[ashfinlayson]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and going to go and view a couple of used Q3s. Chopping in our BMW 330i saloon for something with a more practical boot now that we've got a dog and a sprog. We've had a look at Mokka's, CX-3s and Quashqis but the Q3 seems to check all the boxes. We're after a smaller, taller car with more functional space, as nice as the beamer rocket is, it's is too long, heavy steering and their manual boxes are hard work in traffic for my other half.

We had a 2.L TFSI TT for 4 years and I've currently got a mk2 TTS so we like our Audis and the TFSI engines. The spec we're looking at is: 2013-15, 2.L petrol, manual, quattro. Sline, nav, bluetooth etc if budget allows.

- Is there anything glaringly obvious that I should be looking out for when test driving these?
- Are these belt or chain driven?
- Are there any known faults/recalls, water pumps, haldex pumps etc?

Many thanks
Ash

 

[S4'ed]

Early waterpumps (pre 2013) have had issues (leaks)

This engine (EA888 Gen-1) has a timing chain, but there are problems with the lower chain tensioner on engines built before Jan 2012. The older revision tensioner can fail, and grenade your engine. Check the engine build date decal on the engine, near the oil dipstick, date is at the upper right corner of the white decal.

Change the Haldex fluid and filter every 30,000 miles.

Change the engine oil and filter every 5000 miles. Use the proper VAG spec oil.

Change the PCV/Oil separator/pressure regulator unit (round black plastic thing on top of the engine, under the plastic cosmetic cover) to the latest revision part number. Buy it from VAG, to make sure you get the latest version. Takes about 20 minutes to change. When these fail, they can cause the rear crankshaft seal to dislodge from its mounting plate, causing an oil leak. It is expensive to replace the seal because the transmission needs to be removed for access.

Overall, these are actually the most reliable Audi model.

 

[ashfinlayson]

Thanks S4'ed, we went and looked at a couple today. First the 2012 2.L tfsi Quattro SE. It was gutless tbh, when I put my foot down the clutch slipped at 4,000rpm on a couple of occasions so we walked away. Then we went elsewhere and tried a late 14' tdi quattro sline plus. That seemed like a lovely car, I'm not normally keen on diesel but this one seemed like a crackin' car, stacks of options too. Any known common faults on the 2.L diesels?

 

[S4'ed]

Since I am from the land of Trump, I know nothing about the diesels...none were ever offered in the US for the Q3, only the 2.0 TFSI petrol engine is offered here.......