I bought one of these things

[Caddylack]

Hello all!

I just recently picked up a 2015 A3 Quattro Premium Plus, which is a new platform for me. I've been hanging out with the 2.7T crowd for a few years now as I've been messing with my C5 A6. My C5 project has gotten pretty involved, but the A3 will remain mostly stock. It sounds like pretty major gains can be had by tuning these cars and upgrading a few complimentary parts.

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This car is the best handling vehicle I've ever driven, and I don't even know if it has the sport suspension or anything. I can't imagine how the RS3 must handle.

It also has the best factory stereo that I've ever personally owned. It's the first factory system that I have ever been satisfied with, really. There's no need to bother upgrading.

I do have a couple of concerns...

For one, I think the transmission is acting weird, and I'm nervous. I'm reading about a software update from Audi and all sorts of horror stories about transmission replacement on cars that are just out of warranty (like mine, which has 85k).

When the car is stopped, in D, with foot off of the brake and gas, sometimes the car doesn't move forward. Sometimes it moves forward too much, in a way that makes stop-and-go driving in heavy traffic really awkward.

The throttle in general seems really touchy, and almost like an on/off switch. It's sluggish until you really give it some gas, and then you're doing a damn launch.

There also might be some sort of clunk in the rear end that I notice at low speeds.

I didn't pay for any kind of extended warranty, so I think I only have 90 days from the date of purchase. I'm definitely going to report it and see what happens. I like the car, so I will either get this one fixed or return it and exchange for a different A3.

Wish me luck!

Matt

[Caddylack]

Normal

Normal how?

[jbain2]

^nice warm welcome to the platform.


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[Caddylack]

HOLY CRAP


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[Caddylack]

I had to check the join date to make sure it wasn't AI, but I couldn't resist.

Ancient!

I'm into old Cadillacs, dumbass.

You state: "This car is the best handling vehicle I've ever driven" Hahahhahah! Says allot about Tahoes and Challengers and 2000 A6's

No, it doesn't say "allot". You literally just named vehicles from 4 different classes, all of which are absolute boats.

Then you state: "I can't imagine how the RS3 must handle." Its the same exact suspension! MQB! A3 MQB! RS3 MQB! Hello!

Thanks for the help. I'm not sure why I would expect the RS3 to have larger sway bars than the A3. In hindsight, it was silly of me.

Then you proclaim: "It also has the best factory stereo that I've ever personally owned" Really! Wow! Your 2000 2.7 Tahoe and Challenger cars never had a good system?

Yes car stereos have improved since 2000!

My A3 is a 2015, my Tahoe is a 2013, and my Challenger *was* a 2010. The Challenger even had the "premium" audio system, bro. Have you ever even heard of Boston Acoustics?

But why doesn't my 2000 sound as good as my 2015? That's the big question.

Then you throw your vast 2000 A6 manual gearbox plus Tahoe and Challengers knowledge and experience into it

Do you even own a car?

Nothing wrong with it...except it being compared to a 2000 A6 01E gearbox Tahoe and Challengers...

When did that happen?

My 2015 Audi S3 has 210,000 miles on it!

That's pretty sweet. When are you going to buy a new car with less miles?

Tahoe and Challengers dont have DSGs...

Mine did.

Did you know...its drive by wire???? Much different than a 2000 A6 Tahoe and Challengers..

You might want to double-check.

did you think to investigate or just gonna take the 9 year old car to a shop let them sort it out?

Well, I'll probably just pick a random shop I find on google, even though I just bought the car 2 weeks ago and it's still under warranty from the dealership.

2000 A6 2.7T 01E??? wow! 24 year old car manual gearbox car that you compare it to a 2015 A3 DSG...along with Tahoe and Challengers...Amazing!

When did that happen?

Stick with your Tahoes and Challengers and 2000 A6's

I certainly will, but I'll probably also drive a 2015 Audi A3 2.0T Quattro, at least sometimes. It's blue!


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[Caddylack]

Update:

I called Carmax regarding the trans, and they told me to just pick a dealership. Woohoo!

If it's meant to be, I'll have a brand new trans installed by the dealership soon.

Who else has been down this route with diagnosing and replacing under warranty?


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[RudyH]

I havent but that seems like a good customer service!

One thing too, is to see if they can check the Haldex as well. Just form some of your notes above around clunks in the rear.
Hate to have a FWD A3 when you thought you had AWD!!

I'm not sure the best way with an A3 though, besides looking for codes. Might want to expand more on that one

[Caddylack]

I havent but that seems like a good customer service!

One thing too, is to see if they can check the Haldex as well. Just form some of your notes above around clunks in the rear.
Hate to have a FWD A3 when you thought you had AWD!!

I'm not sure the best way with an A3 though, besides looking for codes. Might want to expand more on that one

There are several reasons why I like to buy from bigger companies like CarMax and Carvana. One of the reasons is peace of mind that I'm at least getting something I'm initially happy with. Carvana, for example, gives you a 7 day "no questions asked" return period, in case you aren't happy with the car. I went with CarMax this time simply because they offered me a better deal. Carmax gives me 90 days on the engine and trans, and that's with me declining any extra warranty.

I'm hoping this won't turn into some sort of disagreement where the dealership can't find anything wrong and then the car breaks down 91 days after the date of purchase.

Hopefully they are able to observe some of the symptoms and/or see some codes, and it goes smoothly. I mean, they know Carmax is paying, so I hope they won't hesitate to give themselves the work.

[Caddylack]

I got hit just now.

I was stopped, waiting to pull out of the Dunkin Donuts parking lot, with one car ahead of me. The car ahead of me started to pull out, but then they saw an ambulance coming, so they stopped and threw the car in reverse. They didn't even notice there was another car behind them, and they ran right into me.



The driver was a young woman with no license or insurance. Fantastic, I know.

Now I have a decision to make. I can file a claim with my company, pay a deductible, and add an accident to the vehicle history report. Or, I can just replace the grille and crash bar.

I just wrecked my Challenger and had to file a total loss claim, so, the timing is not great.


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[Caddylack]

Oh, for those that are wondering: my coffee was fine.


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[19birel]

If the marks on the bumper are just paint transfer, I'd either buy a used grill for cheap or get an RS style one off ebay and call it a day. Would cost you just a couple hundred $$ either way and easy enough to DIY!

As for the transmission, that does sound like relatively normal S-Tronic/DSG behavior, but you can also reset some adaptations in the transmission using VCDS or OBDeleven which can help with that sort of stuff as well. Awesome carmax is covering a dealer visit to confirm and fix if needed though! let us know how that ends up! Good chance she's due for DSG and Haldex service anyways

As far as performance goes, there's a lot that can be picked up with just a tune. Get a Cobb Accessport and a good ECU/TCU tune combo (EQT is great, the "free" cobb tunes are junk) and you'll be shocked by quick the thing is! A nice super budget friendly option is a JB4, which you can find secondhand for next to nothing (MK7 GTI JB4 will work on this car) and that should still be good to close to 300hp at the crank.

I have this car's fwd cousin from Wolfsburg, a MK7.5 GTI, and started with a JB4, before moving to making my own Stage 1 tune, and then going big turbo (still self tuned)- the MQB cars are really fun to fiddle with!