My Friend's A2. You May Remember This One...

A friend of mine who's admired my A2 for a while finally got his hands on one that fit the bill just before Christmas. It was spotted and discussed by the folks of this forum; DJ190 even considered buying it for his good lady.

It was being sold by Paul, a regular A2 TDI trader and background member of the club. When I went to look at it, I found that it had all manner of little faults, so we did a deal on that basis. I have since been working my way through the list of jobs. Despite having a faulty CCCU, being in need of a cambelt change, having the worst condition climate control panel the world has ever known, etc, I couldn't turn down such a gem.

It's a 2003MY TDI75 SE with all the Sport options, OpenSky, rear electric windows, RNS-D, 6-Disc changer, the winter pack and leather/alcantara trim.
It's currently got 92k on the clock, having been serviced 6 or so times.

After buying it, it went straight to Vince for a thorough service and a remap. It's one of the most powerful AMF engines Vince has ever seen, cleanly pumping out 190lbft of torque and 112bhp. Before the remap, it developed 86bhp.

So far, I've done various maintenance jobs, have added an iPod connection to the stereo and have changed its wheels. However, there's still plenty to do. Cruise control needs to be added and David, my friend, would like the floppy wiper. It's also got various bodywork issues that need attention; you'll see in the photos below that the lower section of the front bumper is very pale. There's also some evidence of prior damage to the N/S/R door, etc.

Needless to say, having previously driven a Daewoo Lanos, he's absolutely delighted with it!

Cheers,

Tom

When does your Bose go in ?

I have to say, having had a making progress journey in my AUA the other night, I can only imagine how much more progress I would have made with 190/112

nuttinnew said:

When does your Bose go in?

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I did consider retro-fitting the Bose system into this car, but my friend couldn't really justify the expense. Since buying the car, he's already spent £1500 on upgrades, servicing and repairs.

The car is quick. My remapped AMF engine chucks out just over 100bhp, making this one approximately 10% more powerful. You can definitely feel it.

that is a lovely little car
I wouldnt be that bothered by the floppy...
Love the wheels they're 16's aren't they ?
I quite like the pepperpots ive got on and they are v light but looking at those makes me want to go back to a 'proper wheel'
Paul

it really does go to show how modern the car sill looks at 11 years old

It's gorgeous, isn't it!?

The wheels are indeed 16". They're from the Mk1 TT and are a 7J running 205 tyres.
As far as I'm concerned, they offer a great compromise between grip, handling, aesthetics, comfort and economy.

I couldn't agree with you more about how the A2 is ageing. I think its clean, avant-garde design is timelessly beautiful.

I quite like the front valance being paler.

jp.oog said:

I quite like the front valance being paler.

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Aesthetically, I think it has its merits, but the whole bumper is damaged at its fixings, meaning it's quite loose in places.

timmus said:

I couldn't agree with you more about how the A2 is ageing. I think its clean, avant-garde design is timelessly beautiful.

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I think the exterior ages better than the interior. I'd like to try and do things to the interior in order to freshen it up a little. Not sure how/ what though. Yet.
Cheers, Hedge

Hedge said:

I think the exterior ages better than the interior. I'd like to try and do things to the interior in order to freshen it up a little. Not sure how/ what though. Yet.
Cheers, Hedge

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Fully agree with this. Our interior is pretty good but it still let's the car down compared to the exterior. Main issues for me are the worn bolsters on the sports seats; the soft touch controls were a major design blunder - I'll need new light switches and climate panel eventually. The soul black sills and pillar plastics don't wear well either. I replaced these on the offside when we bought the car - but they are just as bad now.

Fortunately most of these issues apart from the seats are a reasonably cheap fix.

That looks fantastic - black on black, always a winner!
Also helps that the photography is very good. From the jpg meta data I've gathered that you've used a Canon 20D with 10-22mm lens set on 10mm. With a 1.6 multiplier multiplier to account for the cropped sensor size, this equates to 16mm full frame. It looks very good!
If only the 'pro's' at dealers could take such good pictures of their cars - they'd shift them twice as fast!
Russ

russellbridge said:

If only the 'pro's' at dealers could take such good pictures of their cars - they'd shift them twice as fast!
Russ

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This was something that always bugged the photographer at my local VW dealers, that too many salesman were 'all you have to do is point and press' rather than taking that extra moment to get a better photo.


I like the last pic showing the OSS

russellbridge said:

Also helps that the photography is very good.

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Thanks Russ!

That's all 100% correct.
The interior photos are taken with the lens as wide as possible, but the 20D does use a cropped sensor, so 16mm full frame.
The exterior photos were taken with a 17-85mm IS lens.

Having sold a few A2s through AutoTrader, I do think I make my adverts stand out with the photographs. Dealers can be forgiven for posting rubbish interior shots; most cameras can't capture over such a wide angle, and the interiors are so dark that their photos end up blurred. However, I see far too many exterior shots where half the car's been cut off, etc.

Black on black suits my friend, if only from a practicality point of view. He lives down a mile-long gravel track and is the type to make a mess wherever he goes. I put my carpet mats into the car for these photos, but normally he uses a set of genuine rubber mats in an attempt to contain the mud!

I like the design of the A2's interior, but it is fragile. The Soul Black plastics show their wear readily - the interior door sills in particular, once scratched, look permanently dirty. Although my Platinum plastics show any surface dirt, a simple wipe-down does the trick - they don't seem to get that 'hazy scratched' look.
Once I've had my leather retrim, I hope my interior will be every bit as timeless as the outside.

Tom

nuttinnew said:

This was something that always bugged the photographer at my local VW dealers, that too many salesman were 'all you have to do is point and press' rather than taking that extra moment to get a better photo.

I like the last pic showing the OSS

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For someone who cares about creating nice images, the point-and-press technique is useless. As you say, it only takes an extra few seconds to think about how you're going to frame something. Even if you don't take the time to find the car's most attractive angles, or tilt the front wheels to give the car a nice stance, simply making sure that the car is straight, in focus and in the centre of the image is a job of seconds.

The photo showing the corner of the OSS is indicative of how wide the lens is; you're simultaneously looking downwards at the rear foot wells and upwards at the ceiling.
The other interior photo uses the same aspect, but side-on. Despite the lens being between the front seats, you can see both B-pillars in the same shot.

Tom

A2 Photos

Here's an additional small selection of A2 photos that I've taken. All these cars were sold my me, so I took the photos for their adverts. They are therefore perhaps a touch formulaic, but I like them nevertheless.

The black 1.4 petrol in the fourth photo was sold through the forum and is now cared for by fellow club member Ikimiki. The others were sold through AutoTrader.

Tom