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Post by Tim on Jun 27, 2019 9:35:10 GMT
A colleague at work has a courtesy A3 in '35' form while his Q5 is getting bodywork repairs.
I think it had a petrol engine as the rev counter appeared to be redlined at the mark I took to be 6k (but there are no numbers on it).
I have no idea about the spec but it had a digital dash, autobox and toys such as lane keep assist and fancy cruise control where you could set the gap. I did suggest we try setting that to the regulated 6 inch tailgating distance preferred by Audi drivers but got told to get lost
This latter item was a source of constant annoyance to the driver as it automatically tries to correct you if you change lanes without indicating. He thought it was pretty dangerous and we couldn't find a way of switching it off although we didn't stop to try, maybe you have to be stationary with the handbrake on to make the change. I did succeed in switching the vibrate function off though.
At one point, crossing the new Forth Bridge, it decided we were too close to the right lane in the overtaking lane so steered us left towards the artic we were overtaking.....
The ride felt unreasonably firm for something not sporty and the interior plastics were generally pretty shit. The door cappings in particular were cheap and the large bit of silver trip ahead of the passenger felt cheap.
I'm happy not to want one of these at all. I got the impression that driving it is like watching paint dry.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jun 27, 2019 10:15:51 GMT
I've never been in any Audi that has shit plastics. I can agree that the ride can be firm but Audi interiors are pretty much the best in the business at that price point.
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Post by Tim on Jun 27, 2019 11:02:25 GMT
There were so many different textures to the multiitude of different bits but a lot of them were hard, shiny and felt quite thin. I agree that some were reasonably good but none struck me as being significantly better than those in, say, my Micra. In fact there were so many different bits of plastic that a journey from Edinburgh to Dundee probably wasn't enough to get a decent feel of them all  |
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Post by Martin on Jun 27, 2019 11:50:40 GMT
I've never been in any Audi that has shit plastics. I can agree that the ride can be firm but Audi interiors are pretty much the best in the business at that price point. I’ve always thought they were overrated. Agree that most of the main surfaces are generally pretty good but there are a lot cheap bits and I don’t think they are any better than their competitors |
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Post by Tim on Jun 27, 2019 12:59:07 GMT
Oops.
Just had a look on the Audi website and it appears it was actually an A1!
did I mention I hadn't looked at the tailgate?
The chauffeur said it was an A3 and I took him at his word since he's just bought a brand new one of those for his wife!
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jun 27, 2019 14:01:46 GMT
Oops. Just had a look on the Audi website and it appears it was actually an A1! did I mention I hadn't looked at the tailgate? The chauffeur said it was an A3 and I took him at his word since he's just bought a brand new one of those for his wife! Ah... from Autocar's test of the A1: The A3 has always been a very well put together interior. My nephew's just got a new A1 25 TFSi for his 17th birthday but I've only seen the inside from looking through the window as it had a bow on it. It still looked pretty good though. I'll have a poke around in it next time I'm round there. |
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Post by Tim on Jun 27, 2019 15:12:54 GMT
Oops. Just had a look on the Audi website and it appears it was actually an A1! did I mention I hadn't looked at the tailgate? The chauffeur said it was an A3 and I took him at his word since he's just bought a brand new one of those for his wife! Ah... from Autocar's test of the A1: The A3 has always been a very well put together interior. My nephew's just got a new A1 25 TFSi for his 17th birthday but I've only seen the inside from looking through the window as it had a bow on it. It still looked pretty good though. I'll have a poke around in it next time I'm round there. Wow, what a lucky boy/spoilt brat! Whatever happened to getting access to the keys to your parents dull family motor when you passed your test, rather than a real carr all of your own (let alone a £20k+ Audi). |
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Post by Martin on Jun 27, 2019 15:35:37 GMT
Ah... from Autocar's test of the A1: The A3 has always been a very well put together interior. My nephew's just got a new A1 25 TFSi for his 17th birthday but I've only seen the inside from looking through the window as it had a bow on it. It still looked pretty good though. I'll have a poke around in it next time I'm round there. Wow, what a lucky boy/spoilt brat! Whatever happened to getting access to the keys to your parents dull family motor when you passed your test, rather than a real carr all of your own (let alone a £20k+ Audi). PCP happened. Just a couple of hundred £ a month to get junior into a brand new car. I’ve seriously considered it (not an A1, something cheaper and a lower insurance group) to do the same for my eldest who’s 17. But I want him to earn it and start with something fairly cheap. |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jun 27, 2019 18:17:59 GMT
Ah... from Autocar's test of the A1: The A3 has always been a very well put together interior. My nephew's just got a new A1 25 TFSi for his 17th birthday but I've only seen the inside from looking through the window as it had a bow on it. It still looked pretty good though. I'll have a poke around in it next time I'm round there. Wow, what a lucky boy/spoilt brat! Whatever happened to getting access to the keys to your parents dull family motor when you passed your test, rather than a real carr all of your own (let alone a £20k+ Audi). I believe the 25 TFSis are £18k before discount. To be honest, I feel a little bit sorry for him. He’ll never experience the fun of tinkering with his own car, learning how to service it and add lights, accessories etc, like we did. The A1 seems to be the car of choice for the lads at his school. The girls have the obligatory 500s. And as has been pointed out PCPs are cheap and his gran has been saving a bit every month since he was born to give him the deposit. |
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Post by PG on Jun 28, 2019 13:11:41 GMT
To be honest, I feel a little bit sorry for him. He’ll never experience the fun of tinkering with his own car, learning how to service it and add lights, accessories etc, like we did. The A1 seems to be the car of choice for the lads at his school. The girls have the obligatory 500s.And as has been pointed out PCPs are cheap and his gran has been saving a bit every month since he was born to give him the deposit. Ah yes, that all may be true, but don't they know that, according to Corbyn and the left wing press, capitalism has totally failed them all and we need a Marxist state to save them? And what's worse is that a lot of the young seem to believe them. Madness.... |
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Post by johnc on Jun 28, 2019 13:54:44 GMT
Ah yes, that all may be true, but don't they know that, according to Corbyn and the left wing press, capitalism has totally failed them all and we need a Marxist state to save them? And what's worse is that a lot of the young seem to believe them. Madness.... That's one of the reasons humankind keeps making the same mistakes over and over again: the young won't listen to their elders and so never benefit from their knowledge and experience. |
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Post by racingteatray on Jun 28, 2019 14:10:16 GMT
I think that's pretty lucky for anyone not imminently appearing on Made in Chelsea. My father isn't short of a bob or several, but I didn't get anything particular for my 17th birthday and for my 18th birthday I simply got a signet ring. Very few people I knew as a 17yr old in the early '90s got much more than a grandparental hand-me-down (and I didn't even get that).
To be fair, at 17, there was no point as we were still at boarding school where cars were not permitted in any case (we were barely permitted bicycles in case we used them to escape the school grounds in pursuit of mischief).
But I didn't even get a car when I went up to university either. I only got my first car at nearly 20 when my grandmother died and left me the princely sum of £3k in her will.
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Post by Tim on Jun 28, 2019 15:02:21 GMT
I don't recall anybody I knew getting a car at 17 and none of us were at boarding school!
Cars actually bought before the age of 20 were usually on the basis that you'd got a part-time job of some sort, saved some cash and your parents might add some money to that to allow you to buy a banger.
As a result there were a lot of cheap, older Italian among my friends.
I wonder if the 17 yr old that Bob knows will look back in the future and a) appreciate how lucky they were to get something so decent and b) think that actually if their parents were going to stump up cash for anything it might've been better to put it towards their further education and, perhaps, reduce the ultimate size of their student loan (not that I'm suggesting a 17 yr old will have those thoughts you understand).
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jun 28, 2019 18:43:02 GMT
It does seem the norm to get a car for your 17th now and I agree I’m not sure they all will appreciate it. My other nephew got a 4 year old Fiesta for his 17th but he’s quite canny with money and as he’s now at Uni in Sheffield he’s sold it to his sister who turned 17 last month.
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Post by Big Blue on Jun 29, 2019 7:39:08 GMT
There were a handful of us that got cars at 17 (I was one) but only one got a brand new one (a Golf Mk2 with the smallest engine which he paid for himself having saved for a car since he was 5yo). All of us paid for our own cars and aside from the Golf the price point (this is mid 1980s) was £500-700.
My dad paid my insurance though (under £200). I did get funding for a new motorcycle at 21, though.
I think there’s a societal change around buying kids cars bouyed by PCP in part but also by a wealthy group of grandparents who accept they can’t take their index linked final salary pensions with them so enjoy the sight of their grandchildren reaping the benefits.
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Post by Martin on Jun 29, 2019 7:57:40 GMT
I got my first car at 17 when I’d passed my test (6 weeks after my 17th), which was an early 18th birthday present and cost £1000. I paid for my own insurance and all running costs by working 2 jobs and I’d been saving for a few years to buy a car, my parents wouldn’t have bought one if I hadn’t saved. It was a 3 year old Astra, so looked more expensive than it was thanks to a generous ex company car buying scheme and I sold it 3 years later for over £2k, so more of an investment really! The only work I had to do on it was replace a brake light switch and put 4 new wheel trims on it. They were proper Vauxhall ones (never been one for after market stuff) and FOC thanks to one of the companies in the group my dad worked for being the largest wheel trim manufacturer in the UK at the time.
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Post by Tim on Jul 1, 2019 9:25:57 GMT
I gThe only work I had to do on it was replace a brake light switch and put 4 new wheel trims on it. They were proper Vauxhall ones (never been one for after market stuff) and FOC thanks to one of the companies in the group my dad worked for being the largest wheel trim manufacturer in the UK at the time. Consider yourself lucky - I had to get a single new wheeltrim for my Dad's Montego and it cost £20 from the dealer! After that I instructed a mate who worked for the roads dept in the local council to keep his eyes peeled for them - £20 was a budget-busting amount in those days. |
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Post by michael on Jul 1, 2019 9:42:43 GMT
I got given a Fiat Uno 60s that belonged to one of my parents employees. Part of the reason I got given a car was my fathers health was failing and could no longer drive so it was useful to have another driver.
Every new A1 I've seen looks like it has been crashed.
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