2009 Audi A3 Consumer Reviews

Great sporty car

Written by: David on 10/27/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T PZEV 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6M)

Review

I loved this car. I just turned it in this weekend for my 3rd Audi in three years. I needed a bigger car for the family so I went with an A6. I have owned BMW's, VW's, Mercedes, Ford's, Chevy's, & Toyota's. Audi's are by far the best as far as I am concerned. I custom ordered it from Audi with the options I wanted (convenience pckg, open sky, cold weather, s-line). It has great pep for a 4 cylinder turbo. I added H & R sport spring and bilstein shocks to it and wow was this car a fun car to drive. I love Audi's design of the new '09's and the LED's speak for themselves.

Favorite Features

LED's, ride, quick acceleration, good gas mileage, great looks, quality of materials and finish of car, best of all the fun feature of just driving it.

Suggested Improvements

Audi has already addressed this in 2010 models with S-line styling being standard. The LED's should be standard too. Nothings else.

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Don't buy

Written by: gisrail on 07/28/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

So much for German engineering; they have not discovered aluminium. All the interior design is in plastic with silly parts that break and are not covered by the warranty. I used the back seat arm rest once and it broke; I plugged an ipod in the cigarette lighter and it broke; the two moon light roof hatches broke; the bolt that holds the spare tire broke, etc. In addition, the car gets a check engine light every six months (and deal with the service people.) It's the only brand that charges for rental car while on service, contrary to what they said at purchase.

Favorite Features

Heated seats.

Suggested Improvements

Have some quality control.

25 out 52 people found this review helpful

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Entry Level Luxury

Written by: Willow on 07/08/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6M)

Review

A well conceived vehicle. Lots of utility with a great mix of style, luxury, comfort, sport and utility. Perfect for people who live in large urban cities.

Favorite Features

External and internal design is flawless. LED lighting is very cool.

Suggested Improvements

Overall cabin noise is high. Braking could be better. The Premium Bose Audio system is a disappointment too.

12 out 12 people found this review helpful

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Best deal for your money

Written by: audiride on 03/28/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T PZEV 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

I live in San Francisco and the A3 is the perfect size to park anywhere. Gives great gas mileage and takes off quick without the whiplash. I love the smooth transmission. One down fall would be the temperature controls. The knobs take awhile to adjust the temp. You have to turn it click per click or hold it a while to go from cold to hot. But other then that I love my Audi A3.

Favorite Features

Suggested Improvements

better temperature controls.

10 out 13 people found this review helpful

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Loving It For 2 Months Now

Written by: Keith on 02/22/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T quattro 4dr Wagon AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

Picked up an '09 A3 2.0T Quattro DSG in January. Now that it's broken in & I've started pushing it, I'm very impressed with the performance. The auto shift is flawless & returns decent fuel economy (about 22mpg in city so far), but when pushed (or in Sport mode), this car can go. Punch it when you need to pass & you're smoothly up to 80+ before you know it. Exterior & interior fit/styling have been excellent w/ no issues to-date. The only minor flaws I've come across are the floor mats (not very wear or stain resistant), how the bright yellow passenger airbag off indicator stands out from the rest of the dash lights, & the lack of small storage compartments for coins or other.

Favorite Features

Transmission, performance, interior & exterior styling, build quality, Sirius satellite radio.

Suggested Improvements

Beef up the floor mats. Make the passenger airbag off indicator light the same orange/red color as the rest of the indicators on the dash. Include factory-installed privacy glass on rear windows. Higher quality OEM all-weather tires. Include small compartments for coins and/or trash.

29 out 31 people found this review helpful

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Great car

Written by: Jeff on 01/25/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T quattro 4dr Wagon AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

Bought '09 A3 quattro s-line with DSG. Options not chosen are sport package and audio package. Too much money for 6-disc and sport sport package includes things I do not want to pay for. Great car, but 6-disk should come standard for $40K. Quattro is seamless. Performance is very good but so far gas mileage is not what I expected - but only have 5500K so far. Hope it gets better with time. Quality of materials is good but fear that paint is not up to Canadian winters (or summers). Already have chips and scratches. No USB connections.

Favorite Features

Handling, turbo-four, DSG, comfortable ride, rock-solid feel, quiet, good build quality.

Suggested Improvements

Flat folding rear seats, flat folding front passenger seat, 6-disc standard audio, better winter factory floor mats, more chip-resistant paint.

13 out 14 people found this review helpful

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Fun and Style

Written by: Rudy on 01/23/2009

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6M)

Review

Purchase my A3 six manual with convenience pkg, cold weather, sky, Sport pkg, titanium pkg. I think is worth every dollar spent. Fast, solid and very comfortable to drive. Got 2000 miles and I love it so far, is fast, great in snow, cornering, steering and brakes, sound Bose system is superb, is the best car I ever bought. Who needs memory seats? How many times you use them? Is built right !

Favorite Features

Audi LED lights, dash configuration, double sky sunroof, transmission, exterior design, wheels, radio, performance.

Suggested Improvements

Sky to open a little further

9 out 11 people found this review helpful

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Great car, poor execution of technology

Written by: TimmyB on 12/01/2008

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T quattro 4dr Wagon AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

I just picked up my car last week. Having driven VW for over 15 years in the 80's and 90's, I knew exactly what to expect. The engine is amazing, the S-tronic (DSG) transmission is fabulous, mileage has been great right out of the box. I am left scratching my head trying to figure out how a $34K car can be missing so many things that were on my $23 Kia three years ago! Auto headlamps, auto-dimming rearview mirror, integrated garage door opener, remote starting available (it's not!). Also, no memory positions for seats & mirrors. These are items that you shouldn't even have to talk about in 2009! A great car; highly recommended IF you can deal with these oversights from Audi.

Favorite Features

The engine and tranny are beyond belief. When you want economy, the dsg runs from gear 1 to gear 6 in about 15 seconds. When you want all of the power, you jump on it and it is there. The quattro system in the A3 only turns on when needed, so you aren't sacrificing fuel economy. Nice stereo.

Suggested Improvements

The aforementioned technology omissions. This car would be just about perfect for me, if those were fixed. Also, the cargo area is a tad tighter than I hoped for. If that is a big concern for you, make sure you check it out beforehand. You may want to also consider the Jetta Sportwagen.

22 out 26 people found this review helpful

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Dream Drivetrain Finally Available

Written by: red bartlett on 11/21/2008

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T quattro 4dr Wagon AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

I've had my eyes on this car since it first made it to the US for the 2006 model year, but was always frustrated by the lack of availability of the 2.0T with quattro. I was looking for a great car to downsize and go more fuel-efficient without having to sacrifice. When I found out that the 2.0T was going to be available with quattro for 2009, I placed an order in June and have had my car for 2 months now. Couldn't love it more. It is a blast to drive and makes you want to drive more. The engine is peppy and very refined for a 4-cylinder turbo. The handling is firm and sporty. The ride is remarkably composed for a small car and firmly planted. Oh, and it looks great inside and out.

Favorite Features

There is so much to love with this car. I chose the open-sky system, cold weather package, premium package with Bluetooth and S-Tronic dual-shift gearbox. Love 'em all. But I have to admit, I really love the incredibly cool signature Audi LED lights. Nothing else on the road looks anything like it.

Suggested Improvements

The car is pricey, but absolutely worth it. Choose your options wisely and you can get a variety of configurations at different price points. Mileage a little disappointing so far (low 20's), but probably a function of my predominantly local driving - I have been able to hit 30 mpg on the highway.

23 out 25 people found this review helpful

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Great Improvements Made for 2009

Written by: JPDX on 10/15/2008

Vehicle

2009 Audi A3 2.0T PZEV 4dr Wagon (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6A)

Review

We've had our A3 for about 3 weeks and love it. We custom ordered it in June. The car is similar to previous 2008 models except almost all the suggestions from previous years have been implemented. It now has modern interior materials/buttons, sporty front end like the A4. Mirror turn signals, and AUX input for the iPod, nicer computer in dash etc. The stereo also plays MP3 discs. Ours has bluetooth as well which is now part of the S-line pkg. For those thinking of getting a GTI, please drive the A3 too. It is not that much more money but is a much better car. There are also a couple of new colors which some people might prefer.

Favorite Features

Performance, the engine and transmission is great. It is faster than any V6 I've driven and can probably outrun almost any car like it while getting better gas mileage. Quality of features overall is great. I like how they offer the 2.0T in Quattro now too. Get the open-sky; it's worth it.

Suggested Improvements

Make sure to read the packages carefully. They changed the S-line to not really be the sport model anymore. Now you need to buy the sport pkg as well which is another 1500 or so to get the sport seats and suspension. That's on top of the 2000 S-line pkg. I don't think it's worth it though.

59 out 62 people found this review helpful

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