Possible 2019 S3 purchase advice

B-J-P

B-J-P

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I’ve just put a deposit down on a 2019 S3 (not seen it in person yet) and have now realised that it will have the GPF.
Looking at the feedback on here and I’m almost tempted to pull out of the sale and lose my £500.

Anyone got any advice and whether or not I should go ahead? One of the selling points was the exhaust sound after coming from an SQ5 diesel.

cheers
 
What’s putting you off it?

I have a 2019 S3 with a GPF and Im happy with it. If you’re after more sound then you can always get a Remus or Miltek GPF back system (something I am looking into but only because I’ve had mine a while now)
 
harryw92 said:
What’s putting you off it?

I have a 2019 S3 with a GPF and Im happy with it. If you’re after more sound then you can always get a Remus or Miltek GPF back system (something I am looking into but only because I’ve had mine a while now)
Click to expand...
The comments I’ve seen online are saying exhaust sound is non existent, I can’t seem to find any video clips of the exhaust in standard mode though to be honest , so hard to get a feel of what it’ll be like if you see what I mean
 
B-J-P said:
The comments I’ve seen online are saying exhaust sound is non existent, I can’t seem to find any video clips of the exhaust in standard mode though to be honest , so hard to get a feel of what it’ll be like if you see what I mean
Click to expand...

Best thing todo is go and have a test drive and see what you think.

It’s definitely not as loud as the older ones but in dynamic you notice sound difference.

For me it didn’t bother me as the spec, mileage and colour was too good to walk away from.
 
Ok cheers, good to get some insight from someone who has one.

The car’s immaculate and has the visual cockpit and matrix headlights so fairly decent spec, like you the spec did it for me but wasn’t aware of the GPF until after I’d done the deal.
It’s a 5 hour round trip for the test drive so fairly certain it’ll go ahead.
 
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I have a 2019 S3 also bought mine brand new in march 2019 .
To be honest it was a massive disappointment for me as I knew nothing about the GPF filter until I had bought it
the noise it makes isn't that of the 66/18 plate cars and you don't get the DSG blip on the upshift which I wanted
but I have got use to the sound now after 22k miles :smiley: I really liked the spec and colour so I kept it .

What is the spec of the car you are looking to buy @B-J-P ?
 
Mr Freeze said:
I have a 2019 S3 also bought mine brand new in march 2019 .
To be honest it was a massive disappointment for me as I knew nothing about the GPF filter until I had bought it
the noise it makes isn't that of the 66/18 plate cars and you don't get the DSG blip on the upshift which I wanted
but I have got use to the sound now after 22k miles :smiley: I really liked the spec and colour so I kept it .

What is the spec of the car you are looking to buy @B-J-P ?
Click to expand...
Ok good to know thank you, I’ll probably see how it goes when I view it. It’s got the technology pack visuals dash and matrix headlights
 

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Mr Freeze said:
I have a 2019 S3 also bought mine brand new in march 2019 .
To be honest it was a massive disappointment for me as I knew nothing about the GPF filter until I had bought it
the noise it makes isn't that of the 66/18 plate cars and you don't get the DSG blip on the upshift which I wanted
but I have got use to the sound now after 22k miles :smiley: I really liked the spec and colour so I kept it .

What is the spec of the car you are looking to buy @B-J-P ?
Click to expand...

Visual=virtual cockpit
 
Couple of things that may help you make up your mind
1 - Are you coming from a similar spec car or something more basic?
2 - Can you afford to lose the £500?
3 - Is the GPF / DSG blip worth, effectively, the extra £500 price of a non GPF car?
4 - Do you trust you’ll find one you like in a pre GPF car with the virtual and matrix options?
 
B-J-P said:
I’ve just put a deposit down on a 2019 S3 (not seen it in person yet) and have now realised that it will have the GPF.
Looking at the feedback on here and I’m almost tempted to pull out of the sale and lose my £500.

Anyone got any advice and whether or not I should go ahead? One of the selling points was the exhaust sound after coming from an SQ5 diesel.

cheers
Click to expand...
If you decide not to buy don't walk away from your £500 come up with an excuse of it's not in the condition I thought etc, you will be covered by distance selling regulations.

Part of it "Where a vehicle sale is concluded at a distance, the accredited business will make clear your right to cancel within 14 days".
 
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B-J-P said:
Ok good to know thank you, I’ll probably see how it goes when I view it. It’s got the technology pack visuals dash and matrix headlights
Click to expand...
Another thing to bear in mind is the gpf cars had a higher retail price and with a couple of options pushed it in the Luxury car tax band at £500 ish a year road tax.
 
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AlS3BE said:
Another thing to bear in mind is the gpf cars had a higher retail price and with a couple of options pushed it in the Luxury car tax band at £500 ish a year road tax.
Click to expand...
Yeah good point this was a deal breaker for me my car tax is around £155 a year instead of the £500
 
I read here, and may be mistaken, that the S3‘s of 2018 were almost at the 40k limit and any options would’ve pushed the RRP into the 40k territory.

However balancing against that, the extra £1000 for another 3 years of £355 (ok 1165, this is bag of a fag packet maths here) for having a pre GPF S3 is expected and we have to bite the cost

I would cite if the road tax cost is a deal breaker, maybe it’s not for you, but coming from an SQ5, I’m guessing (well hoping, so the joke works) you look like this guy…

1632319214141


:)
 
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toooldforboyracing said:
IRL, would virtual & matrix not push it past the 40k limit anyway, assuming these are deal breakers for the purchase?
Click to expand...
Mine was registered august 2018 just before the gpf rules and it falls under the luxury car tax. Mine is a black edition with tech pack and roof rails. Think mine was like a few quid under £40k, the roof rails brought it very close to the limit. Was told same car September 2018 would have hit the luxury car tax band.
 
Makes sense, I didn’t realise until after I posted this was a SB (Sportback) and would have more leeway before the tax threshold was reached
 
toooldforboyracing said:
I read here, and may be mistaken, that the S3‘s of 2018 were almost at the 40k limit and any options would’ve pushed the RRP into the 40k territory.

However balancing against that, the extra £1000 for another 3 years of £355 (ok 1165, this is bag of a fag packet maths here) for having a pre GPF S3 is expected and we have to bite the cost

I would cite if the road tax cost is a deal breaker, maybe it’s not for you, but coming from an SQ5, I’m guessing (well hoping, so the joke works) you look like this guy…

View attachment 243282

:)
Click to expand...
My problem with the road tax on the S3 was if you pay 1 pound lower than £40k you save £350 a year in car tax which is crazy
 
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Mr Freeze said:
My problem with the road tax on the S3 was if you pay 1 pound lower than £40k you save £350 a year in car tax which is crazy
Click to expand...
For sure, it’s not like is tapered to make it tenable. This is a proper “cross the line and we don’t lube up beforehand” type of situation
 
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Mr Freeze said:
My problem with the road tax on the S3 was if you pay 1 pound lower than £40k you save £350 a year in car tax which is crazy
Click to expand...

yup, that was my thinking as well. If I’m paying luxury road tax it better be on a £60k+ car so well into the tax band not just a few quid over.
 
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AlS3BE said:
Mine was registered august 2018 just before the gpf rules and it falls under the luxury car tax. Mine is a black edition with tech pack and roof rails. Think mine was like a few quid under £40k, the roof rails brought it very close to the limit. Was told same car September 2018 would have hit the luxury car tax band.
Click to expand...
Mine was £40688 but £750 of the price was after care what Audi added so it fell under the higher tax bracket .
Plus I haggled for a week and got it for £35k which was a bonus
 
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Mr Freeze said:
Mine was £40688 but £750 of the price was after care what Audi added so it fell under the higher tax bracket .
Plus I haggled for a week and got it for £35k which was a bonus
Click to expand...
Same with mine, kept pushing the sales guys as I knew he needed to sell the car before September as that’s when the gpf rules came in so got a great deal. Reckon with high second hand car prices now if I sell privately I could get away with losing a few grand in 3 years and almost 25k miles.
 
AlS3BE said:
Same with mine, kept pushing the sales guys as I knew he needed to sell the car before September as that’s when the gpf rules came in so got a great deal. Reckon with high second hand car prices now if I sell privately I could get away with losing a few grand in 3 years and almost 25k miles.
Click to expand...
That is one thing I regret not test driving the car as I didn't know a thing about the GPF filters . Having had an 8p S3 and a pre facelift 8v previously It didn't enter my head it would sound different what a mistake that was .
 
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Looking for an s3 just now and liked the way my neighbours s3 sounded. It was a 66 plate, I want to go newer than that but to keep the noise I need an 18 plate or older?
 
MrZ said:
Looking for an s3 just now and liked the way my neighbours s3 sounded. It was a 66 plate, I want to go newer than that but to keep the noise I need an 18 plate or older?
Click to expand...
Gpf models was introduced September 2018 so anything registered before this doesn’t have a gpf
 
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Mine's a March 2018 pre-GPF with the Tech Pack and a few other options, but it must have been below the magic £40k as the tax rate is the standard one. I didn't really know this was a sweet-spot when purchasing and had only vaguely heard of the GPF.

But, just to prove a point, mine's needed out-of-warranty work to make its Hadlex setup work properly...

Karma says you'll end-up paying £££ or missing out on whatever you get! ;)
 
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The thing is that the saloon was priced a little higher at base. Think the SB was 35k and change and the saloon was a few grand higher (can’t see any price lists from 2018 online but sure someone has one somewhere). Seats / Bose / Virtual etc would definitely push it over. At best a 2018 will have a £500 annual tax until 2023 (assuming it’s 1 + 4 years not 1 + 5 years), then dropping to £155 or whatever it goes upto

In any case, if you want the car and it makes you happy, in my own opinion it’s like L’Oreal and “Worth It”
 
So really if that was the list price in 2018 if I want an 17-18-19 plate saloon now with pan roof, digital dash and sport seats and currently I reckon I will be paying around 30k the cars haven't dropped all that much from new. Crazy market currently. What would an 18 plate saloon have cost roughly in the used market before the corona price Increase?
 
I have a 17 saloon and it‘s just got tech pack/cockpit and b&o. Any other options would have taken it over the threshold.
 
thanks all for the input so far.

I now have a further issue, I collected the car on Saturday and drove it for the first time in the dark yesterday. The car doesn’t have matrix headlights!

the garage have held their hands up and apologised and offered me £250 in compensation or I can return the car.

now to decide what to do :(
 
That’s a very personal choice, if you’ve never had matrix lights you can’t really appreciate how important they are.
 
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B-J-P said:
thanks all for the input so far.

I now have a further issue, I collected the car on Saturday and drove it for the first time in the dark yesterday. The car doesn’t have matrix headlights!

the garage have held their hands up and apologised and offered me £250 in compensation or I can return the car.

now to decide what to do :(
Click to expand...
How important they are to you I don't have them on my car and find the standard LED lights great . If I was in your shoes and I really liked the car I would tell them I"am happy to keep it but I want a bit more than £250 .
 
Last edited:
Very true, I decided to accept a £400 goodwill payment which I consider a fair resolution. Shame I don’t have them but the condition of the car was too good to have to send it back
 
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