The Audi R8 is, by far, the best Audi I’ve ever driven. That’s not terribly surprising, seeing as how the one I drove shares a lot of its parts, including its V10 engine, with the Lamborghini Gallardo, and equally excellent vehicle.
I’ve driven a bunch of other Audis, too, but none of them can match the R8. Again, not very surprising, since the R8 is a mid-engine, naturally aspirated supercar with a gated manual transmission—it checks pretty much all the boxes you’d want from a supercar, whereas most other Audis are simply hopped-up versions of pedestrian vehicles.
There is one Audi I’ve driven that comes close, though: the modern RS 3. After getting seat time behind several of these cars since its introduction into the U.S. in 2016, I can confidently say it’s the most thrilling car from the brand with more than four seats, thanks to its mix of practicality, weird five-cylinder engine noises, and smaller size.
Now that early examples are nearly 10 years old, there’s no better time to check on prices for used examples. And some of these numbers make second-hand RS 3s incredibly tempting.
Here’s What Made the RS 3 Great
Let’s start with the bones. The RS 3 is, of course, an extension of the A3 sedan, a car based on Volkswagen Group’s widely used MQB platform. This architecture underpins a lot of well-known cars from the conglomorate, including the Mk7 Golf, the Arteon, the Atlas, the Passat, and the A3’s stablemate, the TT coupe.
When it was revealed back in 2016, the RS 3 was priced from $55,450. The car’s main attraction was the 400-horsepower, 2.5-liter turbocharged inline five-cylinder engine. Not only did it make the 3,500-pound sedan a bit of a pocket rocket, but it also emitted the most unique noise in all of the car world.
Those early cars also got a dual-clutch transmission and adaptive suspension as standard. Opt for the Dynamic package, and you also get Pirelli P Zero summer tires for extra grip. Interestingly, cars equipped with that package got slightly wider rubber, but only at the front—presumably to compensate for the 57.7:42.3 weight distribution. There was also a Dynamic Plus package available, which added a stiffer fixed suspension and carbon ceramic brakes up front.
The RS 3 got even better for the 2022 model year when a facelift introduced torque vectoring for the Quattro all-wheel drive system and the rear differential. Depending on the mode, the car could now direct up to 50% of the 369 pound-feet to the rear. The rear differential, meanwhile, could direct 100% percent of the torque it receives to either of the rear wheels, allowing for more balanced cornering and easy sideways action.
We’re Talking New Civic Prices
Those pre-facelift cars, now approaching a decade old, can be had for about as much as a base Honda Civic if you’re willing to put up with a lot of mileage. This one, listed for sale in New York through TrueCar, has 140k on the clock, and it’s listed for just $25,991—less than half its original MSRP. Aside from some aftermarket wheels and a very shiny leather interior, it looks to be in pretty good condition.
If you want something with fewer miles, you’re going to have to spend a bit more. But not that much more. Here’s a clean example with 84,000 miles in Ohio listed for just $31,995. And another, in Washington, for just $34,991. Sadly, most of the cheaper RS 3s are all in bland colors like grey or black; the cheapest one in a real color that I could find for sale is this blue example on Carvana, for $38,990.
Prices get a bit steeper if you want a later, post-facelift car with the fancy torque vectoring features. The cheapest example I could find with no accidents is this 2023 model with over 50,000 miles on the clock, listed for $52,988. Considering a new 2026 model starts at just over $67k, it might be worth it just to spring for a new one, unless you’re really penny-pinching.
By now, you’re probably wondering, if RS 3s are this cheap, then what about its sportier-looking sibling, the TT RS? That car uses the same architecture and has the same drivetrain layout, with the same 400-horsepower inline-five. The cheapest of the last-gen TT RSs I could find online is this model on Cars.com, which is listed for $37.995 with 85k on the clock. So, not nearly as good a deal, but still, that’s only about two grand more than a new GTI. And I know which one I’d rather have.
It’s also worth noting Audi sold a TT RS earlier in the 2010s, with a five-cylinder and a manual gearbox, but it was much rarer, meaning good-quality examples are tough to come by. Even the cheapest one I could find is still more expensive than the cheapest RS 3 I mentioned above.
Top graphic image: Audi
An Audi with 84K on it? No thanks!
North America never got an MQB Passat. Unless Mexico did.
It was the PQ46, a warmed over ancient platform to keep it cheap.
The rest of the world (bar China/USA) had the MQB Passat.
The TTRS is the greatest Golf of all time. With that out of the way…if you go this route do a lot of research. The 5 cylinder is actually fairly reliable by German standards, as is the DSG dual clutch so long as you do your fluid changes. A well cared for example should actually treat you pretty well as long as you do all of the preventative maintenance EXACTLY on schedule.
…the issue here is finding one that was well-cared for. These are incredibly popular with the tooning crowd, and the VAG tooning crowd does shit like chip cars on the dealer lot as soon as the ink is dry. These are capable of making 600+ horsepower with a sub $500 APR tune and nothing else…and people push them over 1,000 horsepower frequently.
The vast majority of them have been ridden hard and put away wet. They’re also very popular with the young affluenza crowd, I remember having a friend (we are no longer friends) who spent daddy’s money on one of these because she’s his most special girlie. She then tuned it before the engine was even broken in and was hitting “go to jail” speeds without even blinking.
…suffice to say, you don’t want to be the second or third owner of one of these unless it’s bone stock and had a squeaky clean maintenance history. Those cars do exist, because these also appeal to high functioning adults who want a fun but uncompromising daily, but you’re going to pay for them.
Because they’re special. These are subtle, comfortable, riotously quick, you can fit 4 adults in them, and when they’re being driven at less than 7.5/10 they more or less behave very inconspicuously. They’re also weirdly efficient? People get 30+ on the highway in them without even trying. It’s hard to find a more perfect daily for less than 75 grand…but as a result they really don’t depreciate all that much.
Honestly if you want one I’d recommend just saving and buying a brand new one. That’s the safest bet and by the time you find a nice enough secondhand one you’re not that far off from new prices anyway. You really, genuinely do not need to mod these either. They are absolute terrors on the track even when they’re bone stock. Hell they keep up with supercars….
Also, something to keep in mind is bigger Audi RS and S models depreciate really hard. You can get a nice used S6, S7, or RS5 for the price of a nice secondhand RS3 or even less if you’re willing to be patient. 20 something me would be very disappointed to read this, but that’s probably the route mid 30s me would go. An S7 for $50,000 is a lot of car…
In a previous article I commented that my biggest fear as a child was volcanoes.
As an adult, spending 26k on a performance Audi with 140k miles on it would have me waking up in a cold sweat, just like Dante’s Peak did back in ’97.
Don’t know if this is the average but our local Audi dealer has a lime green 2021 TT RS with 18K mi for $62,499. Seems steep to me… How much were these new?
About that much. They’re niche cars that they didn’t make very many of so they never really depreciated. Clarkson also drove one for a challenge on The Grand Tour and was a massive fan so I’d imagine that probably dragged values up a little bit too.
Kept half of its value over 140,000 miles. That’s pretty good retention for a German brand. It also means it is probably a bad value for the next buyer–they are paying a full half of MSRP, but what are the odds of it having half of its functional miles ahead of it? How much additional repair is needed to get the average RS3 to 280,000 miles?
All. All the repair
Down payment.
You can get a down payment on a used RS3 for the price of a new Civic.
That’s the “Used German Logic” I subscribe to. 🙂
If they had offered this (in the US0 in the traditional wagon/hatch configuration, I might own one by now. The sedan never, ever sat well with me from a daily practicality POV. Like a performance version of the Versa sedan or the Fiesta sedan. Yes, I know this is basically the same size as the earlier B5 A4, everything has just gotten bigger, but still.