[Lessons Learned] Don't Change Cars Because You Think You Have a Problem!

I am about 3 months into my ownership of my 2017 (67 plate) Audi A3 Black Edition and boy have I learned some great lessons!

Lesson 1: Don't Change Cars Because You Think You Have a Problem!

Part of the reason for my moving on the orange 2010 Audi S3, was because I suspected a coolant leak, and it had come up on my last service too. I didn't want to have a big garage bill.

Alas, what happened was that 2017 Audi A3 actually had a worse coolant leak, and because I don't trust the garage, I bought the car from, I've ended up paying the £1200 bill myself. Would it have cost £1200 to fix the Audi S3, probably not, but I'd guess it wouldn't have been far off. In hindsight, I probably should have fixed the S3, but there are still benefits to having the A3, so I don't regret my change.

SUMMARY: Fix issues with the car you have!

Lesson 2: Don't Buy Cars from Dodgy Dealers!

In hindsight, I should have read the reviews of the garage I bought my car from. They weren't great. It was a dodgy garage that sells Cat N Insurance write offs, without properly checking them over.

SUMMARY: Don't buy from dodgy dealers!

Especially avoid Ideal Car Centre Ltd in Bliston Wolverhampton. They sell Cat N cars that haven't been properly repaired!

Lesson 3: Don't Buy Cars from Dodgy Dealers Far from You!

Another problem was the company I bought the A3 off, was about 200 miles away from me, many hours' away. If something went wrong, I wasn't ever going to go back there to get it fixed.

SUMMARY: Buy from well under 100 miles away if you can!

Lesson 4: Don't Buy a Cat N Insurance Write Off Unless...!

There is actually something else wrong with my A3. When the coolant leak was investigated, they also noticed the gearbox was leaking oil, and had to be filled up with 1.5 litres. I'm actually lucky I hadn't decided to just keep topping up coolant until the next service as potentially the gearbox would have run out of oil and been destroyed, a very expensive repair that would need. Not sure how much the gearbox leaking oil issue will cost to fix but maybe £500.

This leads onto lesson 4. Don't buy a Cat N insurance write off, unless you are very sure it's been fixed super professionally. I can't help thinking mine was fixed in an amateur way.

SUMMARY: Don't buy a Cat N Insurance Write Off.

PS I must apologize that there are no longer any Lotus Cars on this "A Lotus Owners Diary" blog. I would dearly love another Lotus. The truth though is that I don't drive that much. Much of this is simply I don't have time, I have to work. And the expense of owning a sportscar just to look pretty outside my house doesn't make much sense. Track days are expensive too. And maybe I have other hobbies these days (which are less expensive.) One day another Lotus will come. I can't believe it's already 2.5 years since I last had a Lotus. Time moves so fast. If I had £40k floating around in my pocket right now to buy a Lotus with, I know which Lotus on the market I would get:

The Exige V6 was the best Lotus I had. The Elise was fun, but the 4-cylinder was not special enough for me and the car was dinky. The Evora was great but really a bit too big. The Exige V6 was perfect size for me, not too big, not too small, and that engine is fantastic. And the above is an automatic version. I liked my Exige V6 Auto. Yes, not the best auto gearbox, but the blips on downshift made it well worth having, and, let's face it, my manual gear changes are pants! 😊