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-   -   I bought an Audi A3 35 TFSI Premium Plus (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/198217-i-bought-audi-a3-35-tfsi-premium-plus-3.html)

Thank you! Only time will tell, have to run in the Octi first :)

Thank you very much!
Buying and maintaining a Merc seemed like a daunting task so stayed away from the brand. V40 is a gem of a car but scarce dealer/service network was a deterrent. But the biggest factor was the cost. My maximum budget was 25 lakhs and I had the Octavia 1.8 style plus in mind. The moment I found out that was not an option anymore there were only 2 cars I could afford at a stretch. The VRS or the A3. Mrs was totally against two cars that looked alike on the outside and VRS delivery dates were highly suspect so that pretty much sealed it.

I envy you. Give me a good hatchback anyday!

Congratulations and amazingly written review!

I think you made an amazing decision, the A3 is a fantastic car, especially for city drives. I love that exterior/interior combo, I'd love to have something like that on a future car!

Enjoy it!

Congratulations on the new A3 Deepak!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading the clean and crisp review with lots of pictures.

As you have rightly mentioned, though the A3 looks bad on paper with the 1.4TSi engine, I would say the 150bhp/250Nm is more than adequate for the driving conditions on our Indian roads. I am sure it can cruise at 120kph all day long without breaking sweat and reach you to your destination in comfort. And it would definitely not be a slouch either for those occasions of spirited driving. IMO, the suspensions contribute equally - if not more, to the fun factor. And A3 with its multilink suspensions has the best suspension setup in this segment (along with the Octavia 1.8TSi and the VRS). After driving the Jetta and the 330iGT, I would say the 330i GT can't hold a candle to the Jetta's handling!

And those seats look really comfortable. Believe me, the lumbar supports are real value for those long journeys. OT, my wife still hates me for the lack of lumbar support in the BMW. She says Jetta seats were far more comfortable.

Another great thing about your car is the BiXenon headlights. Powerful headlights increase the safety by several levels during night time driving, especially with all those U.D.O's on our roads (unidentified dark objects). With these powerful lights, your average speed can increase by at least 10kph in the night.

As Nikhil rightly summarised, you have got yourself the perfectly balanced package - adequate engine, fantastic handling, powerful headlights, comfortable seats and last but not the least, the badge value.

Enjoy the car to the fullest! Wishing you tens of thousands of miles and smiles!

Looking forward to seeing your car soon.

PS: Congratulations to your dad on the new Octy 1.8TSi. I think you and your dad can do regular car swaps to enjoy both the cars!

Loved your write up. It had a perfect mixture of emotions, drama and twists. Just like your car I guess. Congratulations. Looks very classy and understated.

2 things stood out for me in this review. One, the integration of the MMI inside of dashboard and it rising up at the start-up of the car. Wow. Pure drama.

The second was the twist in the end. :D Well, if you already have access to the 1.8 TSI, I see no reason to not go for a car with an upgraded badge, interiors, handling and overall finesse.

Hope to see the review of the Octavia too. :)

Congrats deepfreak15 on your acquisition, and it looks classy. clap:

I don't remember reading any other A3 ownership on the forum (I have honestly not researched though). I think this is the first of its kind, and a great one at that. :thumbs up

I have driven the A3 2.0 TDI. I was really expecting a lot from the engine, considering the fact that I drive a 1.6 GT TDI, but was not very impressed. However, as a product it is quite a good one. And your experience with the Sales staff only assures their credibility to other possible purchasers.

Wish you many more happy and fuss free ownership days, with blissful driving.

Happy motoring.

Congratulations on the A3 Thompson! :D Wish you many many miles and years of happiness.

I love compact sedans. Not the improvised, chopped to a 4 meter length ones in our market, but the real ones. The cars where the engineers stuck to a compact shape without compromising on quality or specifications for better usability and sportiness. Add in a turbo petrol and it becomes near perfect!

While a 1.8 or a 2.0 TSI would be wicked, but honestly that 1.4 isn't bad. Though we care a lot about an engine, sometimes it's best to not miss the wood for the trees.

Can't wait for a spin on your A3 the next time I am in the city. Just keep that on demand cylinder thingy switched off lol:

Thank you very much for your kind words. Hopefully somewhere down the line manufacturers give us the option to pick and chose the features we need like beige vs black interiors etc. I know Deetjohn had mentioned this in a thread before, I would have loved it if they gave me an option Sunroof vs Paddle shifts.

I need to thank you! You played a key role in both my car selection and the review.

Thankfully you have a fix on the way. I hate to think what I will go through when the next upgrade itch bites.

Thank you so much and really look forward to catching up. Sadly will have to miss the June drive.

Thank you very much for your kind words. Thankfully this buying process was less dramatic than my KTM Duke 390. My wife was afraid of seeing an action replay she insisted I buy the car before I made her life miserable.

Thanks, even more fancier is when its stowed away and the proximity sensors kick in, the MMI slides out and once the danger has passed slides back in with no intervention, I've caught myself thanking it for the help when it does that lol:

I will try but might end up with a comparison because the Octavia has quiet a number of reviews.

Thank you very much!

The GT twins have been a major disruptor in our market. Does not break the bank(relatively) when you buy them but then when the time comes to upgrade you wont be satisfied unless you look a couple of segments above.


Thank you very much Sir! Thanks for helping me in my research phase, though I completely went the other way. (Should not come as a surprise to you after those 4 years in college stupid:)

I am 100% sure I'm not the only one guilty of looking at the spec sheet and completely discrediting a car. I scoffed at the A3, but having driven it for 2800 Kms the car has changed me!

Any day buddy, just say when! And oh the COD switch is your right foot.

Very detailed and practical review. Congratulations on the buy.

If I would have written about my experience of VW Golf (German version) it would have come out very same, ok not exactly same as yours is better clap:

A few affirmations for the engine as we share it;
I have lived with this engine for +10,000 km and believe me it is enough, you should treat yourself and use S mode more often to bring in the smile whenever possible. I was worried about the 150 horses being okay and not great but overtime this has proved to be just a mental block. The engine can keep chugging at insanely high speeds that are allowed here for the sections of roads. Even in Germany you have to keep yourself entertained by crawling to speed limits so the engine will never let you down.

It does not drink in excess, averages about 6.4 liters to 100km approximately 15 kmpl. The best fuel consumption figures I could manage is 4.7liters to 100km i.e., 21,2 kmpl if I keep on driving at 80 kmph in 7th gear which is tough to do and not advisable in India or here for exactly opposite reasons (to low here and too high in city there) at 100kmph I get 5l/100km (with heating no AC) and 6l/100km with AC in summers.

12000km service had no reported issues. I wanted VW to switch to shorter oil change cycle after first change at 15000km but as they are paying for the oil they did not budge but due to engineering points as my series of engine in LongTermOil thingy 20,000 between oil change which I do not agree to. I will be keeping an eye of how things go with your services.

Secondly, I have the pedals but those get used only on my solo journeys alone as wife and kid don't like me revving unnecessarily. I play the game with system as Car switch tells you how you scored (driving score) during the journey. Correct gear changes, braking, auto stop, crawl, start stops and sudden bursts are accounted for, living on a slight hill has me beating the system only sometimes, I am sure you will explore. With passengers I just put in D and enjoy the drive.

Enjoy the ride.

Congratulations on owning a car that I gave one hard SERIOUS stare (look is an understatement) before passing it's size off as a tad smaller than our demands.
I fail to understand why a 1.4 TFSI is even available in this country. The 1.2 tsi, 1.8 tsi and now the 2.0 tsi are gems along with the cars they come in. This one seemed like a misfit!

Quoting your question about the gearbox, NO it's NOT the DQ200. This is an older Wet Clutch S-Tronic transmission in 6 speed guise. When I say old, it's an OLD model! It's heavier, has better clutch quality, is more expensive to produce and is now almost defunct within the VAG stables. What makes it attractive, though is it's reliability over the DQ200. Mine failed within 3 years of ownership and I am running on my second mechatronic unit.
PS: Please DO NOT CHANGE The DSG oil outside of the dealership!

Thank you and yes did see your comments before I took the plunge so again thank you!

S mode is fast but with all the sound deadening and isolation it just doesn't have the drama you expect from a TSI on the boil. Maybe if I hadn't been spoilt by the 1.2 TSI this would have felt special however, this car feels special in its own way. I am still flabbergasted how this car picks up and maintains speeds while you are completely calm and relaxed. You assume you are doing a sane speed only to look at the speedometer and get shocked to see how fast you are actually going :Shockked: .

Thank you very much for your kind words. Trust me, I really want to believe I have the 6 Speed gear box and would be happier if I did. However, three things make me still think its the 7 speed dry clutch.
a) The brochure states 7 speed
b) The ratios in D and S go up to D7 and S7
c) All forums on the interweb state if the engine is 1.4 transversely mounted then the gear box is a 7 speed dry clutch.

One more point is the 250 NM torque limit of the engine. Because 250 NM is the highest tourqe the DQ200 7-speed dry clutch DSG can handle.

Unless I am mistaken, the A3 diesel gets the 6 speed wet S-tronic and the A3 petrol gets the 7 speed S-tronic.

Audi tries it's very best to differentiate it from the dreaded VW/Skoda ones, but Google shows very similar issues with the S-tronics and their DQ brothers :-)

You are correct. The 6 speed wet clutch S-tronic in the A3 TDI is the same DQ250 that does duty on other VAG cars. So the 7 speed dry clutch in A3 TFSI should be the same DQ200 (problamatic, but now improved?) that appears in other VAG cars.

The joys of owning a car! I do not know when this happened but post my drive to Kanyakumari I noticed a stone chip on the windshield. It was at the bottom centre of the windshield so was not in my line of sight but still an irritant.
Option 1: Leave as is.My only concern was what if it started expanding (weather or another stone can do that)
Option 2: Take it to a third party windshield repair company
Option 3: Try to fix it myself

Taking it to Audi and getting it fixed never crossed my mind as this was too minute a chip to warrant a replacement of the windshield. So searched our forum and found a thread on how to fix chips at home.
Placed an order on Amazon and received the kit. Total cost - Rs1,435.

Things needed, the kit (obviously), shade and direct sunlight. Let me try to explain the science and the process as briefly as I can but there are some really good youtube videos that explain in detail.


The science: As most of you already know our windshields are laminated, which means there are 3 layers, a laminate sandwiched between two layers of glass. A chip occurs when the external layer is broken thereby allowing air to enter and this is what causes the black spot (refraction).


So the goal is to remove the air completely and replace it with a resin. Do note: Not all chips can be repaired and the location of the chip plays a major role in deciding if it can be fixed or the windshield has to be replaced. If its in your direct line of vision filling a resin in the glass will create distortion so use your discretion.
The steps: Everything except the cleaning material is included in the kit
Step1: Park your car in the shade and clean the windshield
Step2: Using the pin to clean the chip and remove any lose debris
Step3: Stick the base sticker so the hole aligns over the chip
Step4: Remove the top layer off the base sticker and stick the Injector holder over it
Step5: Pour the resin into the plastic holder (NOT the syringe). This step is not as easy as it looks on youtube. The resin does not seem to want to go in and tries to flow out. Hence please make sure you cover the surrounding areas with a cloth.
Step6: Place the syringe fully depressed into the holder and then pull it the plunger up and lock it in place with the clip provided.
Step7: Wait 10 minutes. So during this time what is expected to happen is the air is being sucked out and the resin is flowing in the chip.
Step8: Take the syringe out, let air in the holder and then again place the syringe in the holder and pull the plunger out and lock it in the second position and wait for 20 minutes.

Some people say tapping the glass around the area helps the air escape and the resin settle in.

Step9: Remove everything and then clean the area again.
Step10:Now place a drop of the resin over the chip and place the clear plastic provided over it like a band aid and park the car in direct sunlight for 15 minutes. This step is to ensure you do not have any divots in the glass otherwise when you use the wiper it will leave streaks when it passes over it.
Step11: Remove the plastic and then scrap off the excess dried up resin with the blade provided. This step is not as hard as it sounds.
In hindsight I should have taken step by step pictures but I was more concerned about not spilling resin on the paint that I completely forgot.



Overall I was happy with the procedure though the results were not 100%. The reason for that is, like filling any hole (Tyre puncture, Tooth filling) the cavity/chip has to be drilled so the resin can flow in freely. I skipped this step for 2 reasons. A)I do not have a tiny drill, B)I do not have the guts to drill a hole in my windshield even if its only on the outer layer(Caution: Do not drill through the laminate).

Fastag Update

When I bought the car I already had an ICICI fastag account and was using it with the Polo, somehow getting the tag for the A3 skipped my mind. On the delivery day, as per Government norms got my car with the ICICI fastag sticker. I logged into my portal to top up and noticed it still had the Polo registered so called Audi and was assigned Mr.Jayakumar to help with my Fastag queries. He immediately updated my car by removing the Polo and replacing it with the A3. So happily I topped up and went for my first long distance drive. Couple of toll booths later I got a "Blacklisted" message at the toll booth. The toll operator says I don't have balance but I have text messages to prove otherwise. I call up the ICICI helpline and they tell me to tell the Toll operator to update their system (This was their standard response when I called them multiple times) and the toll operators helplessly tell me they don't have such an option.
So I call up Mr Jayakumar again and told him the situation I was stuck in, I have an account charged with sufficient funds but every time my sticker is scanned it comes up as blacklisted because of insufficient funds and I did tell him the ICICI hotline was of no help. He took the case upon himself and not once did he tell me to contact ICICI or an ICICI agent(this was actually recommended by the useless ICICI hotline), he kept me updated of all discussions he had with ICICI and identified that there were two customer IDs registered with my Address and phone number. The sticker I had on the car was in negative balance and tagged to the new account.
There were a couple of options, Close the old account and claim for refund of the money (15-20 days) or Request for a new sticker with the old account number and remove the current sticker on the car. I went with option B (Its not that difficult to remove the existing sticker, you just need a razor blade) because there was no way I was going to follow up with ICICI for my refund. I got the new sticker hand delivered at my doorstep and was thrilled to find the issue is now sorted.

Conclusion
a)When buying a new car if you already have a fastag account get your new vehicle tagged to the existing account - it is possible
b)Amazing support from Audi so far. I know its early days but Mr Jayakumar does deserve a shout out for his help and not once did he try to deflect the issue to ICICI.