Noticed this weekend that Consumer Reports raked the A3 poor in owner satisfaction. This summer it was in the top 10 in owner sat for US cars. Doesn't affect my thoughts on it, but where are they getting this information from?

 

yeah that is weak sauce I know after I purchased my car they sent me a questionaire with a dollar in it (thanks now I can put a down payment on a candy bar). Maybe that is where they get their info. I dont see why people would take the time to fill out the 5 or 6 page questionaire unless they had a really big problem with the car so it may be a skewed source.

 

I don't have my A3 yet. But since ordering one I have been browsing forums after forum after forum for many german cars and comparable makes. One thing I do notice is a lot more mechanical related problem posts for Audi/VW. Even more so in the 2.0T engine forums. So this report doesn't surprise me.

Hopefully I won't feel the same way after owning one for 6 months. Though I must say, the reliability is my biggest worry at the moment.

 

[sm=funnypostabove.gif]

BTW Consumer Reports sucks a fat one

 

Back in 2002I ordered a 530i via the ED program, and not a week later CR ranked that car as their top scoring car ever tested. I damn near cancelled my order.

 

Bah, I am extremely happy with my A3 TFSI 2008. If it only was heating up a little bit faster in these pretty cold days it would be perfect

The dealer is an idiot but that has nothingh to do with the car. [:@]

 

My A3 has been very reliable to this point, especially if that kind person wouldn't have run into me last spring. Don't believe everything you read.



Cheers!

 

Where did this CR info come from? I searched, and found this 2007 data, attributed to CR:
http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerrepor...report177.html

It puts the A3 on the "most satisfying" list with a pretty respectable score.
The input of from A3 owners who also subscribe to CR. They are asked the question “Considering all factors (price, performance, reliability, comfort, enjoyment, etc.), would you get this car if you had to do it all over again?” The ranking is the percentage who answered "definitely, yes" and the A3 had 81%.

Where did the "poor" rating attributed to CR in this thread come from?

 

I look at CR every month as we pass it around my office and I've seen nothing on the A3 since April '07 car edition and it had all high marks and was actually recommended. i will say it's funny that the E46 M3 was recommended back when it first came out but now they say it's a car you'll want to avoid due to reliability and build quality. I find that strange.

 

As I kind of alluded to in my previous post, I actually prefer cars that don't get good marks from CR. To date, we've had 12 new cars and only two of them were recommended by CR, the 530i (great car by the way) that I was tempted to cancel my order for and one other that was absolutely the worst car I've ever owned. The other ten cars got poor ratings by CR, however, in virtually every case they've been delightful ownership experiences.