A3 Longevity Coming up to 140k?

Hey all

I've just had my 1999 A3 TS serviced at 131k and was informed by the
bloke at the garage that it's going to need a timing belt next service
- 141k (it was last done at 80k).

Now I know that this isn't a cheap job, and I guess my question is that
now my A3 is racking up some serious mileage, is it going to start
costing me a lot to maintain?

I don't have the knowledge or facilities to do jobs myself so
everything is back to the garage, and there are a couple of niggling
issues that I know exist with my A3 right now.

Any Audi owners with experiences of these sorts of mileages and
maintainence costs? Though I don't want to get rid of my A3, I guess my
question would be should I start looking to swap my car for something
newer/with less miles?

Thanks for any views or experiences.

Of the five previous Audis that I have owned I have found that keeping up with
scheduled maintenance and being aware of the way it is running allows them to
run to 200K + miles with few problems and a continued enjoyable driving experience.

I just purchased an '04 A4 1.8TQM with 60K and feel that it is just barely
broken in. It looks and drives like it is just from the dealer and I expect it
to continue that way for a long time.

dan_xtc wrote:
> Hey all
>
> I've just had my 1999 A3 TS serviced at 131k and was informed by the
> bloke at the garage that it's going to need a timing belt next service
> - 141k (it was last done at 80k).
>
> Now I know that this isn't a cheap job, and I guess my question is that
> now my A3 is racking up some serious mileage, is it going to start
> costing me a lot to maintain?
>
> I don't have the knowledge or facilities to do jobs myself so
> everything is back to the garage, and there are a couple of niggling
> issues that I know exist with my A3 right now.
>
> Any Audi owners with experiences of these sorts of mileages and
> maintainence costs? Though I don't want to get rid of my A3, I guess my
> question would be should I start looking to swap my car for something
> newer/with less miles?
>
> Thanks for any views or experiences.
>

> I've just had my 1999 A3 TS serviced at 131k and was informed by the
> bloke at the garage that it's going to need a timing belt next service
> - 141k (it was last done at 80k).
>
> Now I know that this isn't a cheap job, and I guess my question is that
> now my A3 is racking up some serious mileage, is it going to start
> costing me a lot to maintain?
>
> I don't have the knowledge or facilities to do jobs myself so
> everything is back to the garage, and there are a couple of niggling
> issues that I know exist with my A3 right now.
>
> Any Audi owners with experiences of these sorts of mileages and
> maintainence costs? Though I don't want to get rid of my A3, I guess my
> question would be should I start looking to swap my car for something
> newer/with less miles?

As long as you continue to maintain it there's no reason it won't keep
going.

TB is a consumable that you just have to accept. You can't say becuase it
needs one that it's starting to cost you too much to run.

Unless you're spending £££ every month then it's still likely to be cheaper
to run than buying a new(er) car as depreciation is going to be very low
now.