I'm (possibly) about to buy an A2

Hi, I've just found this site and registered myself on it in the hope of becoming the proud owner of an A2.

I've always admired their looks, and I'm going to have a look at a low mileage 1.4 diesel Sport model on Friday. Now I know nothing about owning and living with one of these cars, and I would appreciate any info from you guys.

For instance, things like, mpg, service intervals,performance (ie are they slow or do they keep the pace on motorways, reliability, and anything else that I haven't mentioned and you know of.

Thanks in advance for any help given.

Phil
 
Hi ULP, thanks for your reply. No I don't own a Smart, although I have considered it for a long time, but feel An A2 is more practical.

I have had a look through the forum and found some of the articles to be of interest to a newbie like me, however, you can't beat direct feedback to direct questions - even if it has been said in the past. I'm just looking for some fast track feedback from the members on this forum, before I part with my hard earned cash.


Any further info will help me in my decision making progress to become an owner of an A2.

Cheers,

Phil
 
I have a 1.4tdi SE 2001, I got an SE not a sport, because the sport alloys are known to be easily damaged, and you need air con in an A2 (not standard on the sport) as windows down driving kills your ears. I get 60mpg no problems, I get mine serviced every 2 years at Kings Lynn Audi (faultless, highly recommend them) £50 a year tax, £250 insurance, £500 so far on servicing. Never let me down, easily keeps up with other cars and will sit at 70mph all day on a motorway.
A GREAT car!!!!!
S1mon
 
S1MON said:
I have a 1.4tdi SE 2001, I got an SE not a sport, because the sport alloys are known to be easily damaged, and you need air con in an A2 (not standard on the sport) as windows down driving kills your ears. I get 60mpg no problems, I get mine serviced every 2 years at Kings Lynn Audi (faultless, highly recommend them) £50 a year tax, £250 insurance, £500 so far on servicing. Never let me down, easily keeps up with other cars and will sit at 70mph all day on a motorway.
A GREAT car!!!!!
S1mon
Hi Phil,
I have been the proud owner of a 1.4 TDI 90 for only a month. During that time I have done lots of rural driving plus travelling to/from Bradford on M6/M62, a round trip of 200 miles. I am delighted with the performace and have currently returned 58mpg, which I hope to improve. Based on my short experience I don't hesitate to recommend an A2, but get climate control!

Good Luck, Peter
 
Thanks for your replies guys. I picked up my A2 diesel sport last night and had a very pleasant surprise..............the car is a bloody revelation:D It is very responsive when you put your foot down:eek: and I just know that this car will be in my charge for a very long time.

Thinking about my new toy, I wondered about using it in the winter when the local councils have done their bit by laying salted grit on the roads, does this have any detrimental effect on our cars or are they protected underneath by the manufacturers.

I've got lots of other questions, two that spring to mind are:
I've spoken to my local Audi dealer today to price up having a towing bracket fitted, then later I got to wondering about it being bolted to the chassis with Iron bolts, and electrolyte eating away at the chassis. The other thought was how do I get a cd player fitted when the current tape player seems to be incorporated in the dashboard.

These thoughts have cropped up in the first 24 hours of ownership, I'm sure there'll be more. In the meantime though, I'm so glad I bought this fantastic car:) .

Oh, by the way, how do I get the club card that gives you the ten percent discount?

Many thanks,

Phil
 
Hi Phil
Re the towbar installation, Audi specify bolts with a special (green) coating which prevents electrolytic corrosion. Your dealer should use the correct bolts but it would be worthwhile 'reminding' them when you have the job done.
CD changer installations have been covered many times in the past - see one of the links attached - and do a Search on CD changer if you need more info
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4342&highlight=changer

Cheers Spike
 
May I also welcome you to the wonderfull world of A2!

The bolts which hold your towbar to the chassis are dachrotised to prevent exactly what you describe from happening and they come as part of the fitting kit, so there's virtually no chance of un-treated bolts being used.

On the cd front - if you're happy with a tape deck frontage, then it's far easier and cheaper to fit an iPod interface to the existing headunit. Although it looks like the tape player is incorporated into the fascia, it isn't and it pops out quite easily with the right tools.

Cost of a factory cd changer is about £350 plus labour which isn't cheap as it has to be fitted in the boot. Cost of a genuine Audi iPod interface = £180 fitted, plus the cost of the Pod itelf if you don't have one already. Cd changer gives about 8 hours of music, iPod gives up to about 900 hours - go figure which one I've got!!!

Welcome again and here's to many happy years of ownership.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Squadron Leader said:
Thinking about my new toy, I wondered about using it in the winter when the local councils have done their bit by laying salted grit on the roads, does this have any detrimental effect on our cars or are they protected underneath by the manufacturers.

The A2 together with the A8 is one of the world's best suited vehicles for winter driving thanks to the aluminium frame and body. I have never seen any of these vehicles being affected by corrosion on any bit made of aluminium. On the underside the car has a very standard protective layer. The steel parts, like the suspension and rear drum brakes has just a thin layer of paint. I recommend treating them with an anti-corrosion body spray. Unless treated earlier in their life there is a major possibility that the rear drum brakes already has started to corrode, and that looks awful. I recommend to remove the possible corrosion and treat them with primer and a nice silver or alu-looking paint that matches your rims.
I've uploaded a pic of the painted drum on my car and some kind of grit protection for the rear suspension.
http://www.a2oc.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=758&c=15&userid=2304
 
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