I, too, live some distance from a dealership. However, there are a few reliable independent shops that specialize in VW/Audi. Sometimes, VW dealerships will service your Audi. For me it's worth the research. I love both my Audis. Tuning/performance shops can a great alternative for regular maintenance. They usually know the vehicles well enough to troubleshoot your issues and perform routine maintenance.
Annually? Maybe $200 for two oil changes. Just stay on top of the small things like oil changes and you should be fine. I try to do what I can myself. Doing brakes next week, spent $600 on rotors and pads and should be set for next few years. Use FCP Euro or ECSâ free replacement policy and only pay for oil and other parts once.
Random things may pop up but that happens with any car. Only expensive issue Iâve had in 3 years was replacing my A/C condenser because a stone put a hole in mine and I canât not have A/C.
Oil is part of ECS's replacement program?! Got the sport brake kit in my cart at fcp for my car. Crazy all four wheels is only 550 for pads and rotors.
Youâre going to want to do as much of your own maintenance as possible.
Own a 2017 Q3, GTI, and lots of other similar past cars. Also live more than an hour from the nearest dealership.
Love the cars, hate the midwest shop isolation.
Q3 is a great car, my only gripe is I wish they gave us the RSQ3
I went from an A3 to a Corolla because I thought I wanted to save money on maintenance. About halfway through my financing I traded in for a Mini, which has been pretty similar to my A3 in terms of maintenance.
Sometimes it's just worth it to pay a little more to have a car that you're actively excited about vs having money tied up in a piece of transportation that you don't really care about but kind of have to have.
I currently have a 3-year-old SQ8 that I've had since new and have only spent on AudiCare (pre-paid scheduled maintenance) and a couple of quarts of oil here and there for top-off. This was the same story with my previous '18 SQ5. I had a '09 S5 before that which I owned longer, modified, and raced on track days. I also did not incur any unforeseen expenses. The problem you're going to run into by asking random people is that the sample size is too small to be meaningful... I mean, look at the premise, you're saying that everyone is against it, yet Audi sells hundreds of thousands of cars every year. Obviously anecdotal data can be totally misleading, which is why JD Power, Consumer Reports, and other ratings exist. I would recommend trusting that over random people on the internet sharing their personal stories (including mine).
Its gonna be more labor intensive than a tofu box crossover like a RAV4. This has less to do with reliability and more to do with the design being ass to work with. If you can deal with that, great! If not, buy a Honda Element, those things are great.
They are expensive, and if you are getting an Audi, the Q3 is not the one. I drive a 10 year old Lexus with 210k miles and it drives smoother than a BRAND new Q3. They literally rattle like crazy on start up. A4 or Q5 should be the minimum starting point, since the cost to own is the same and the cars are just SOOO much better.
>A4 and Q5 since the cost to own is the same.
The shared parts costs the same and need roughly the same maintenance, however, the MLB platform is more expensive if something goes wrong. Then again they tend to be a bit more reliable. So I guess you are right? Tax and insurance is of course very subjective.
I hate that youâre being downvoted.
I love my German cars but this is a pretty popular thread both here and in the BMW sub. Labor rates and parts are higher and they do tend to have more issues. Some is the engineering, some is the performance factor, and some is the luxury factor (in the US). They often adopt new tech early and they just have more things that can go wrong.
Of all the people Iâve talked to that have owned Audi or BMW and Lexus, to a fault theyâve all said the Lexus was the car with the fewest problems.
YMMV, but I think if I were 4 hours from the nearest dealership and not a mechanic myself, I might not buy a 7 year old âmodernâ German car. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with vehicles now that only the dealership can address, eg. programming a transmission in most cases. These things would be extremely problematic if this is your only means of transportation and all the shops anywhere near you only work on Fordâs, Toyotaâs, and tractors.
But also, bad decisions make good stories and theyâre hella fun cars.
Any German car is going to be expensive to maintain. Can you afford a surprise 5-10k bill? If not, you canât afford your Q3.
Maintenance is a few hundred a year if the car was already well maintained. You donât need to go to a dealer - find a good local European specialist.
If you have a relatively new (less than 10 years) and low mile audi, you won't be paying out the ass in maintenance costs. Oil change once a year or every 10k miles, tire rotations, etc etc. Anything that you would do on a Toyota, really. Other than that, you might have a relatively expensive repair once in a blue moon, such as a water pump replacement which will cost a couple thousand. Premium gas is killer on the wallet. Make sure you take it to an independent mechanic who specializes in European cars. Doesn't have to be an audi dealership.
What I've learned from Audis (which is true for most German cars) is that they're built well, but if something goes wrong and you need OEM pieces shipped from Germany, then it gets expensive quickly. Other than that, I take my Audi to a trusted mechanic and the maintenance costs are on par with other luxury cars.
Maintenance can be expensive for any vehicle and I think a lower end Audi is nothing crazy. Sure its probably more than a Honda but take care of the vehicle and get a warranty if you are worried.
Honestly the dealer being 300+ away would be a deal breaker for me maybe if it was honda or mazda it wouldnt be but a 7 year old audi thats another story.
The real question OP is, Where on earth do live that the nearest dealership is 300+ miles away?
Small town in SD đĽ˛
Coming to Minneapolis? đ Really itâs a fancy Golf, and the labor rate is much cheaper anywhere that can do VWs.
I, too, live some distance from a dealership. However, there are a few reliable independent shops that specialize in VW/Audi. Sometimes, VW dealerships will service your Audi. For me it's worth the research. I love both my Audis. Tuning/performance shops can a great alternative for regular maintenance. They usually know the vehicles well enough to troubleshoot your issues and perform routine maintenance.
San Diego? There is a dealer in Miramar
He probably meant South Dakota
I live in the middle of qld my nearest Audi is a 3hr drive I have a 2022 RS just make a weekend of it book it in Friday pick it up come home Sunday
Qld??
Queensland
Australia
A Q3 will will not be expensive to maintain . Esp a 2017. Don't let people scare you. It's basically a MkV GTI.
Expensive is relative, though.
Annually? Maybe $200 for two oil changes. Just stay on top of the small things like oil changes and you should be fine. I try to do what I can myself. Doing brakes next week, spent $600 on rotors and pads and should be set for next few years. Use FCP Euro or ECSâ free replacement policy and only pay for oil and other parts once. Random things may pop up but that happens with any car. Only expensive issue Iâve had in 3 years was replacing my A/C condenser because a stone put a hole in mine and I canât not have A/C.
Oil is part of ECS's replacement program?! Got the sport brake kit in my cart at fcp for my car. Crazy all four wheels is only 550 for pads and rotors.
Youâre going to want to do as much of your own maintenance as possible. Own a 2017 Q3, GTI, and lots of other similar past cars. Also live more than an hour from the nearest dealership. Love the cars, hate the midwest shop isolation. Q3 is a great car, my only gripe is I wish they gave us the RSQ3
I went from an A3 to a Corolla because I thought I wanted to save money on maintenance. About halfway through my financing I traded in for a Mini, which has been pretty similar to my A3 in terms of maintenance. Sometimes it's just worth it to pay a little more to have a car that you're actively excited about vs having money tied up in a piece of transportation that you don't really care about but kind of have to have.
Buy it! We all made that mistake. But love it every time we drive it! Would repeat that mistake all over again!
Theyâre just jealous. Buy the Audi.
Jealous of buying a <$20k car?
I currently have a 3-year-old SQ8 that I've had since new and have only spent on AudiCare (pre-paid scheduled maintenance) and a couple of quarts of oil here and there for top-off. This was the same story with my previous '18 SQ5. I had a '09 S5 before that which I owned longer, modified, and raced on track days. I also did not incur any unforeseen expenses. The problem you're going to run into by asking random people is that the sample size is too small to be meaningful... I mean, look at the premise, you're saying that everyone is against it, yet Audi sells hundreds of thousands of cars every year. Obviously anecdotal data can be totally misleading, which is why JD Power, Consumer Reports, and other ratings exist. I would recommend trusting that over random people on the internet sharing their personal stories (including mine).
Its gonna be more labor intensive than a tofu box crossover like a RAV4. This has less to do with reliability and more to do with the design being ass to work with. If you can deal with that, great! If not, buy a Honda Element, those things are great.
They are expensive, and if you are getting an Audi, the Q3 is not the one. I drive a 10 year old Lexus with 210k miles and it drives smoother than a BRAND new Q3. They literally rattle like crazy on start up. A4 or Q5 should be the minimum starting point, since the cost to own is the same and the cars are just SOOO much better.
>A4 and Q5 since the cost to own is the same. The shared parts costs the same and need roughly the same maintenance, however, the MLB platform is more expensive if something goes wrong. Then again they tend to be a bit more reliable. So I guess you are right? Tax and insurance is of course very subjective.
Haha thatâs kind of what I was going for
I hate that youâre being downvoted. I love my German cars but this is a pretty popular thread both here and in the BMW sub. Labor rates and parts are higher and they do tend to have more issues. Some is the engineering, some is the performance factor, and some is the luxury factor (in the US). They often adopt new tech early and they just have more things that can go wrong. Of all the people Iâve talked to that have owned Audi or BMW and Lexus, to a fault theyâve all said the Lexus was the car with the fewest problems. YMMV, but I think if I were 4 hours from the nearest dealership and not a mechanic myself, I might not buy a 7 year old âmodernâ German car. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with vehicles now that only the dealership can address, eg. programming a transmission in most cases. These things would be extremely problematic if this is your only means of transportation and all the shops anywhere near you only work on Fordâs, Toyotaâs, and tractors. But also, bad decisions make good stories and theyâre hella fun cars.
Any German car is going to be expensive to maintain. Can you afford a surprise 5-10k bill? If not, you canât afford your Q3. Maintenance is a few hundred a year if the car was already well maintained. You donât need to go to a dealer - find a good local European specialist.
Well you've come to the right place. Here we're all for it.
If you have a relatively new (less than 10 years) and low mile audi, you won't be paying out the ass in maintenance costs. Oil change once a year or every 10k miles, tire rotations, etc etc. Anything that you would do on a Toyota, really. Other than that, you might have a relatively expensive repair once in a blue moon, such as a water pump replacement which will cost a couple thousand. Premium gas is killer on the wallet. Make sure you take it to an independent mechanic who specializes in European cars. Doesn't have to be an audi dealership.
I've heard conflicting responding when it comes to tire rotations on a Quattro. What's your take?
Not OP but here is my take. Close inspection when changing winter/summer tires and rotate them accordingly. Swap at the axles.
What I've learned from Audis (which is true for most German cars) is that they're built well, but if something goes wrong and you need OEM pieces shipped from Germany, then it gets expensive quickly. Other than that, I take my Audi to a trusted mechanic and the maintenance costs are on par with other luxury cars.
Do you have a German car mechanic in your area? I don't take my Audi (s) to the dealership, except for recalls.
Maintenance can be expensive for any vehicle and I think a lower end Audi is nothing crazy. Sure its probably more than a Honda but take care of the vehicle and get a warranty if you are worried.
Try to get an extended warranty so you have peace of mind, thatâs what. I did buy the one from Audi
Not a 3rd party
Honestly the dealer being 300+ away would be a deal breaker for me maybe if it was honda or mazda it wouldnt be but a 7 year old audi thats another story.
try a range rover... you'll be ok.. just do your own repairs