Before you buy a Audi A3 in Uganda

by Edwin

The Audi A3 is a Small Family/Compact car produced since 1996. The first two generations of A3 were based on the Volkswagen Group A platform, which they share with several other models such as the Audi TT, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Caddy, and Volkswagen Touran, as well as SEAT León, SEAT Toledo, and Škoda Octavia. The third-generation A3 uses the Volkswagen Group MQB platform.

Before you buy a Audi A3 in Uganda

The Audi A3 is known as the premium compact-class car on an international scale. It was first introduced in 1997 and the latest model is in its 3rd generation model. You get to choose from a 1.4L or 1.8L inline 4-cyclinder turbo engine. These engines are equipped with the innovative "start-stop system" which is an idling stop mechanism to save fuel.

Basically, it shuts the engine off automatically when you're stopped and it turns back on when you need to go. The body is designed with ultra-lightweight technology to help in fuel consumption. The standard transmission is automatic transmission (AT) while manual transmission (MT) is available in 1999-2001 models. It's available in 4WD and 2WD depending on your preference.

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Buying a foreign used Audi A3 from a car bond in Uganda

Buying a car from a car bond makes life a lot easier to acquire yourself a vehicle. There is basically no need to go to japan or order for the vehicle from japan or any other part of the world. In short one just walks to the car bond and arrange for a purchase and within a short time, the car is paid for and handled over to you as the owner.

However, you can also find that some cars have only cleared the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) fees only. So it would mean that if you want aAudi A3then you will have to clear the rest of the taxes. You can find the CIF of the 2006 Audi A3(that’s up Kampala from Japan) costing $ 2,500 to be around $ 4,500 or more for latest models.

However, the cost of the CIF can change due to year of manufacture, condition of the car, mileage and the dealer. Now the Audi A3is more expensive as compared to most the cars we have discussed.


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Importing a foreign used Audi A3 from Japan

Now this is different from buying from car from the car bond here in Kampala. Some people prefer to import their own cars directly from Japan or from any other part of the world.

This means all the costs are going to be met by the owner of the car right from say Japan to Mombasa up to Uganda. Here one needs to determine the cost of the car while still in Japan from which the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) are calculated.

After that, arrangements are made to ship the car to Kampala, Uganda. After arriving in Kampala, then the required taxes have to be cleared.

The taxes charged by the Uganda Revenue Authority include Import Duty, Value added (VAT), Withholding Tax, Environmental Levy, Infrastructure Levy, and Registration Fees. When all this is done, then you are free to drive home in your Audi A3.

General Audi A3 reviews for Uganda

Most A3s are front-wheel drive, but Audi's trademark quattro part-time four-wheel drive system can be specified on some Sport models upwards, usually linked to an S tronic gearbox. The odd A3s out here are the 1.6 TDI quattro and the 148bhp 2.0 TDI quattro - both manuals.

This A3 bucks the Audi trend of using hard suspension to improve the handling – which ultimately compromised ride comfort in the previous generation model. The suspension on the current A3 is a vast improvement over the old car's, with only a dab of firmness present. Yet even though the car is generally good to drive, the handling is still somewhat uninvolving compared to rivals like the BMW 1 Series.

Getting to the interior, design and technology, the A3 carries some familiar Audi trademarks, with the style of the lights and the large grille found on everything from the A1 to the A8. However, it’s an attractive design with a quality look, but it's more conservative than the likes of the Mercedes A-Class and Volvo V40 and some Japanese cars from Toyota here in Uganda.

Every A3 gets a slick, 5.8-inch infotainment screen that pops out from the top of the dash. This is controlled by a rotary wheel on the centre console – which is an excellent feature to find on entry level models.

Because of its improved dimensions, the Audi A3 gets more room in the boot than before. Space in the three-door has been extended to 365 litres with the rear seats in place, and this grows to 1,100 litres when they’re folded. The five-door Sport back boasts a 380-litre space, which expands to 1,220 litres with the rear seats down.

Front head room is a metre and more in all models, rising from 1,000mm in the Cabriolet to 1,021mm in the Sportback. However, the Saloon and Cabriolet have more limited rear head room, at slightly more than 920mm each instead of 950mm-plus in the hatchback and Sportback models.


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Common complaints owners of the Audi A3 raise in Uganda

One of the major problems is low resale value for the A3 Audi. This could be because of high costs of spare parts, which may also not be readily available.

Our Final verdict

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. This makes it a very safe car to ride in with family or close friends. It’s worth the price if you choose to buy it for yourself..

Click here to buy a Audi A3 or Car spare parts in Uganda

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