THOSE good people at Audi know how to create the right impression.
My test car arrived on an atrocious day weather-wise.
Snow - sometimes blizzard conditions - hit the Midlands, but reliable Audi had the car delivered before its sceduled arrival time.
Not only that, the driver had had it washed because it had been caked with salt from motorway gritting operations.
When I told him that, in the all the circumstances it would not have mattered, he said: "Oh, but we take a pride in all the cars we deliver - and not only that, Audi would expect nothing less."
Okay, it's only a small thing, but little things create big impressions and if that care is reflected in how they build their cars, it has to be good.
The A3 is acknowledged as the first car to bring premium brand qualities to the compact hatchback sector.
The latest edition has been reinvented as an even more spacious, refined, responsive and carefully built act to follow for the class it created back in 1996.
A completely new body shell which is 30mm wider than its predecessor and sleekly styled, gives the new version considerably extra space, helped by a wheel-base which has been extended by 65mm.
The newcomer has also grown up mechanically, thanks to a wide variety of new or improved EU4 compliant petrol and TDI engines, revolutionary new transmission options, revised front and all-new independent rear suspension and new electro-mechanical power steering.
There is a selection of engines including a two litre TDI and a 3.2 litre petrol V6 in the six-model line-up. All are allied as standard to either five or six-speed gearboxes, with the new six-speed version of the renowned Audi triptronic automatic transmission available as an optional extra.
The most powerful petrol and TDI version of the A3 are also available with Audi's ground-breaking new Dynamic Shift Gearbox.
Inspired by motor racing technology, this new transmission system offers all the advantages of a sporting close ratio manual gearbox and a slick shifting automatic, with none of the pitfalls of either.
My test car had a 1.6 litre, aluminium in-line four-cylinder spark ignition engine, which felt more powerful than I expected.
The power steering varies its level of assistance to suit the prevailing road speed and has impressive resistance to vibration and kickback from the road surface.
Inside, all is very comfortable and the emphasis is on space. The new A3 has 42mm more shoulder room at the front, 30mm at the back and 29mm more rear knee room.
The front seats feature an 'easy-entry' function to help access to the back seats.
The luggage compartment provides a 350-litre capacity normally and up to 1,100 litres with the backrest tilted down.
FAST FACTS
Audi A3 1.6 SE
Price: £17,260
Mechanical: 102bhp, 1,595cc 4 cyl petrol engine driving front wheels via 5-spd manual transmission
Max speed: 116mph
0-62mph: 11.9 secs
Combined mpg: 39.2
Insurance group: 9
CO2 emissions: 170g/km
BiK rating: 18%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 12yrs anti-rust; 3yrs paint