Living with an… Audi A3 Saloon (Month 5)

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Month 1 | Old-school motoring Month 2 | Frugal and familiar Month 3 | Come rain or shine Month 4 – Oil be alright, thanks Month 5 – Size matters

I’m a single mum with two boys (11 and 14) plus a Labrador (but he can’t go in this car because you can’t shut a dog in a saloon boot, and I won’t let him on the back seat with his muddy paws). We are part of a blended family with my partner and his two boys (14 and 16), so life is chaotic, with people coming and going in the car all the time. I use it for a mixture of local trips and long motorway journeys for work each week.

Erin says: "It’s been a long time since we’ve driven a saloon and it couldn’t be more lovely – the handling and steering are great"

How much has it cost you?

Beans, mere beans. The car has a 50-litre tank, which lasts us on average 525 miles. That’s the best fuel economy we’ve had in a test car for at least a year. The only money we’ve spent so far has been on fuel. Happy days.

Where have you been?

Everywhere. Tunbridge Wells to Cheltenham to host She’s Electric, Marlow to do the same, and Heathrow on countless days; it’s been a very busy month for work. The car is a dream on motorway journeys, mostly because you don’t feel like you’re hustling a breeze-block along, which you do in an SUV or a plug-in hybrid once the battery has died. The A3 saloon is close to the ground, and feels light and nimble.

What have you been carrying?

We’ve had a ladder and hockey bag simultaneously in the boot this month. It’s absolutely huge. There’s more than enough room for suitcases, shopping and school bags. We’ve broken once and allowed the dog on the back seat, then had to wipe the smart black leather clean of his muddy paw prints.

Delights?

It’s been a long time since we’ve driven a saloon and it couldn’t be more lovely – the handling and steering are great because you’re low to the ground and the car feels relatively light compared with 4x4 SUVs. As my partner said, this is old-school, simple, easy driving, and we’ve both missed it.

Frustrations?

The infotainment system is killing me. You have to tick boxes and acknowledge disclaimers left, right and centre before it brings up the home menu every time you get in the car, and often, but not always, for reasons known to itself, the radio comes on, logged in to some FM radio station that’s on static, and I have to scroll all the way up to the top of the alphabetical station menu to get to BBC Radio 2 or Radio 4. I want to punch it. You also, even with the short-cut button, have to swipe down the safety systems menu to turn of lane-departure warning, every time you start the engine, and you have to click it twice to get it to turn off, otherwise the car tries to steer me all over the place. This is not an Audi-specific issue mind you – it’s almost everyone these days.

This month in a nutshell

It’s lovely driving a saloon with an efficient 1.5-litre petrol engine – four doors so the kids can get in and out, great fuel economy, fab handling and no worries about charging. Proper Nineties motoring. Love it.

Erin says: "We love it all the more for [its] ease of use and pared-back familiarity.”

How much has it cost you?

Petrol stations are a distant memory; this 1.5-litre engine is so frugal that we genuinely can’t recall the last time we filled up, and it only takes 50 litres. Other than that, associated costs are the weekly 3 x £7 to park at the station for work and we’ve been over the Dartford Crossing at the rate of £2.50 each way for a few visits to family in Essex.

Where have you been?

Heathrow (60 miles), Battlesbridge (50 miles) and day trips during half term to Rye (25 miles) and Twickenham (40 miles). But it did spend two weeks sitting untouched on the driveway because we were away, and we had no trouble with it on our return.

What have you been carrying?

One electric guitar, one acoustic guitar and a guitar stool-and-stand combo, all in one go in the boot. Quite pleased with that. On another occasion, a set of golf clubs and a massive bag full of unwashed sports kit from before half term - yuck. We also filled four of those massive green sacks with garden waste as the brown bin was full, and took them to the tip in the boot; thank goodness the smell was contained.

Delights

It feels like an oddly analogue car, in that it’s a traditional body shape, has the familiar powertrain set-up of small petrol engine and automatic gearbox, and simple buttons and dials on the dash for climate control and audio. And guess what? We love it all the more for that ease of use and pared-back familiarity.

Frustrations

The turning circle isn’t great: my mum’s just come out of an Audi A3 convertible (swapped into a new Renault Captur) and she did warn me that the Audi’s circle is terrible in comparison to her new Renault’s. She’s not wrong - in some cars I can turn around in my drive on one lock, but the Audi requires a bit of back and forth.

The month in a nutshell

The only thing letting this car down now is the vastly over-complicated yet simultaneously old-fashioned tech on the touchscreen. Sometimes you’ve got to tick a million “ok” boxes to clear software-update or disclaimer notices before it will let you do anything, and sometimes it insists on starting the radio on FM static, instead of whatever station you left it on. Argh. Back to top

Erin says: “That 50mpg-plus really pays off financially when you do a long journey”

How much has it cost you?

About £150 in fuel, which isn’t much considering the mileage we’ve done, and a few quid for a new ice scraper after the previous one snapped against the window when we were trying to dislodge the snow and ice. Also, £20 because we treated the car to a proper valet wash at the local garden centre after January’s grit and mud built up.

Where have you been?

We’ve been from Kent to Doncaster and back this month, because my partner works up there and it seemed a good idea to see how it would cope on a four-hour journey. Or, rather, how we’d cope in it. The answer is perfectly fine, thanks, and that 50mpg-plus really pays off financially when you do a long journey. I think there’s a perception nowadays that only premium-badged cars costing over 50-grand offer any sort of long-distance comfort, but it’s just not true. The Audi is commodious, quiet and smooth on the motorway.

What have you been carrying?

Bags and bags of Sainsbury’s shopping - why DO teenage boys have to eat so much? Luckily, you can get a month’s worth of cereal, Fanta, Pot Noodles and loo roll, which is what our four boys seem to need to exist, into the huge boot.

Delights?

I left the car standing in the snow for two weeks because I was away for work, and it started no problem on my return. Spent the morning trying to explain to my 14-year-old what used to happen if you did that to a car back in the day, which is to say minutes spent listening to the engine sluggishly turning over, trying coaxing it into life with the manual choke, trying not to flood the engine, then giving up and bump-starting it. He wasn’t interested. Also a delight - discovering that muddy dog paw prints really do wipe clean off the black leather upholstery.

Frustrations?

I still don’t want to tick 100 boxes screaming disclaimers and notices about the privacy settings for the infotainment system at me before Radio2 kicks in. Funny, that.

This month in a nutshell

January has proved no hardship for the A3 saloon. Come rain, come hail, sleet and snow, it hasn’t let us down, or even hesitated, despite being fairly roundly abused. Back to top

Erin says: “Very pleased with the Audi this month, given we took the little A3 from Tunbridge Wells to (what felt like) the other end of the country in Alnwick”

How much has it cost you?

About £250 in petrol, which sounds like a lot but we’ve done a lot of miles. And £26 for a litre of oil, because the warning light came on. Annoyingly, the same oil was £10 cheaper in the Sainsbury’s petrol station we stopped at first, but I wanted to check I had the right stuff with an Audi mechanic before I bought (0W30 approved 50400 or 50700 long life FE, apparently) and then it was too late. While I’m here why does oil labelling have to be so consumer unfriendly? What do any of those numbers and letters mean, and why should we care? Just say "Expensive but better for your Audi," or "OK, but not so efficient" or something!

Where have you been?

Where haven't we been? Very pleased with the Audi this month, given we took the little A3 from Tunbridge Wells to (what felt like) the other end of the country in Alnwick. From there we visited Newcastle, then into the depths of the North Pennines and a little village called Blanchland, home to the glorious Lord Crewe Arms. Which I’d recommend for hikers in search of a beautiful hotel between walks, not that my boys would do any of that. They did grudgingly stretch to an e-bike, though. Then, three days later, back home, via the digestive glories of the OK Diner, obviously. A total of about 900 miles.

What have you been carrying?

Two massive teenage boys, grateful for there being plenty of legroom front and rear, with space for the one in the back to stretch out across the bench seat. Plus wellies and wet weather gear in the back, a truckload of snacks up front, water bottles in every cup holder and the rest. To be honest, I had my concerns after being spoilt with consecutive SUVs for long journeys, but the A3 saloon was absolutely fine for comfort.

Delights?

Alongside worries about a lack of space, I was worried as the driver about feeling frayed after 350 miles in one go in an A3, without the extra sound deadening, air suspension and refinement you get in more luxurious cars. I needn't have fretted. The A3 was superb all the way; fast, super frugal on fuel (one tank got us up with a quarter to spare) and quiet enough on the motorway to listen to podcasts and music.

Frustrations?

I'm a bit concerned about the oil consumption, for the fact the A3 is pretty new yet seems to be drinking oil. There's no obvious leak under the car, and no smoke coming from the exhaust. I hadn't realised dipsticks are becoming a thing of the past either, so spent ages looking for it. You just have to pour it in then check the read-out on the screen, as filed under "car" then "settings" and "oil level". We shall see.

This month in a nutshell

A surprisingly great experience driving the length of the country in the A3. Let's see if we have an oil problem. Back to top

Erin says: “Because the A3 is the smallest of our current crop of cars it’s the easiest to park in town and carparks”

How much has it cost you?

It hasn’t cost me much beyond fuel and some Dart Charge crossings, but it’s cost Audi a fair bit given it took it away to investigate the rapid disappearance of oil from the car (see Month 4). It’s still a mystery - there’s been no obvious leak and no smoke from the exhausts. To be fair to Audi, it was swift picking it up and transporting it back to the mechanics, who replaced the sensor, drained the oil and refilled it. Since then, it’s behaved itself, and the oil section on the screen sub menu shows the level is fine. So perhaps, as so often, the issue was with the sensor.

Where have you been?

We’ve been to Doncaster from Tunbridge Wells and back for work which was no hardship at all. It averaged high 40s mpg and was utterly comfortable for me and my partner, who’s 6ft 2in. The rest of the trips this month have been local and because the A3 is the smallest of our current crop of cars it’s the easiest to park in town and carparks, so we always fight over who’s taking it to the station or shops.

What have you been carrying?

Hmm, a guitar stool and a set of golf clubs, which must be someone’s ideal weekend sorted right there. For me, it merely reflects the lives of my kids and my role as their taxi driver. But I was impressed that the guitar stool fitted in the boot – it’s not small. We’ve also done a couple of skip runs and returned one child to boarding school complete with five thousand bags mainly transporting Pot Noodles, or so it seemed.

Delights?

Neat little storage spaces up front have been well planned out for our lives’ small accoutrements like loose change (old school), chewing-gum pots and so on. Sounds like an insignificant detail but, when you drive every day, these things matter. Also, the tail lights look cool in the dark.

Frustrations?

The wheels still scrabble frantically for grip if you put your foot down to get away from a junction, which is annoying because we have a T-junction at the end of our road leading onto a very busy main road, and you have to regularly dive out into small gaps. With the A3, there’s always a moment where you wonder if it’s going to instantly launch or dither for a second.

This month in a nutshell

Oil issue solved, phew. Great car for parking with confidence around town. Back to top