Help me decide: A3 or MS3

[SilverBulletES]

And you'd be kicking yourself a few months later. I've had a fair amount of experience with both the Audi and its VW counterpart. Audis are much nicer (both in ride and fit/finish) but suffer from the same maladies as the V-dub. It's bad when you buy an Audi/VW and a few weeks later end up buying a VAG-COM to figure out why XXXXXXX dash light in on. I got really good at fixing my 2002 Golf 1.8t. That wasn't by choice.
BTW, GIAC is a lot better than APR. I've seen a few cars with buggy SW from APR. GIAC was spot on every time.

True, I don't doubt that.

The more rational part of my brain will win. It says I'll get some degree of used MS3 or WRX wagon.... the key is used and not abused. Depends on how much I feel like spending at the time. Gotta save Miata money.

 

[desperado-c]

I just picked up a silver Grand Touring MS3. Right up until the end my heart and my brain where out of sync. For me it was the right decision even though the A3 had a tremendous appeal to me. The key factors in my decision were:

Hefty price difference
Reliability (I've had experience with VW's and it was not good)
Resale value (only 5k MS3's in the US)
Performance

in that order. The A3 is gorgeous and luxurious but, for my income bracket, the MS3 is the smart choice. I appreciate all the input and advice from you guys.

PS: I can't wait to meet an A3 at a traffic light ...

Congrats on joing the MS3 mafia! Out of curiousity, since you had the A3 cash, did you consider waiting for a BMW 130i with the 3.0 liter inline 6? Supposedly coming next year. 265 HP and RWD. Should be a nice for those who can afford it. I love turbo and swore I wouldn't go back, but I like the idea of a nice inline 6 RWD at the same power/wt. ratio as the MS3.

 

[kokemon23]

Congrats on joing the MS3 mafia! Out of curiousity, since you had the A3 cash, did you consider waiting for a BMW 130i with the 3.0 liter inline 6? Supposedly coming next year. 265 HP and RWD. Should be a nice for those who can afford it. I love turbo and swore I wouldn't go back, but I like the idea of a nice inline 6 RWD at the same power/wt. ratio as the MS3.

Or, better yet, the 135i, with the same twin turbo 3.0 liter inine 6 that's in the 335i coupe (omg) . Winding Road is saying that's coming here first. Now that would be a ridiculous ride. Hmm, maybe when I get bored with the MS3 in a few years....

 

[Hikaru9]

i know audi's are really nice and can be pretty fast. i took my grandmothers brand new audi a4 2.0t from new jersey to virginia and back with no problems at all.
volkswagons are also very reliable as my sister has a vw bug and nothing has ever really broken on the car.
but mazda is now owned by ford for a while and i worry about the reliability of them. are fords reliable and if not does this mean that mazda's are also not as reliable either?

Hmm... it's the first time for me to hear someone say VWs are reliable.
Now VW is one brand I haven't owned yet, so I can't say from first hand experience; nevertheless, everyone I know who's had a VW/ Audi has had horrible issues, not to mention very expensive replacement parts.

I'm glad your experience wasn't bad with them. The MS3 is my first Mazda, and I'm hoping it'll be as reliable as my Acura. *^_^*

 

[Cheese302]

VW's are great, you have to keep after them, things do break, and you should only buy one if your willing to do the work yourself, because otherwise your payng way too much money. Audi's are worse becasue they haev extra unneeded electrical gadgets that go bad.

i LOVE vw's, and cant wait to own another one (probably an MKi or mkii gti) but it'll be a COLD day in hell if it ever goes to a dealer for work.

so my vote goes MS3, musch better car. and i am sorry my clutch should be controlled by my foot not by a stupid computer that thinks it knows what i want to do

 

[SwampAss]

I've owned every single iteration of VW except the MKV. My 81 Scirocco, 83 Rabbit GTi, 83 Scirocco, 87 Jetta, and 87 Audi 4000 CS quattro were all AWESOME cars. My 95 VR6 GTI and my wife's 91 Cabriolet were great cars too. My 02 GTI was a giant hunk. I was happy to see that car driven off and my MS3 parked where that once was.
VW acknowledges that the 4th generations are doo doo. How do I know? They marked replacement parts waaaaay down in price. Water Temp sensors are $4.95 from the dealer. You can get a rebuilt MAF for $80 from the dealer! Window regulators are replaced free under VW's extended "oops we used plastic instead of metal window clips" warranty. The car itself never really left me stranded. It just annoyed the hell out of me with a blinking light here, or water leaking there, or a window stuck inside a door 50 miles from home when it's 20F outside.
I had rust on a rear quarter panel that was painted by the factory. The car was 3 years old. VW repainted that panel but come on!

 

[Hughes412]

For the dollar the ms3 is the smarter choice. You get everything you need and some. But if you don't care about money go for the A4!

 

[-pixy-]

i know audi's are really nice and can be pretty fast. i took my grandmothers brand new audi a4 2.0t from new jersey to virginia and back with no problems at all.

that really doesn't say much (virginia to jersey & back?) I took a 98 Olds minivan from Jersey to California & back with no problem, that says nothing about the relability of a car.

 

[wishingfora ms3]

i suppose. it was good for me when i took it down there though. i liked the car and the power behind it. i chased down a mercedes s550 in it. didn't quite catch up, but going over 110mph it felt pretty solid.
please don't flame me for this but does anyone know about the reliablity of the newer mustangs? i think they look really nice and for the buck it looks like it may be the best bang.

 

[dread]

I believe they get average reliability from consumer reports. I don't think mustangs have a bad rep for reliability

 

[wishingfora ms3]

thanks. you know alot of people are always out to get the mustang drivers and i dont get it. i think mustangs have always looked nice minus the fox body stage.

 

[spike blue]

I just picked up a silver Grand Touring MS3. Right up until the end my heart and my brain where out of sync. For me it was the right decision even though the A3 had a tremendous appeal to me. The key factors in my decision were:

Hefty price difference
Reliability (I've had experience with VW's and it was not good)
Resale value (only 5k MS3's in the US)
Performance

in that order. The A3 is gorgeous and luxurious but, for my income bracket, the MS3 is the smart choice. I appreciate all the input and advice from you guys.

PS: I can't wait to meet an A3 at a traffic light ...

you made the right decision !!! I love the ms3. I might get one, if i can soon and let my dad keep the cx-7, but i still thinking what to do? because the cx-7 is awesome and i have seen a lot of body kit from mazdaspeed in japan, that i can get and it will be a nice bad ass looking mazdaspeed cx-7 with all the performance mods i can put in this tremendous engine we have in our cars(ms3,ms6 and cx-7)

 

[BKK Jack]

Hmm... it's the first time for me to hear someone say VWs are reliable.

I can't say all VW's are reliable, but the two I had certainly were. I had a 1985 GTI and a 1995 Jetta GLX. Except for a couple of trips to the dealer in the first couple months to readjust the cables on the sunroofs (both of them, for some reason), they were absolutely bulletproof. I didn't keep either too long though. Four years and 83,000 on the GTI, and four years 106,000 miles on the GLX.

I had to sell the GLX, because I moved overseas. Had I not, I might still be driving it. In 1995, it came with one-touch down on all four windows, and you could open or close all the windows (including the moonroof) with the key in the lock. The trunk was HUGE, too. Oh, yeah, it also had the VR6. I loved that car.

 

[desperado-c]

Or, better yet, the 135i, with the same twin turbo 3.0 liter inine 6 that's in the 335i coupe (omg) . Winding Road is saying that's coming here first. Now that would be a ridiculous ride. Hmm, maybe when I get bored with the MS3 in a few years....

What's the power output? I'm guessing it's an absurd amount of power. I want it.

 

[SwampAss]

300/300

 

[desperado-c]

300/300

Man, they are not screwing around. I guess if they're gonna get anyone to fork over that kind of cash, it's going have to be a pretty awesome performer.