• Strong fuel economy
• Diesel still makes a lot of sense
• Not the most competitive for company car drivers

What are the running costs?

Strong fuel economy is a must-have for a car of this ilk. And the A3 delivers. Ultimate fuel gauge watchers will want the 35 TDI diesel. It’ll cover up to 61.4mpg on the Sport version with 17-inch wheels and auto box but goes as low as 57.6mpg with the 19-inch wheels of the Vorsprung model. CO2 for this engine is as low as 114g/km.

The lowest powered petrol, the 30 TFSI, can cover up to 52.3mpg with the manual gearbox and produce as little as 122/gkm. The more powerful 35 TFSI has an official rating of 52.3mpg and 122g/km.

Servicing and warranty

Premium-priced cars tend also to cost more to service, insure and buy parts for. Servicing plans are available to up to four years, front-loading your costs or building them into your monthly payments. Definitely worth investing in to avoid inflationary rises.

Audi’s standard warranty, at three years or 60,000 miles is less-than generous compared with rivals, but on a par with its premium German counterparts. But you can extend the warranty to four years/75,000 miles or five years/90,000 miles for extra money. But none come close to Kia, MG or Toyota’s offerings.

Reliability

• Shares a platform with VW Golf
• Largely a update of the existing car
• Tech used across the VW Group

Given that this is, in all reality, a heavy update of the outgoing car you shouldn’t have too much to worry about in terms of the fundamental structure or tech in this A3.

The engines are improved versions of what came before too, and used across the VW Group, although the mild-hybrid tech isn’t as well tested (by customers at least) as the rest of the range.