Faults:

Climate control panel LCD distorted - replaced under warranty.

Bubble / gurgling sound from under the tailgate area once the engine is turned off after driving. Audi said they could not hear it. From looking on forums, it seems to be fuel related.

Slight rattle on bad roads from where the sunroof switches are - quite annoying.

The 4 exhaust tips go black every 2 weeks - rather like a diesel.

General Comments:

Blistering performance, massive turbo as standard with a bit of lag.

Quick shifting gearbox isn’t the smoothest at times and changes up way too early, almost pulls off in second. Audi say it's normal.

MPG way, way off the Audi claim of 40 MPG combined. I get an average of 25 MPG at best, and in town around 20 MPG at times. I therefore doubt the claimed 149 CO2 (very competitive on paper given the power) is at all accurate.

Feels extremely solid and the build quality is superb. But to be honest, brand new it was £48k so I would expect this. The finish puts BMW and Mercedes models of this ilk to shame. Loads of lighting throughout the cabin - red lights on the doors (the 2017 model Audi cheapened this to reflectors!) and Audi logo lighting plus LED everywhere, including the cup holders.

Ride is very firm but it does have 19” alloys and needs to be firm due to the performance.

Virtual cockpit is a master piece, so stylish - I really love it. It’s a bit annoying you cannot get rid of the range of fuel left, especially as it goes down at such an alarming rate. Sweeping rear lights also uber stylish.

Very good looking car with the 19” wing arm alloys, chrome trimmings, black roof rails, tints and rare Tango red paintwork. A lot of S3s are in Grey with the standard 18” alloys and can look a little bland as the standard styling doesn’t set the pulse racing in the rather typical VAG group fashion.

A quality product, nice image, sounds great and overall I would recommend it highly. Just don’t believe you will ever see the claimed 40 MPG combined.

Faults:

A window motor.

An air fuel sensor.

General Comments:

Excellent car. Very fast, great stability, quattro, and also a high luxury level for this category.

Very friendly to use with normal fuel consumption. I think this is a car you can use every day.

Faults:

2 ignition coils at 62,684 km (known issue).

Distress signal control module at 111,238 km.

Battery at 130,000 km (3 years 1/2).

Mass air flow sensor at 144,945 km (known issue - clean it may be!!)

Intake flap sensor at 176,628 km + something linked to Haldex (quattro).

Turbo secondary electrical water pump gone at 196,245 km.

Anti roll bar at 208,537 km (??).

Front left transmission axle at 209,758 km.

Some hoses for oil fumes recirculation at 228,600 km.

A 3rd ignition coil at 264,115 km.

Battery at 264,542 km.

Brake rotors + front left transmission axle + rear brake calipers + parking brake cable at 264,542 km (jeez).

One Xenon bulb at around 270,000 km.

Some hoses for oil fumes recirculation at 294,766 km.

Front right transmission axle at 299,387 km.

Pre-cat oxygen sensor + thermostat + 4 ignition coils at 304,200 km.

2 vacuum hoses (to the brake booster) at 305,000km.

General Comments:

The car is well equipped, it is nice looking and quite comfortable (for a car having a sports suspension).

Fuel economy is not bad for 210 HP and a heavy transmission (quattro) at around 9 liters per 100 km (26 MPG).

The car is not a rocket, but it is good in general, feels more like a GT car.

All the young people who buy them and boost the power (easy) start all of a sudden to blow parts; clutch, engine, gearbox... So keep it stockish and you will go over 300,000 km!!

Some parts were replaced, but not so many in fact. If you consider that quattro transmissions, turbo, exhaust systems, etc are from the factory, I think Audi did a good job here. Of course some other Audis will have more problems, but you never know... My BMW 525TDSA was not very good to be honest, same for my MB 300SE... so Audi is really OK I guess.

In any case, get yourself a VAG COM, because you will need it to read the fault codes!

One thing, quattro is great! Even on mud you cannot lose grip, even at full throttle!!! Launch start on mud is fun (but useless...). Crash tests are also good on the A3/S3 model, so you feel quite safe.

Another thing, Audi dealers are not all good, and in my case they completely forgot to do the oil changes on the quattro!!! This is really stupid, because they invented it, but can't maintain it!?