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I like many others on here own an RS3. I bought it because it ticked pretty much all boxes for me as the everyday practical car with near super car performance, yes I would rather have not bought a near end of production car, and yes I would have rather paid less money for it but as I said it was pretty much everything I wanted in my next car.

However having had the car for 9 months and also read and heard at first-hand some of the issues of other RS3 owners there does seem to be underlying problems with the car.

The build quality is not as good on my RS3 as the A3 TDi which I currently have as a loan car. The A3 has none of the rattles and creaks that seem to appear and disappear in my RS3 the A3 just seems to be a more solid and better built car, this is not what I was expecting from a £40k+ RS3.

I have also know of several cars with loud wind noise from the window seals, squeaking seats, telephone mic's not working again all this just seems to be a matter of poor build quality and quality control.

Then there's the squeaky breaks problem, which almost everyone seems to have but Audi just seem to be burying their heads in the sand about.

Perhaps most worrying is the reliability issues, I have read of several cars that have had to have new ECU's including my own car, there are cars with cylinder heads being replaced and one with a totally lunched engine with the car having to be replaced with a new car. There are also reports of cars with gearbox problems, also cars rapidly losing coolant and these are only the cars I have heard about (mainly on here and one other site).

Now I know and have seen other view's of 'well that's the sacrifice you make having such a car, and when you press the loud peddle all the niggles are forgotten about', and to a point I agree.

Currently my RS3 has been in the garage for over 12 days whilst the car is being repaired for a fault that I am still not 100% sure of the exact cause, however it was enough of a problem that the ECU is going to be being replaced. When all the car actually went in for was a run of the mill service and some warranty defects!

So I have to admit that as much as I love my car I am also disappointed with it. I am disappointed with it because it is not built like an Audi should be.

If I wanted a poorly built fast car I could of had a Lotus or a TVR these are the sort of cars that you would buy knowing that in all likelihood they could be a poor quality build and suffer reliability problems. I could have saved money and bought a cheaper 'hot hatch, from Ford, Renault or Volkswagen or an excellent condition used RS4 but I wanted the assurance, build quality and reliability that I would get from a new Audi.

Now I expect some people to jump on me for saying what I am saying, and to be honest I really don't like doing it myself, because nobody likes to admit to making a mistake or a bad decision but overall feeling is that I am frustrated with my RS3. It's not any even one thing in particular as each problem or fault in there own way hasn't been (so far) a major issue, it's just the overall package is just not what I expected. Having previously owned Audi's I was expecting my RS3 to be like them, solidly built and reliable, but my RS3 just isn't.

I don't have any agenda with Audi, and yes I am concerned that residual values could be hurt if my opinion is the same as other owners and word starts to get out, but considering there is probably less than 500 cars in genuine owners hands there does seem to be more than a fair share of owners with gripes, you only have to read the forums.

I am just one owner who is putting out my opinion out into the general forum, and if it's just my opinion then fine, perhaps it's just me or my car.

If however other owners feel the same but are keeping quiet just because it hurts our pride and or our wallets then Audi will have got away with it.

If there are other owners out there like me, then perhaps I could suggest starting a list of all our cars niggles, faults and issues to see what and how many problems are really out there, who are suffering with the same problems and how many of these issue have been properly resolved.

And if, there enough dissatisfied owners of RS3's out there then perhaps together we may get our issues resolved by Audi.

thats a weel scripted brain dump

send it to your dealer or Audi UK ... let your feelings be known

D_K wrote:thats a weel scripted brain dump

send it to your dealer or Audi UK ... let your feelings be known

+1 I felt the same way with my S4 ,TSBs for water pump ,thermostat ,complete set of front brakes {discs,pads callipers },rear light seals,mirror seals {still get wind noise on drivers door} complained to dealer and AUDI UK ended up getting 2 free services off them.Had the car two years now and its running better than ever.

Plus another 1.

The build quality is not what I'd hoped for, but is probably what I expected, if that makes sense. It's definitely worse than my R32, more squeeks and rattles than that did at 6 years old.

I've got a rattle in the driver's door card, previously corrected, cable for the window control loose. Crap.

'gibbo, you have had a Friday pm episode there, I'd definitely be bending Audi UK's ear.

Sorry to hear about your wose and I can sympathise howeer I suspect that this will continue to happen at this level of car and by that I mean platform. In their pursuit of lightness Audi appears to have used lighter material that are perhaps not as robust or quality to touch. Whilst I bought the RS3 to replace my RS4 I did in the knowledge that even against the seemingly dated B7 cabin the quality of materials would not be the same and that has turned out to be the case.

Issues with engines, ECU's etc is very different and I too would be annoyed about such things, the wind noise I cured myself by reshaping the rubber window surrounds but at the end of the day the rest of the car is fine (touch wood whilst I write this). I get occasional squeeking brakes around town but I know why and that is they are glazing over on light use around town and putting soe heat into them by working them harder eliminates this. Maybe better pads will be the long term solution as let's face it, they are monster discs up front (on on the rear to an extent) for such a small car.

The RS3 was a compromise for me on many levels, maybe that's why I don't wax lyrical about it like I did when I first drove the RS4. Maybe I'm older now and such things just don't do it for me unless it has a Lamborghini or McLaren badge on it. That all said, the RS3 is winning me over slowly but surely. And for a few hundred pounds rather than a few thousand pounds it will eventually be a car that will be quicker, more nimble and more economical that the 4 albeit I may have to make up an mp3 file with V8 noises on it. It's a pity your recent dealer experience has exacerbated the situation as 12 days to diagnose and replace an ECU is ludicrous.

Stick with it, they are good cars that could turn out to be excellent cars but saying that I could understand why you would move on. I've had Friday afternoon cars that you just want to get rid of ASAP, I hope yours is not the same.

Not an RS3 but I have build quality issues on my S4. Still a 40k plus car and I know how you feel. As people have said before perhaps Audi are just riding the wave of their current success?

The B7 cabin pisses all over the A3 cabin... The B7 cabin is timeless IMO

The B7 cabin pisses all over the A3 cabin... The B7 cabin is timeless IMO

Totally agree my wife has a s3 sport back, dash and heater dials way too plasticky

I heard that Kim Collins at QST had problems with his rs3 and I think it needed a new diff.

Mines still lossing coolant, going back in on Monday.. Lets hope it's sorted quicker than a month this time, as they have already changed the head...

my first car was plagued with faults until it went bang

my current car, so far is faultess, not a rattle or a squeak

the brakes have just started to get a little squeaky but different pads will cure this and improve brake fade which i have no problem with

and when my car did go bang audi could not have been better in how they treated me

There's a thread about registering these issues and sending a list of people affected to Audi to get them to buck there ideas up over on the Rs3 owners club.

Its worthwhile adding your name to the list and see what we can do.

Macdaddy wrote:There's a thread about registering these issues and sending a list of people affected to Audi to get them to buck there ideas up over on the Rs3 owners club.

Its worthwhile adding your name to the list and see what we can do.

Both members have signed it?

Dave_Hedgehog wrote:

Macdaddy wrote:There's a thread about registering these issues and sending a list of people affected to Audi to get them to buck there ideas up over on the Rs3 owners club.

Its worthwhile adding your name to the list and see what we can do.

Both members have signed it?

Cool,

Obviously its an invite to others to voice concerns too

I must have been lucky as no issues with mine except one. The Xenon headlights are crap on dipped beam. I took it in to have the dealership look at them because the vision from them was rubbish. I based this on previous Audi's I've had and also my Dad has an A3 Sportback 2.0TDI black edition with the same headlights. After driving his it was like night and day compared to mine. Anyway the garage put mine on the machine and said there was no problem, they even took me into the workshop and showed me on the machine. I still wasn't happy so they had another RS3 on the forecourt (a new one) so I went out on mine first and then took the other one out to see if there was any difference with the mechanic with me. There wasn't but the mechanic agreed they were both crap so they took it back into the workshop and adjusted them up as much as they could. They are a little bit better now but still crap compared to previous Audi's. Disappointing is a word that springs to mind.