Car Model Guide/ Audi/ A3/ 8P7

Audi A3 Cabriolet, 8P7

A cloth-roofed cabriolet launched with the 2008 facelift: later, rarer and softer than the hatches, and only ever sold in facelift specification.

Overview

The 8P7 is the convertible Audi A3, built 2008–2013. 5 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €3,000–€10,100, and 1 of the 5 carry a risk level of 4 or 5. The cheapest way in is the 1.4 TFSI CAXC from €3,800, while the 1.4 TFSI CAXC is the lowest-risk engine at €3,800, which engine you buy matters more here than which year. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.

Audi A3 convertible (8P7) · photo Audi A3 Cabriolet, Baujahr 2008 (2008-10-21) by Spurzem - Lothar Spurzem · CC BY-SA 2.0 de · Wikimedia Commons

Body style	convertible	Production	2008–2013
Platform siblings	8P hatchback · 8PA hatchback	Facelift (LCI)	none

Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 2008–2013

The 5 variants sold before the 2014 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under5 of 5

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
1.6 TDI	CAYC	diesel	2009–2013	105 PS	250 Nm	R3	15	€3,450–€8,050	€4,400	Buy w/ conditions	View
1.4 TFSI	CAXC	petrol	2008–2013	125 PS	200 Nm	R3	15	€3,000–€7,150	€3,800	Buy w/ conditions	View
2.0 TDI	CBAB	diesel	2008–2013	140 PS	320 Nm	R4	17	€3,900–€9,450	€4,950	Caution	View
1.8 TFSI	CDAA	petrol	2008–2013	160 PS	250 Nm	R3	16	€3,450–€8,500	€4,500	Buy w/ conditions	View
2.0 TFSI	CCZA	petrol	2008–2013	200 PS	280 Nm	R3	16	€4,150–€10,100	€5,300	Buy w/ conditions	View

Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2014–2013

The 0 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.

0 variants from the facelift on, carrying a real market premium of roughly 9% over an otherwise identical pre-facelift car. Variants appearing in both tables were sold either side of the changeover, the build month decides which one you're looking at, not the model year.

FilterGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under0 of 0

Nothing matches those filters.

Market availability varied by country; check the engine code stamped on the block rather than the badge on the boot. · Compare every engine side by side →

Model-year availability

Which engines were on sale in which year, from the year ranges in the variant records. Availability varied by country.

Variant	08	09	10	11	12	13
1.6 TDI CAYC		◐	●	●	●	●
1.4 TFSI CAXC	●	●	●	●	●	●
2.0 TDI CBAB	●	●	●	●	●	●
1.8 TFSI CDAA	●	●	●	●	●	●
2.0 TFSI CCZA	●	●	●	●	●	●

● full year · ◐ arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2014 in the accent colour are facelift (LCI) cars. Verify the engine code, not the model year.

Rating map, price against risk

Good-buy price plotted against risk level for every standard engine, so the value corner is visible at a glance.

Every standard engine in the chassis, plotted at its good-buy price against its risk level. Cheap and low-risk is the top-left; expensive and fragile is the bottom-right. M cars are excluded, they would stretch the price axis and tell you nothing about the rest.

Buy / strong buy Buy with conditions Caution / avoidLeft is cheaper, up is safer. The top-left corner is where the value is.

Prices across the range

Where the money sits across the whole chassis. Every figure here is an illustrative placeholder, not a sourced market sample.

Every standard engine on one euro axis: the bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile of asking prices, the tick is the median and the green marker is the good-buy figure. S/RS cars are excluded; they sit an order of magnitude above the rest.

Cheapest good buy€3,8001.4 TFSI CAXC

Median good buy€4,500across 5 engines

Dearest good buy€5,3002.0 TFSI CCZA

Full range€3,000–€10,100P10 to P90

Every standard engine · cheapest first · 1.4 TFSI CAXC highlighted as best value

€4k€6k€8k€10kGood buy

1.4 TFSI CAXC€3,800 1.6 TDI CAYC€4,400 1.8 TFSI CDAA€4,500 2.0 TDI CBAB€4,950 2.0 TFSI CCZA€5,300

at or under the good buy · good buy · median · bar spans the 10th–90th percentile

Chassis-wide issues, every engine inherits these

Faults recorded against the bodyshell and running gear rather than one engine, so every variant on this page inherits them.

Front control arm bushing wearE9x chassis€300–€700

Knocking over bad surfaces, vague or wandering steering, uneven front tyre wear, steering shimmy under braking. The front lower arm bushings are a known wear item on this chassis and go well before the ball joints.

Check: Drive over a rough road at low speed with the windows down and listen. Check the inside edges of the front tyres for feathering.

SuspensionuniversalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–150k km

Run-flat tyres and kerbed or cracked wheelsE9x chassis€150–€900

Harsh ride, vibration at speed, slow punctures. Stiff-sidewall run-flats transmit impacts straight into the rim, and these alloys crack rather than bend.

Check: Inspect the inner rim edge of every wheel for cracks and hairline splits, not just the face for kerbing. Budget for a set of conventional tyres; most owners switch and the ride improves markedly.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Corrosion at the rear subframe and arch seamsE9x chassis€300–€2,000

Bubbling at the rear arch lip, scaling on subframe mounting points and rear suspension components. Age plus road salt. This generation isn't a notorious rotter, but nothing from 2005–2013 is immune in a salted market.

Check: Put it on a lift and look at the rear subframe mounting points and the arch lips from behind. Largely a non-issue on cars from southern Europe, a real one on northern and Baltic cars.

Body & corrosionoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Footwell module (FRM) failureE9x chassis€150–€700

Headlights, indicators, windows, wipers and central locking stop working at once, usually right after a battery change or a jump start. The module's memory corrupts when supply voltage dips. It is the single most common electrical failure on this generation.

Check: Test every window, both mirrors, the wipers, all exterior lights and the central locking before you drive. If any cluster of these is dead, this is why.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Cabriolet roof hydraulics and hall-sensor faults8P7 body€150–€700

The roof won't operate, halts mid-cycle, or shows a soft-top warning. Most often the hall sensors or microswitches fail, or the hydraulic fluid is low; a failing hydraulic pump motor is the costlier cause. Identify which before spending.

Check: Fully open and close the roof several times, watching for hesitation, warnings or a stall mid-cycle, and check the hydraulic-fluid level roof-down.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–180k km

Rear shock mount wearE9x chassis€250–€500

Knock from the rear over speed bumps, a hollow thump from the boot area. The rubber mounts perish. On hard-used cars the mount can crack the surrounding turret metal, which is a far bigger job.

Check: Lift the boot floor and look at the top of the shock towers for cracking or a lifted mount. Listen for a knock over bumps.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–180k km

xDrive transfer case actuator failureE9x chassis€600–€1,200

Grinding or binding at low-speed full lock, 4x4 warning lights, a shudder when manoeuvring. The actuator motor and the transfer case's internal chain wear, especially on cars run with mismatched tyre sizes.

Check: Full-lock circles in both directions in a car park, slowly, listening for binding. Check all four tyres are the same brand and wear, mismatched tyres destroy these.

DrivetrainoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented120–220k km

Rear multi-link bush and drop-link wearA3 platform€200–€500

A knock or clunk from the rear over bumps and potholes, vague handling, and uneven rear tyre wear. The rear multi-link control-arm bushes and drop links wear, often several together, so the noise is worth diagnosing before replacing parts. Age and mileage both drive it.

Check: Drive over rough surfaces listening for a rear clunk; on a ramp, lever each rear arm bush and drop link for play.

SuspensioncommonPartly detectableevidence: documented100–200k km

iDrive CCC head unit failureE9x chassis€300–€900

Black screen, rebooting, refusal to read the drive, non-functioning navigation. The early CCC unit's hard drive and mainboard fail with age. Later CIC units are more reliable.

Check: Turn it on and use it for a few minutes: navigation, radio, settings. Reboots during that window are the fault showing itself.

ElectricaloccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Coolant expansion tank crackingE9x chassis€120–€250

Coolant smell after a drive, slow unexplained loss of coolant, crusty residue around the tank seams. The plastic tank goes brittle with age and splits, usually at a seam or around the level sensor.

Check: Look at the tank with the engine warm, dried coolant leaves a white or pink crust. Cheap to fix, but it tells you how the car has been maintained.

CoolingcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented90–200k km

Instrument-cluster (FIS) pixel failureA3 platform€120–€250

Missing pixels, lines or columns on the central driver-information display, often worse when the car is warm. The cluster's LCD and its ribbon and solder joints degrade with age. It's a nuisance rather than a safety fault, though a full cluster failure is possible.

Check: Cycle through all the trip and service menus checking every segment, both cold and after the car has warmed up.

InteriorcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–250k km

Unregistered replacement batteryE9x chassis€30–€60

Random electrical faults, warning lights that come and go, a battery that dies again within a year. The car's power management must be told a new battery was fitted. Cheap replacements are routinely fitted without coding, which then overcharges or undercharges the new battery.

Check: Ask when the battery was changed and whether it was registered. A car with a new battery, no registration and a scatter of odd electrical faults usually just needs coding.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented

Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 5 times: S/RS cars included, since the bodyshell and electronics are shared.

Buying summary

Our read on the chassis, built on the records above rather than added to them.

Every car here is a facelift car, so the engines are the common-rail diesels and TFSI petrols rather than the older units. The body-specific check is the roof: hall sensors and the hydraulic pump are the known failures, so operate it fully several times and confirm the fluid level before you commit.

Cheapest and dearest in this chassis

The ends of the range by good-buy price. Useful for sanity-checking anything you're quoted.

Lowest entry price

1.4 TFSI CAXC : from €3,000, risk 3

1.6 TDI CAYC : from €3,450, risk 3

1.8 TFSI CDAA : from €3,450, risk 3

Lowest risk

1.4 TFSI CAXC : risk 3, good buy at €3,800

1.6 TDI CAYC : risk 3, good buy at €4,400

1.8 TFSI CDAA : risk 3, good buy at €4,500