Audi A3 review - Reliability and Safety

The A3 is an impressively safe car, having scored the maximum five stars in Euro NCAP’s crash tests. Of particular note is its result of 95 per cent in the adult occupant protection category.

Audi has stocked the A3 with impressive levels of big-car safety kit, too. These include optional radar-controlled cruise control that maintains a set distance to the car in front, lane-keep assist, hill-hold assist and a pre-sense system to prepare the car in the event of an accident. Another optional safety feature is a self-park system that will help you get into a tight parking space.

Audi finished in 16th in the Auto Express Driver Power 2019 survey, while the A3 finished 69th out of 100 cars in the survey. A relatively low 16 per cent of owners reported a fault with their cars.

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Warranty

Audi’s standard warranty is three years and 60,000 miles, which is unlimited mileage for years one and two, with the 60,000-mile cap coming into effect in the third year. For either £245 or £500, that can be extended to four years and 75,000 miles (years three and four mileage limited) or five years and 90,000 miles (years three to five are mileage limited).

The battery on the e-tron model is covered by a separate, eight-year/100,000-mile warranty, but Audi says that a reduction in battery power capacity of between 10 and 30 per cent in the warranty period is normal degradation and thus not a claimable item.

Servicing

The service schedule ranges from 9,000 miles or 12 months for minor checks to 19,000 miles or 48 months for a full service. Audi offers a range of fixed-price deals, including Audi Complete, so maintenance shouldn’t prove too costly.

Whether your car qualifies for a fixed or flexible schedule of servicing depends on your annual mileage, with Audi stating that any car that covers more than 10,000 miles per year should have flexible maintenance patterns.