That your budget won't stretch to a new or nearly new car doesn't really help us, especially with the exclamation mark which could be a tongue in cheek way of saying your budget is well short of new/nearly new prices. What would help is knowing what your budget actually is, or at least the age of A3 you are looking at?

However, the fact that you are hearing a lot of owners are having issues with that model should be a good reason to choose something else. Though I would be interested to learn what issues are involved, because the only thing I'd expect to hear about on relatively young example would be concerning the DSG automatic transmission (which is complex, a bit fragile and doesn't tolerate abuse well).

If the badge is the main draw to the A3, that's up to you and your choice. Otherwise it is worth bearing in mind that there are a gaggle of other similar sized VAG cars which all use the same running gear, and the Audi is probably going to be the most expensive of them like for like.

If you want a hybrid car of that size with a "posh" badge, but want something with almost legendary reliability, the Lexus CT200h would be worth a look.