Audi A3 convertible

Yorky1

Having a look at this on Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221237853841?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Does anyone have any knowledge of this car?

Also, I've never had a convertible before - is the insurance cost higher and are they practical for everyday use ( allowing for the one week of summer we get...)

Finally, are they a 'man's car'...?

Thanks in advance

Ultrasonic

Yorky1 wrote: »

Also, I've never had a convertible before. - is the insurance cost higher

Have you ever driven or been a pasenger in a convertable? I assume you have, but just in case not it would be a shame to buy one and then find you don't actually like the experience of driving without a roof!

You could get an insurance quote easily enough online to get an idea, although I've no idea how the Cat D status would affect this.

Edit: Not totally convinced about the idea of a diesel convertable...

daveyjp

Ask via ebay what lead to the cat D damage and what exactly was repaired.

Cabrios are not practical for everyday use, the boot will be tiny and the back seat will be useless.

Tigerprint

Personally I think the Audi convertibles are possibly the better of all the 'soft tops', they seem to be a better quality....

I'm sure you'll get good miles to the gallon & it will look good in the summer.

However, this particular cat D example will possibly have its issues. Its hard to tell from the pictures but there is definitely a bigger gap than there should be between bonnet & wing on the driver's side. Like any insurance write off, you take a chance. It could have been in a massive smash up, all air bags off/glass smashed etc, or, could have simply been stolen & recovered....

You could ask if it has 2 keys?, states it has all manuals but not sure if this would include the service book?

Possibly has 2 or 3 owners on the V5 already.... but then Cabriolets ALWAYS have a load of owners on the log book.

I'm not sure they are a man's car, the A4 is definitely more 'manly'

Cabriolets are practical if you have a garage.......

londonTiger

daveyjp wrote: »

Ask via ebay what lead to the cat D damage and what exactly was repaired.

Cabrios are not practical for everyday use, the boot will be tiny and the back seat will be useless.

that's a pretty new car and to cat D would have cost a lot to repair, it isn't just a case of minor body damage leading to cat D. Expect this car to be significatly repaired, perhaps even 2 ends joined up or something.

londonTiger

the other point is that an a3 is supposed to be the hatchback model, basically means the boot is cut. While the standard a3 has a decent sized boot the softtop version will have some of the boot space eaten up by the softtop.

I would recommend the a4 convertable if you want a soft top.

[Deleted User]

daveyjp wrote: »

Cabrios are not practical for everyday use, the boot will be tiny and the back seat will be useless.

Really?

Have driven a 2 seat soft top with no boot for the last 3 years as my only car:p

OddballJamie

If you're planning on keeping it longterm then CAT D shouldn't be a major issue as long as it has been repaired well.

I can see possible warranty problems and it must have had an expensive bump to cause it to be CAT D on a six month old Audi. £10k maybe?

GAZ237

I drive a BMW convertible all year round. When the roof is up its just like a normal car. No problems with wind noise, like I,ve had with previous softtops.

The boot is quite small but then its only a 3 series. But its a full 4 seater with the same interior room as a standard 3 series.

Nothing beats having the roof down on a summers day.

For the OP. I would not be touching a cat D of that age. It must of had some serious damage to warrant the insurers writing it off.

Insurance tends to be higher on a soft top because people can slash the roof to gain access.

Strider590

Yorky1 wrote: »

Finally, are they a 'man's car'...?

Why do you care what other people think? If your buying it for the benefit of other people then I suggest your wasting your money.

In my opinion the vast majority of mass produced soft tops are "hair dressers cars". That's because I own one of these:

gilbert_and_sullivan

Spot on Strider.

Never heard such a thing as a car being manly or not, there are varying degrees of pretty or handsome through to the downright ugly (Audi A7, micra convertible etc) if you have gender issues then the choice of car isn't going to change that....it might however help with 'advertising'...