2010 MY11 Audi S3 - any issues to look out for?

[kai_h]

I'm getting a 2010 8P S3 (MY11?) with S-Tronic that's going to have about 1 month of factory warranty on it when I get it.
Are there any issues I should be looking out for that can potentially be sorted out under warranty while it still lasts?

[kamold]

Main thing to check would be the transmission. Have you considered getting the Audi (Allianz) extended warranty though? If you shop around you can get it for under 2k for another 3 years.

[kai_h]

Cool, thanks for the advice. I'll be keeping a close eye on the DSG for the next month and will get it into Audi at the slightest sign of trouble.
I'm on the fence with regard to the warranty. I've seen "extended warranties" in the past that weren't worth the paper they're written on, but I assume the Audi one would cover more than your regular one...

[Alister]

My advice would be to get it scanned for fault codes using VCDS.

Anything persistent (ie comes back after clearing) is likely to be an issue that you should be getting checked out before the expiry of the new car warranty.

[kamold]

I'm on the fence with regard to the warranty. I've seen "extended warranties" in the past that weren't worth the paper they're written on, but I assume the Audi one would cover more than your regular one...

This is indeed true for most of the third party warranties.
However the product that Audi sells as 'Audi Factory Plus' is genuinely a good product. It is from Allianz, and the same product is available through some fleet companies, not sure if insurance brokers have access to it also. Get a copy of the PDS and read it. Then decide if you think its worthwhile.

I was going to get it before I sold my A3 as it was very cheap through my fleet company. Basically no limits on repairs up to the value of the vehicle. As close to original warranty as I've seen.

Shop around as there are huge disparities in the price different dealers charge depending on how much they want to make from the sale of the insurance product.

[kai_h]

re: scanning it - good idea. A mate of mine has a VCDS so I'll go down and get him to run a scan on it and then clear all the codes. Only problem with that is he'll want a drive of it. Oh well, he has a Pirelli, so I guess I'll have to take that out for a spin...

re: warranty - I'll have to get the PDS and have a look. Thanks for the tip.

[gareth_oau]

jump on to ozAudi Australian Audi Car Enthusiast Forum

also, get an independent to look at it, I recommend your local APR dealer for example

[kai_h]

Good ideas. I tried to register an account on ozAudi on Wednesday last week, but it wasn't actually activated until earlier this morning. I've now posted in the noob section there...