Audi A3 vs Volkswagen Golf — example ownership cost comparison
This page compares the estimated total cost of ownership for a Audi A3 2014 and a Volkswagen Golf 2016, using two real 73 Auto example reports. It breaks the same cost categories — depreciation, fuel/energy, insurance, servicing, tax and more — down side by side, so you can see exactly where the two figures agree or diverge. An illustrative side-by-side comparison of two real 73 Auto example scenarios — a 2014 Audi A3 diesel and a 2016 Volkswagen Golf diesel — showing how the same cost categories are broken down and compared. This is not a market-wide claim that one model is cheaper than the other; the two examples differ in registration year.
Audi A3 2014
£5,690
per year, this example
£474 per month
Volkswagen Golf 2016
£4,552
per year, this example
£379 per month
Difference: £1,138 per year (£95 per month) — Audi A3 2014 costs 25% more than Volkswagen Golf 2016.
Which costs less to own?
Volkswagen Golf 2016 is estimated to cost less to own than Audi A3 2014 in these two examples, by £1,138 per year — 20% less than Audi A3 2014.
Category comparison
| Category | Audi A3 2014 | Volkswagen Golf 2016 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | £1,037(18%) | £1,039(23%) | £2 |
| Fuel / Energy | £1,084(19%) | £887(19%) | £197 |
| Insurance | £570(10%) | £530(12%) | £40 |
| Service & MOT | £1,288(23%) | £719(16%) | £569 |
| Maintenance & Repairs | £798(14%) | £465(10%) | £333 |
| Urban Costs (CC / ULEZ / Parking) | £240(4%) | £240(5%) | £0 |
| VED / Road Tax | £20(0%) | £20(0%) | £0 |
| Tyres | £135(2%) | £135(3%) | £0 |
| Roadside Assistance | £139(2%) | £130(3%) | £9 |
| Finance / Leasing | £379(7%) | £388(9%) | £9 |
| Total per year | £5,690 | £4,552 | £1,138 |
Figures shown are each category's annual cost as printed in the source report. A percentage in brackets is that category's share of the vehicle's own total, only where the source report states one.
What the numbers show
- Volkswagen Golf 2016 has the lower estimated annual ownership cost in these two example reports, at £4,552 per year versus £5,690 for Audi A3 2014, a difference of £1,138 per year. Audi A3 2014 costs 25% more than Volkswagen Golf 2016.
- The largest category difference is service & mot: £1,288 for Audi A3 2014 versus £719 for Volkswagen Golf 2016, a difference of £569 per year.
- Urban Costs (CC / ULEZ / Parking) is identical between the two vehicles in these examples, at £240 per year for both Audi A3 2014 and Volkswagen Golf 2016.
- Combined depreciation and finance/leasing cost £1,416 per year for Audi A3 2014, versus £1,427 per year for Volkswagen Golf 2016, in these examples.
- Volkswagen Golf 2016 has the lower estimated fuel/energy cost in these examples, at £887 per year versus £1,084 per year for Audi A3 2014.