yeah i noticed that in the real cold weather (minus 15c) that my car doesn't like to start right away but cranks over on the first try. also sometimes my rear taillight kicks in and out but only in the real cold weather.


my a3 has been alright so far (had it for 5 months now bought used) i had that problem with the fuel pump and the flap motor, but those things apparently were well known defects that my dealer fixed with no fuss and did a good job, also little things like the engine cover not staying on tight (thinks dealer did not put it back on right) otherwise she has been a beast! haven't had to change the oil yet but i will be doing it soon.

 

I personally don't consider Open Sky and stereo issues I've had to affect reliability per se. My stereo would spit out a disc on occasion but would otherwise still play them. As for Open Sky, it's been KNOWN that the shade mechanisms are troublesome, and I could have easily decided to buy a car without...I knew what I was getting into and was OK with it. As far as I'm concerned, reliability problems are things like CEL, leaks, electrical shorts, transmission problems, going into limp mode, etc. CR's criteria include several things that don't affect the car's drivability.

 

2006 A3 2.0T with 71k miles. Bought it in late 2007 with 65k miles (I don't commute, so the miles haven't changed much). It's had a few things that needed fixing that I would consider relatively minor:

1) Stock DV went; replaced with a Forge DV for a few hundred bucks
2) Rain/Light sensor was gone when I bought it...replaced for under $200
3) recently, the coolant temp sensor's seal was leaking, so I kept having to top off the coolant. Replaced for under $100.

Coming up: 75k service calls for new timing belt. The Dealer quoted $1,500, but I don't use stealerships. My indy mechanic quoted half that.

Overall, for a German car in this price range, I can't complain so far. It's never left me stranded, in any case.

 

You can check truedelta.com site, I saw 2008 and 2009 A3 reliability is going up up up