Anyone with a small family own an Audi A3 Sportback? Whats it like in terms of boot / cabin space for travelling with a baby? given you need space for a pram , baby carrier etc..? I know its probably fine, but given a choice between A3 sportback vs. A4 avant would you advise against an A3?
Currently in a bit of a dilemma... have found a fantastic 2010 A3 sportback 2.0 TFSI quattro, very tempted to buy it vs. an A4 avant, which i have test driven (TDI), didnt blow me away on first impression.
Other options I explored:
BMW320D but find the interior very ugly, the double dip dash for the i drive screen looks horrible and the engine sounds like a tractor.
Audi A6 - perfect car, just too big!
My search for a car has so far been a long, slow, tedious and seemingly never-ending adventure!
If I had a family with kids and could afford it I would totally go for the A6 among the choices you listed. (Assuming it's an A6 Avant. I would still prefer the A4 Avant over the A6 sedan for a family though.)
Yes.. A6 Avant. Unfortunately the parking is a squeeze where I live, hence why looking at an A3 sportback. From the test drive I couldnt really tell how big/small the A3 appeared, was too busy lusting over its looks! will have to think very carefully...
Had an A3 sportback and found it quite roomy. Enough space for 4 adults plus a nice sized boot. If you look at the A5/A6, the boot is huge!!! I am still surprised what fits into that boot
I like both cars, I prefer the A5 as it is better to drive for longer distances, but for use in the city only, the A3 is perfectly sufficient in my opinion
I like the A5 as well, but same prob as A6 and A4, theyre quite long wheelbase, whilst thats not an issue itself, the on street parking where I live i s a joke.
So ideally its an A3 sportback, but for some reason im being terribly indecisive about whether its big enough
Maybe it's just me, but I had trouble packing us three to my Peugeot 307 *kombi* for a 2 week vacation. It involved three suitcases, big push chair and then some other stuff.
On the other hand, a colleague of mine had no problem driving long distances with wife and a baby in Toyota Yaris. He drove this thing for three years. I don't know how he did it . But as I said, it's maybe just me .
A3 Sportsback may be OK - it all depends on the amount of child related paraphernalia you are likely to carry. Keep it to the minimum and you'll be fine.
Estates are "generally" the best all round bet - the A6 is very capacious - but the A4 is a sensible size.
However, for the money (and wishing to stay in the VAG family) I would be thinking about :
these are all great cars but I have to say I laugh at what people seem to need for a 'family' car these days.
it seems that every couple with a baby needs to get some SUV monstrosity because nothing smaller could possibly fit their 2 foot long package of goodness.
when i was a kid we were stuffed quite happily into a (small) Nissan Micra.
When I was small, we would (family of 4) go for 2-3 weeks holiday in this type of car (fiat 500):
It was more than sufficient for us 4. Ok, it was a summer holiday. One has to bring only what is absolutely needed, nothing extra. Those were the days...
My boss used to have the A3 for work (bar) he would call me everytime form the store though when he had a bigger object as he could not fit it. I had the bmw 525 wagon. Audi's are VERY small in the boot compartment until you get to the A6. (I before had the s4 avant and the difference between the bmw and the audi was night and day)
I had the A3 sportback.... my two cents worth is that it is OK for a family with one kid, when our second arrived then it didn't have much space left.
Well, to be honest there was sufficient space for day to day runs to the shop, but it you wanted to go away and take pushchairs, suitcases etc then it was too small.
I own a 2009 A3 Sportback TFSI 2.0 quattro as a single female and NO, it's too small!
Not for me personally... but moving stuff and taking trips with others is difficult. It involves repacking the suitcase twice, bags at your feet, or luggage stacked so high in the back you can't see anything in the rear view mirror. I think you should get the A4/6. Just my 2 cents.
Took the wife down to the garage to help decide today. Ended up being a choice between a luggage problem or a parking problem and have decided to opt for the latter :-)
Oh well.... the car I found is really nice, and course can make any car work, just a case of compromises etc. but when you have a choice in the matter then it's worth weighing up options etc.
Great car, I've had a few! Yes the engine is a little noisy, but it's v economical, and gives great performance too, especially if you are looking at around 2008 or newer with the N47 engine rather then the M47. The BMW is also (IMHO) far more reliable than anything from the VAG stable.
Sure. I am only going on first impressions after a test drive, im sure they are very good cars overall but I didn't like the dash and the interior felt cramped. Not to say I know anything about reliability of BMW vs. Audi.. I guess if buying under warranty should be minimal difference between the two....?
We have an Audi A3 sport back, we are a family of 3 (adults).. we use the car a lot and when travelling we never have any problems fitting everything in.
We also have purchased a tub to go on top as we don't like having ski`s and snowboards in the car..
The 3-series is a relatively compact touring - so won't offer a huge increase in space over an A3. RWD brings a reduction in rear legroom.
The trade off is that it handles and rides considerably better than the Audi offering - especially if you can move off RunFlatTyres.
The double bubble dashboard isn't to everyones taste - but considering the latest "tablet on a dock" design that is proliferated through Audi, Merc and BMW it isn't that bad. Post 2009 models get a very slick iDrive. The 330XD is perhaps one of the best cars money can buy - especially in 245ps guise.
On the Audi front - the 3.0TDi are excellent - but prices remain firm.
There is an A6 Avant on EF for sale which looks "nice".