New to the S3 world, Help!

[Ogio4154]

audi S3 it will be my second car.

I thought about getting a cla 45 amg but if the engine goes bad it will literally be a fortune to replace where as the S3 engine is more readily found.

1. What year should I buy? I am setting my budget for 30k for a used S3 I can find 2015, and 16s at that price and I know there was a refresh at 2017 but that's a couple of thousand over my 30k budget. Should I spend the extra couple of thousand to get a 2017?


2. Is there anything I should look for specifically when looking at an s3?

3.Any major problems in the car?

4.What is the average maintenance costs? Non dealer prices please

5. Do you know of any good shops to get servicing done in the southeast of Los Angeles area?

 

[ViperG]

I own a 2016 and don't regret not getting the new model refresh. The 7 speed transmission would be nice in the 2017 vs the 6 speed. Oh and I think they improved the adaptive cruise control even more in 2017. I don't really care about the virtual cockpit I like the simplicity of dial gauges. And the Adaptive cruise and lane assist is already nice in the 2016. But if you like any of that I'd go for the 2017. Someone with a 2017+ would have to speak to whether it's a deal breaker. But for me it wasn't.

Fantastic cars but they are higher then normal maintenance. If you're a DIYer it cost almost nothing though to do your services. Haldex service which is just a fluid change and cleaning the pump screen is maybe $50-$70 which should be done every 20k miles. DSG fluid change at 40k miles I think costs under $200 for fluids and filters. Cheap and really not that difficult to do yourself but will cost you if you go to the dealer for service.

Service records would be good to look for in making your decision. A lot of people neglect the Haldex maintenance due to most cars not requiring any rear differential fluid changes for 80-100k miles. Same with the DSG service. But at $30K I wouldn't think it would be a high mileage car anyway.
I almost picked up a 2016 for $24k myself with 40k miles on it before finding my Viper Green model with only 13k miles. So at that point mine wasn't due for anything more then the normal oil changes.

Other than that the normal things apply someone who's modified the hell out of it. You're just looking for trouble. And first owner or even if you can get a private seller S3. It's nice to meet the previous driver and get a feel for how he maintained/drove the car.

Good luck. I love my S by far one of my favorite cars.