Ordered S3 - A couple of questions

[S3inSE21]

First post, so please be gentle...

I ordered a new S3 Sportback on Saturday, taking advantage of a pretty good deal through Carwow. Anyway, the dealership tried to sell me a variety of add-ons, such as Asset Protection, Bodycare, SMART insurance and Alloy/tyre protection. My first instinct was that they were overpriced, and that I could get a better deal elsewhere. Do any of you think any of the Audi products offer value for money, or did I do the right thing by declining and trying to source them away from Audi? I will certainly go for gap insurance, and will also get it detailed, but I think I can do without the rest.

2nd question... Can anyone recommend a decent detailing company in SE London? I'd like the new car protection detail, but not particularly enamoured by the price Audi are offering it for.

3rd question... I went for the top Multimedia system with Audi Connect. Would I be correct in saying that I won't be able to use my iPhone 6+ for anything other than streaming music and making calls? I spoke to Vodafone earlier, and they said they could send me a sim which would use part of my existing 20gb monthly data allowance. However, there would be a £6pm charge for doing this (outrageous IMO). I guess the best thing to do will be to get a PAYG data only sim or a cheap contract... Any recommendations on which one would be best?

Finally, does anyone know the average lead time for an S3 Sportback at present, or does it depend on spec?

Many thanks!

 

[steeve]

Gaps ok if you get it at a decent price, the rest, I'm also not convinced the paint protection is crap and usually badly applied.

As far as the wait, there are unregistered stock S3's out there, its a case of finding a spec you're ok with. The second option, which I took, is to find a dealer with a stock A3/S3 order that is still configurable. Then you are able to spec it exactly as you want and get it four to five weeks later.

 

[amped2]

why not apply the paint protection yourself and save yourself a fortune,i did mine

 

[Psyman79]

After a bit of research i found that the alloy/tyre cover is actually pretty good. All other companies i looked into wouldn't cover the S3 wheels. I took it out but couldn't manage a discount Gap can be had cheaper with better cover elsewhere, i used Gap123.

 

[Minion Bob!]

Hi welcome to the forum! You did right by telling them no, basically trying to make their money back is the way I see it.

1. Gap insurance is well worth it and would definitely go for this. If you search the forum there are a number of threads that will be of help but bottom line you could get it from another company at a much lower price. ALA seems to be well considered on this forum. You can also get various insurance products from third parties like smart insurance. It pays to do some comparison. A few members have done the paint protection themselves this is someone who's done it recently see post 248 onwards http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/bw-13-14-15-16.238389/page-7#post-2455667
2. I'll leave this one to someone in London
3. Vodafone is generally a rip off to be fair. Depends where you live as to the signal you'll get. I'd recommend giffgaf which runs on O2s network you can get a sim only data contract quite cheep. There are no contracts with them in the traditional sense and no credit check, it's just a monthly recurring card payment. If you use a comparison site or quidco etc you could also get some cash back or a discounted deal on top of their already cheep deals.

Hope this helps

 

[S3inSE21]

why not apply the paint protection yourself and save yourself a fortune,i did mine

I wouldn't know where to start to be honest. Plus, I'm not a particular fan of manual work. I'm happy to pay someone else to do it, as long as I don't feel like I am being ripped off.

I may change my mind about the Alloy/tyre insurance. In theory it sounds like a good idea, but I would imagine they would do everything possible to wriggle out of paying for any repair.

 

[15audis3]

Audi GAP insurance was reworked in April so it may be worth going for, if you get alloy cover make sure it covers diamond-cut alloy wheels (if applicable). Most of them don't in the small print.

Congrats on the order!

 

[S3inSE21]

Hi welcome to the forum! You did right by telling them no, basically trying to make their money back is the way I see it.

1. Gap insurance is well worth it and would definitely go for this. If you search the forum there are a number of threads that will be of help but bottom line you could get it from another company at a much lower price. ALA seems to be well considered on this forum. You can also get various insurance products from third parties like smart insurance. It pays to do some comparison. A few members have done the paint protection themselves this is someone who's done it recently see post 248 onwards http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/bw-13-14-15-16.238389/page-7#post-2455667
2. I'll leave this one to someone in London
3. Vodafone is generally a rip off to be fair. Depends where you live as to the signal you'll get. I'd recommend giffgaf which runs on O2s network you can get a sim only data contract quite cheep. There are no contracts with them in the traditional sense and no credit check, it's just a monthly recurring card payment. If you use a comparison site or quidco etc you could also get some cash back or a discounted deal on top of their already cheep deals.

Hope this helps

Thanks Izzy - very helpful. Never heard of Giffgaf, but I'll give them a look.

 

[sunscreemer]

Hi and welcome as a fellow member waiting on delivery of their new pride and joy. In answer to your questions i'd always get the Supaguard/Lifeshine treatment as I think it's good, I know some like it some down, plus the packaged cleaning products last me the life of the car and some...! If your car is on finance like mine then i'd get GAP but i'd get your own and I use ALA which I researched and came highly recommend, just get the return to invoice policy. As for the SIM card my provider (EE) will also offer me a second SIM card for use on my existing account at £7/month i think, but i'm probably going to go for their 3 month 6Gb card (about £18 on Amazon) to see how much I use in the first 3 months. As for lead time I ordered mine just over 6 weeks ago and it kept getting brought forward - would have been made next week so that's probably 12 weeks between order and handover (I say would have been, my order being re-submitted as I don't want to collect until September).

 

[SilureMark]

GAP is a must have. I had to claim on my Policy when my car was stolen, it was a Godsend. ALA is who I'd recommend. I would consider Audi, but they have always quoted me silly money for GAP and always refused to match quotes I could get elsewhere. The other add-ons, I just wouldn't bother with any of that, but it's your money. To be honest, when the salesperson starts to talk about all that, I stop them there and then. With regard to build times, my S3 took 9 weeks to arrive on my driveway from the point where I placed the order. Some people seem to have waited a lot longer than that. I think a lot of it depends on how bothered your dealer is in getting the car to you quickly...

 

[sbarker]

I also have a l a and was very reasonable and you can move from car to car foc. I also have Audi tyre protection, 3yrs up to five new tyres, discounted to£190. The gap with a l a was £117 for full like for like not just r t i which would not cover any Audi price increases, that covers Me up to £20k gap.

 

[buz]

I ordered an S3 a few weeks ago and was also offered all their products and it would be easy to fall for their speal.
Audi have now got realistically priced GAP as I was offered a 4yr policy for £190 which is only slightly dearer than my previous ALA policy so worth considering dependant on the terms and conditions.

Now I know there are better treatments available from detailers but I had my last S3 Supaguard treated and for the ease of cleaning the alloys alone it's been worth it! It also offers a protection warranty should anything stain/damage the paint even though I'm not sure to what extent as I haven't claimed, I do know though that if there was any issues then the dealers would be getting it sorted as they applied it. You obviously don't pay full price for it as part of your haggling, I settled at £125 as they wouldn't throw it in completely free, I had already bagged an 11.7% discount on the car though )

 

[sunscreemer]

I also have a l a and was very reasonable and you can move from car to car foc. I also have Audi tyre protection, 3yrs up to five new tyres, discounted to£190. The gap with a l a was £117 for full like for like not just r t i which would not cover any Audi price increases, that covers Me up to £20k gap.

I took out a 4 year ala cover for my BMW and now i'm changing my car after 2.5 years i thought i just had to write off the rest of that policy and take out a new one - can you transfer all or part of the cover then?

 

[sunscreemer]

As an addition.... always worth checking the forums for a discount code for ala
(And Audi would only go down to about £600 for GAP cover that I can get from ala for about £230)

 

[Psyman79]

Audi GAP only covers RTI, you will need to go ALA or Gap123 (others are available) in order to get vehicle replacement which is strongly recommended.

 

[buz]

I've just a read through the Audi GAP and it's provided by a third party. For the first 3 years it does only provide a return to invoice price rather than vehicle replacement with a limit of up to £15k. If you have a 4 yr policy the last year is only a payment to clear your finance so even less benefit, especially when at that point most Audi PCPs will be in positive equity!

 

[M1ke H]

I may change my mind about the Alloy/tyre insurance. In theory it sounds like a good idea, but I would imagine they would do everything possible to wriggle out of paying for any repair.

My OH went for tyre and alloy insurance when she bought her A1 18 months ago, and has in that time had three tyres replaced and one alloy repair without any hassle whatsover (and with no spare in the A1 has had to be rescued by Audi Assist on each occasion). I've had two punctures in the ten months I've owned the S3 and it's cost me two new tyres at my expense (and one rescue by Audi Assist due to there being no jack supplied in the car!).

 

[Rob2k68]

For what I was offered Supaguard for I got a full professional detail using Gyeon products MOHS and Durabead with a two year warranty. Check out the reviews on the detailing sites and beading videos on YouTube.

Not a fan of smart repairs to be honest I firmly believe that to make it 100% perfect you need to do the complete panel.

Gap wise £280 here from Audi for a 4yr policy last year is finance only I think. Got him down from £600+ originally and with the convenience factor went for it whilst doing the handover paperwork.

I'm also using the 6Gb 90 day EE sim for £16 they seem to be a popular choice and I have decent reception mostly 3G.

 

[Forbzeeee]

Audi GAP only covers RTI, you will need to go ALA or Gap123 (others are available) in order to get vehicle replacement which is strongly recommended.

What's wrong with RTI?

 

[Psyman79]

What's wrong with RTI?

Nothing is wrong with RTI, but you'll be worse off if you've had any sort of discount on your car or if replacement car cost has increased since you bought it. Plenty detailed threads about GAP so i won't hijack this one