, but couldn't see anything in contact details. It would be great to be connected and share notes.

Just an update for the group. Yesterday I was driving on highway. Some crazy uncle on a toll road decided to suddenly take a 90 degree turn (No rear view mirror, no looking back and no helmet), he must have been like just 10 feet from my car which was on highway speed. Damn, I pushed the horn and break steered as much to right without hitting the road barrier, trying my best to not hit the scooter in that split second. I think in the given situation managed as best as I could and only the car side view mirror got hit. Major accomplishment as even a second distraction I don't want to even say what would have happened.

So the side view mirror is broken only glass, not the whole thing, the motor and indicators also works. So I though, well how much can a mirror cost, I'll probably not even claim insurance. I just got to know it will cost 36k for the mirror So claiming Insurance it is.

But man that was scarry, I am glad I was in this car, which is safe and was in total control, even in this scarry situation. The roads are filled with idiots and you never know when one might jump in from of your car. I literally saved that person's life. Even he knew it and said sorry I was just going to the right lane. I am like are you crazy, you could have died..anyways that was the small update.

A con of A3, the horns are very stiff, I like how honda city horn could be pushed with a gentle push from the wrist..not so here.

Has anyone installed a dashcam in their A3? I can see the usecase for it.

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Dracoon

Hey @IanNazareth, I am sorry I don't know how to DM. I am a newbie is that why i can't. I went to your profile, but couldn't see anything in contact details. It would be great to be connected and share notes.

Just an update for the group. Yesterday I was driving on highway. Some crazy uncle on a toll road decided to suddenly take a 90 degree turn (No rear view mirror, no looking back and no helmet), he must have been like just 10 feet from my car which was on highway speed. Damn, I pushed the horn and break steered as much to right without hitting the road barrier, trying my best to not hit the scooter in that split second. I think in the given situation managed as best as I could and only the car side view mirror got hit. Major accomplishment as even a second distraction I don't want to even say what would have happened.

So the side view mirror is broken only glass, not the whole thing, the motor and indicators also works. So I though, well how much can a mirror cost, I'll probably not even claim insurance. I just got to know it will cost 36k for the mirror So claiming Insurance it is.

But man that was scarry, I am glad I was in this car, which is safe and was in total control, even in this scarry situation. The roads are filled with idiots and you never know when one might jump in from of your car. I literally saved that person's life. Even he knew it and said sorry I was just going to the right lane. I am like are you crazy, you could have died..anyways that was the small update.

A con of A3, the horns are very stiff, I like how honda city horn could be pushed with a gentle push from the wrist..not so here.

Has anyone installed a dashcam in their A3? I can see the usecase for it.

36k for the mirror! Is this a quote from Audi Pune directly?
They will probably be replacing the entire unit and not just the mirror, that includes probably the motor and the lights etc, its standard procedure that the Germans use.

[cka]

Completed my 5 year old itch to buy "chaar challe wali car" by bringing home a preworshipped Audi A3 from a Delhi dealer.
Got the car scanned at Audi showroom by paying appx 12k before the purchase and went ahead once I was satisfied by the history. Dealer was all cooperative during the entire deal. Will post more pics and details in subsequent posts.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Originally Posted by cka

Completed my 5 year old itch to buy "chaar challe wali car" by bringing home a preworshipped Audi A3 from a Delhi dealer.
Got the car scanned at Audi showroom by paying appx 12k before the purchase and went ahead once I was satisfied by the history. Dealer was all cooperative during the entire deal. Will post more pics and details in subsequent posts.

Beautiful car. The A3 was such an underrated car, partially due to its (high)price to relative (compact)size. Since you bought pre-owned, you’ve just negated that part.

Which version? And how much did you get it for?

[Dracoon]

Originally Posted by cka

Completed my 5 year old itch to buy "chaar challe wali car" by bringing home a preworshipped Audi A3 from a Delhi dealer

Congratulations, car looks in great condition. Hope you have many years of fund driving it

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

36k for the mirror! Is this a quote from Audi Pune directly?

It is indeed 36k only for the mirror,

Got initial quote of some 80k something initially as there were scratches due to broken glass on the door (which I though could have just been polished)

Anyways finally settled on bill of 57k which was approved for Insurance claim. Thankfully had a full dep Insurance.

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by Dracoon

Congratulations, car looks in great condition. Hope you have many years of fund driving it



It is indeed 36k only for the mirror,

Got initial quote of some 80k something initially as there were scratches due to broken glass on the door (which I though could have just been polished)

Anyways finally settled on bill of 57k which was approved for Insurance claim. Thankfully had a full dep Insurance.

Thanks for Sharing! Absurdly high! Great choice with the 0 zep.

[Dracoon]

Hi Guys

Wanted to share that we are going to attempt the longest road trip of our life (yet) in the A3.

So here is the plan. Pune - Goa - Gokarna - Mangalore - Kozhikode - Kochi - Thekkady - Kodaikanal - Ooty - Chikmagalur - Hampi - Fratelli Vineyard - Pune

It will be 3000 km and 20 days. Hope the car does not give any trouble. Have got picture repair kit, tyre inflator, hope don't have to use RSA.

Really hoping to build some memorable experiences.Wish me luck

[Flyer]

Great to see new A3 owners in the group. I request you all to kindly post regular updates of your car in the thread as it will be beneficial for all of us.

I own a pre face lift A3 TDI. 6 years already with the beauty. Even though I have had few niggles in the ownership, I still love the car every bit.

Originally Posted by Dracoon

So I did the test drive, really liked the car, negotiated on price and instantly booked the Audi Approved A3 Technology Diesel with 2 year warranty, all 4 tyres new and road side assistance (they also changed the floor mats and gave audi connect device free). It was an impulse decision but I do not regret it.

Congratulations on your ride. The cosmos blue color looks great on face lift A3.

Originally Posted by IanNazareth

Congratulations on your car. The diesel 2.0 is a beautiful engine.

I picked up a 3y old A3 TDI from Audi Approved last September and has only done one oil change visit since - Running 50500kms at present.

Congratulations on your car. Hope you enjoy every mile in it.

Originally Posted by cka

Completed my 5 year old itch to buy "chaar challe wali car" by bringing home a preworshipped Audi A3 from a Delhi dealer.

Congratulations on your new car. A well taken care Audi will give you a happy ownership experience. A3 have a great engine and gearbox combination. Pretty reliable too.

Originally Posted by Dracoon

Hi Guys

Wanted to share that we are going to attempt the longest road trip of our life (yet) in the A3.

So here is the plan. Pune - Goa - Gokarna - Mangalore - Kozhikode - Kochi - Thekkady - Kodaikanal - Ooty - Chikmagalur - Hampi - Fratelli Vineyard - Pune

It will be 3000 km and 20 days. Hope the car does not give any trouble. Have got picture repair kit, tyre inflator, hope don't have to use RSA.

Really hoping to build some memorable experiences.Wish me luck

Great. Waiting to hear your experience after the trip.

[Dracoon]

Hi Folks,

Has anyone updated/upgraded their A3 MMI? either software or hardware?

I have the facelift A3 2017-2019 version. It really bothers me that I cannot see google map on the MMI screen. Even sub-10 lakh cars come with Carplay and Android Auto.

Keen to know if someone has been able to upgrade their MMI to be able to use carplay/android auto.

I read this link where fellow bhpian has added apple carplay through a hardware installation.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-e...i-a4-b9-2.html (DIY: Adding Apple Carplay / Android Auto to my Audi A4 (B9))

This could be 1 option, however if I am upgrading better to have touchscreen like what is offered by evoretrofilts here

I am also concerned that my warranty may get void (1.5 years Audi approved warranty remaining). I tried to ask dealer for upgrading MMI software, but they said there is no update available.

Any suggession would be welcome.