New member yet to buy looking for some nurture lol

Hi all

I am a new member from devon and looking to buy my first audi A2 and I'm looking for some advice.

It's very hard to find exactly what I would like for the right money and probably finding the right a2 has been harder than any car ive looked for.

Ive found a 1.4 petrol for sale fairly close to me but it has a few issues, it's failed the mot on a few silly things like headlight adjustment registration plate lights,

It's done 66000 miles, but it's failed an emissions test, and the epc light has come on after the mot.

Egr valve has been replaced and a recent diagnostics test has indicated that the front Cat needs replacing to resolve the emissions problem, was also told that the over reving of the car during the mot (to try and pass emissions) was the cause of the epc light?

Does this sound about right? Or is someone trying to pull my pants down? Would this be a huge cost/risk to resolve?

I would appriciate any feed back and advice. And look forward to be an advice giver in the future

Forgot to mention, I have a 2k ish budget, the above was advertised at £1650, but the owner said if i got a price to do the works theyd work out a new price for the car as is.

Is there anything else about for that money, any members selling?

Thanks

Don't do it. Petrol=trouble anyway without starting with one that is dodgy.

With a 2k budget you'll easily get a 2001-2 1.4 petrol around 80-110k miles mark. If your lucky you might find a decent one with a few nice toys, i.e bose sound system, rear electric windows and climate control. Take a look at Autotrader, you can filter your search based on your budget. It's worth checking that the cam belt has been done at 60k mark or around 6 year mark, others might correct me here. I did mine after buying my A2 and it cost nearly £500 so worth checking if its just been done on an older high millage car. If you buy one with a sunroof don't make the same mistake I did and forget to check it works!

Most on here seem to run the TDI but I love my little 1.4 petrol. It's super fuel efficient for a petrol (47 mpg) and much quitter than the TDI.

Oh BTW I would walk away from the above offer unless it's heavily discounted, fully loaded with specification and your after a project car.

Max

Hi - totally disagree with petrol versions being unreliable - had mine nearly 8 years had very little issues during that time - 1.4 16v is normally pretty good / the 1.6fsi is more complicated and prone to issues.

Regards david

Totally agree with this as well. The 1.4 petrol is a nice little motor.

Hi,

In an attempt to balance the discussion, I can see both sides of this.

It is not a clear cut thing.

A well running petrol A2 is a great car, as is a diesel.
So when it comes to deciding between the two you should consider the following

The diesel A2s
Are noisy (being diesels) but it is a sound that is not what I would class as noise. It is something that you get used to very quickly and is even quite a reassuring sound and it just seems to give the impression of strength and engineering.
They are definitely more economical
They are cheaper to tax (£30 as opposed to £140ish) (£30 only applies to diesels registered March 2001 onwards)
The way they deliver the power is quite addictive, part throttle is the way to go, I rarely ever have to use full throttle and the torque pulls so well from lowish revs.
So a more relaxed driving style. (With the petrol you will have to rev it more to get the power but some people like free revving engines)
They are definitely more reliable (as you can see on here) but any engine can have problems.
You will have to pay more for a Diesel (perhaps that indicates something?)

The Petrol A2s
Have a silky smooth and exceptionally quiet engine (I often can't tell if he engine is running or not when at tickover)
The 1.4 is nippy and the 1.6 is very nippy and they both like to rev.
They are both very economical (but not quite as economical as the diesel)
The gearchange on the petrol cars is silky smooth too and you could change gear with one finger (the diesel gearchange is slightly stiffer but has a more definite feel to it)
They are more prone to small (but sometimes expensive) faults, especially the 1.6. BUT if you find a well maintained petrol that is running well, then there is no reason to think you are in for problems. You are just slightly more likely to than the diesels.
You can get a LOT of car for your money if you go for a petrol, they are cheaper than the diesels.

Now that I have tried to show both sides I have to give my personal view.

My son wants to get an A2 for his wife (not a bad swap!) and he asked me for advice.
I have to admit that I said "look for a diesel". I just imagined him buying a petrol and unfortunately getting one with a problem and then him blaming me.
That plus the extra economy and cheaper road tax meant that I kinda had to recommend a diesel.

To all of the petrol owners on here, that is not a dig at your cars I LOVE the silky smooth engines and I can see why you favour them.

But the diesel / petrol debate is a bit of a Marmite debate, you love them or hate them, there is rarely an "in between"

I am a BUT of an "in between" though, I love the petrol A2s but I love the diesel A2s just a tad more!

I hope that I haven't upset anyone, this is just my view after 13 years of owning both.

Steve B

Thanks for the advice guys, The car i was looking at needed a new headlamp and few other bits doing so ive left it. Looks like a train journey somewhere. Ive decided to steer clear of the 1.6 petrol i think.

Very informative replies.

hmspilky said:

Thanks for the advice guys, The car i was looking at needed a new headlamp and few other bits doing so ive left it. Looks like a train journey somewhere. Ive decided to steer clear of the 1.6 petrol i think.

Very informative replies.

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For anyone thinking of the 1.6 petrol - well as you can see I have one but I have also owned several TDis - I would say there is only one potential failure to look for - the manifold flaps. Look for a full service history and within the history, look to see that the inlet manifold flaps have been replaced. This is the most expensive often-found failure, but most 1.6s will have had the failure occur and had the flaps replaced by now. There seem to be very few cases, maybe no cases, where this failure has happened twice - plastic components are involved, so perhaps they are an age-related not mileage-related failure. If a 1.6 has got the full history including this repair done, it should be a good one. If the flaps have failed but not been replaced, the engine will run roughly and you'll soon spot this on a test drive. A good 1.6 is a sweet-sounding engine which loves to rev and will not show any signs of rough running. I just love the performance of the 1.6.

But the appeal of the diesels' thrummy engine and extra economy, plus likely greater reliability, and also the smaller numbers built, keeps the diesels' prices higher. In fact, you afford the odd repair to a petrol A2 with the cash saved by not buying a diesel - and you might not have to do the repairs! As usual, the market has priced the cars about right.

jackhay said:

For anyone thinking of the 1.6 petrol - well as you can see I have one but I have also owned several TDis - I would say there is only one potential failure to look for - the manifold flaps. Look for a full service history and within the history, look to see that the exhaust manifold flaps have been replaced. This is the most expensive often-found failure, but most 1.6s will have had the failure occur and had the flaps replaced by now. There seem to be very few cases, maybe no cases, where this failure has happened twice - plastic components are involved, so perhaps they are an age-related not mileage-related failure. If a 1.6 has got the full history including this repair done, it should be a good one. If the flaps have failed but not been replaced, the engine will run roughly and you'll soon spot this on a test drive. A good 1.6 is a sweet-sounding engine which loves to rev and will not show any signs of rough running. I just love the performance of the 1.6.

But the appeal of the diesels' thrummy engine and extra economy, plus likely greater reliability, and also the smaller numbers built, keeps the diesels' prices higher. In fact, you afford the odd repair to a petrol A2 with the cash saved by not buying a diesel - and you might not have to do the repairs! As usual, the market has priced the cars about right.

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This is a very balanced and informative post. Thanks for adding this Jack

Steve B

I have been ignoring the 1.6 petrols until now. As im on a strict budget, this is the car i see the most of in my price range. They always look nice and have lots of extras for the price but i dont want to buy a dog that dies on me.

Are there any other common 1.6 faults?

Just to clarify the excellent post warning about the engine flaps ---- it's actually the inlet manifold flaps. That can stick that then breaks the actuator rod.
I have both tdi's and FSI a2's the FSI I bought with just 21k miles on the clock in 2008 (2003 reg) do in 4 years it had done very little mileage. I have now done 128,000 miles and it still flies along and weekly returns high 40's mpg.
In the time I have had it I have had to change the following
2xcoil packs
Both cats -front one failed 6 months after I bought it and the second cat was just so rattly (mechanic suspected low mileage had killed the cats)
2x Electronic thermostat
1x egr feed pipe - stainless steel pipe that can crack at 50k mile intervals.
4 x injectors. This hurt (£1200) and really hard to diagnose but have now known a few FSI that have suffered this.

I still love driving it as the car feels so much more balanced than tdi/1.4 petrol. So my feelings are that there are lots of well speced FSI out there but often they are requiring quite major work that soon turns a cheep car into a high cost one. I'm not saying that there aren't high cost jobs on a tdi though but easier to see hear the problems.
One other point I will make is as much as I love the FSI if you need to carry more than one passenger or the car is heavy on spec ie open sky / leather/ aircon. Then the low rpm lack of torque really shows.
Good luck mike

Perhaps this petrol / TDi part of the thread could be stripped out and moved and made a sticky? It seems to sum up the debate nicely and without bias?

Steve B

I will sort it tonight Steve. Cheers mike

Everyones advice has been fantastic and after weeks of searching i think ive found my future car, veiwing tomo afternoon.

Its a 2002 1.4tdi 96k and full audi service history, is there anything i should look for or be wary of And test in particular?

Thank you once again for the advice.

hmspilky said:

Everyones advice has been fantastic and after weeks of searching i think ive found my future car, veiwing tomo afternoon.

Its a 2002 1.4tdi 96k and full audi service history, is there anything i should look for or be wary of And test in particular?

Thank you once again for the advice.

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Sounds good.
Do an online car check - less than a tenner and well worth it.

Drive over a few speed bumps and listen fit knocking from the front end. Not hugely expensive but a good bargaining tool to get the price down.
Check that the Cambelt has been done recently, if there is no receipt for this assume it hasn't been fine. Needs to be gone every 6 years (or less) and after around 60,000 miles whichever is the sooner.

But you should be able to tell quite quickly if it drives nicely.

Good luck.
Steve B

So. Like busses 2 have come along at once. I have the choice of the 1.4 tdi above for £2400. That's the absolute minimum he will take.

Or there a 1.4 petrol climate control, 85000 miles cam belt done some history on a 2001 plate for £1795.

My dilemma is pay £600 pound less for the petrol which would be very handy extra money. Or pay the extra for the deisel that's a year newer.

hmspilky said:

So. Like busses 2 have come along at once. I have the choice of the 1.4 tdi above for £2400. That's the absolute minimum he will take.

Or there a 1.4 petrol climate control, 85000 miles cam belt done some history on a 2001 plate for £1795.

My dilemma is pay £600 pound less for the petrol which would be very handy extra money. Or pay the extra for the deisel that's a year newer.

Click to expand...

I would suggest that you simply drive them both and see what your first impression is.
There doesn't seem to be a lot between the two.

The £600 saved by buying the petrol might be a handy reserve just in case, but you probably won't need to use it.


Steve B

Oh well the search continues, the petrol car was sold ages ago, and the diesel was very rough and niggly, and a very basic model. I didnt feel it was worth £2400. All of your help so far has been great, can wait to post a pic of my new motor when i finally find it.

If this discussion might be saved for future reference, can I add a couple of other points from my experience with the 1.6 that may help newcomers? First, when Audi announced the 1.6 (about half way through the A2's production life), they marketed it as the top of the range, an A2 suitable for long distance cruising (which it is - it's very good indeed on the motorway with the power and the quiet engine - although if I was buying an A2 for that particular use I think I'd have a TDi 90 for the economy!). But the consequence of this 'market positioning' was that the 1.6 was often chosen by buyers who liked the A2's concept and were not price sensitive, so they splashed out on extras. So now, if you are keen to have particular high spec feeatures, the chances are you're most likely to find them on a 1.6. Second, the power difference between the 1.4 petrol and the 1.6 really is substantial - the 1.6 has a near-50% increase in peak power over the 1.4. This gives it the 125mph top speed and it is the only A2 to have a sub-10 sec 0-62 time (before mods!). After you've driven a 1.6, the 1.4 petrol feels as if it couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. So drive the 1.4 first, or not at all!