My A2 journey (A2Steve)

A2Steve

A2OC Donor
Wales
I came across the A2 back in early 2013 when I needed a second car to use just for commuting back and fore to work. With a budget of less than £2000 and a desire to have good reliability and mpg I stumbled across an A2 on Gumtree advertised less than 30 miles away. I hadn’t even considered an A2 as in my mind at that time they were going to be way out of my price range. I was pleasantly surprised that the values (of the petrol models at least) had dropped significantly since the last time I looked.

I wasted no time in buying the car advertised, it was a 2001 1.4 SE (110k) complete with a private plate.



Fast forward a year and we had taken the big step of buying our ‘forever house’ so were looking to change our family car for something a bit more economical. The Golf Plus was sold and armed with a more substantial budget came across this 2004 1.4 TDI SE with FASH and only 95k miles.

I travelled the 350 mile round trip up to Sheffield with a mate to go and collect it and was instantly impressed with the TDI in comparison with the petrol. This is the only A2 we still own and the one that will be staying with us for the rest of its life.


What then pursued was a period of purchases all with the aim of finding a second car to replace the black petrol that was as good as the 2004 TDI:

2001 TDI (150k)

A nice little car, needing a bit of work but nothing major. Owned for a few weeks before I was involved in a rear end collision and it got written off as a Cat C by the insurers for what was very minor damage. Luckily the forum came to the rescue and Tony bought the car as a courtesy car for A2 Cars (I’m sure some of you may have already driven it).


2001 TDI SE OSS, sports seats and BOSE (175k)

Again a nice little car that I run for a few months but the call of another tempted me into selling. This one has now gone to live in Northern Ireland and was my quickest sale ever, selling within 45 minutes of being advertised….note to self I really should ask more for cars.



2003 TDI SE Black Sports Leather, BOSE (110k)


Purchased from Mr Birchall a nice little car very fairly priced (as Steve’s items always are). Driven for a few months again but with an 18 month old and an ever growing plethora of crap that we needed to cart around with us as a result, the days of us being a two A2 household were numbered so it got sold and a….(I can barely bring myself to say it being an absolute VAG follower) Megane Scenic replaced it.

So as you can see I’ve been bitten by the A2 bug quite firmly and despite a lot of chopping and changing the end result is we have an A2 that will be staying with us for life.


A rare pic where they were all outside the house at once. I think the neighbours thought I was nuts.
Spec as per signature.

Having now driven 4 A2 TDI’s the best bit of advice I can pass on to anyone looking to buy a TDI is:
1. Get it re-mapped, it really does transform these little cars and you won’t regret it.
2. Buy your TDI based on condition and not mileage. The mileages of the A2’s I’ve had have had no correlation to the way they drive or their reliability. I’d sooner have a well looked after TDI with 200k miles than one that hasn’t been looked after with half that mileage.

I’ll get some more pics up when the weather breaks as its currently on winter steels and not looking the prettiest. I’ve got the Audi S3 Avus wheels from the black TDI I bought from Steve to go on and will give it a good machine polish.

Anyway that’s it for now. I’ll be at ADI this year so now you know which car is mine, pop over for a chat.

Steve
 
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They sure are great little cars!

A nice selection you have owned there!
My A2 owners history is very similar, with A2 number 7 quite possibly joining my driveway at the weekend

Your silver one looks immaculate!
 
Have you bought another??

Yes the silver one is a very clean, very straight car. It's a keeper.
 
Your old 2001 TDi is currently outside my house been driving it all week. It's got such a smooth and sprightly engine really runs well!
 
Your old 2001 TDi is currently outside my house been driving it all week. It's got such a smooth and sprightly engine really runs well!

I also found the gearchange to be quite smooth on that one for a TDI, might have just been worn :) Glad its still in service.
 
Nice write up! We're looking for number 3 at the moment which needs to be a TDi. First one was excellent and never missed a beat over 37k. Second was had lots of issues which I fixed, but sold it on. Number 3 proving a bit lore difficult to obtain, but will persevere and get there :)
 
Have put up new one .
 

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Thanks, i'm happy with it. I was in two minds whether to have the bottom plastics painted black but decided against it as it was non-reversable.
 
They were on the A2 I bought from Steve B and I liked them so much I swapped them for my RS4 reps before the car was sold so the style appreciation should go to Steve B.
 
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Had a busy day today with the A2.

Mid week the wiper arm had stopped working correctly, it would go half way and then just remain there pulsing. I was all prepared for a motor problem but luckily it turned out to be the relay; a nice easy fix.

Next up were the ATE powerdiscs and ceramic pads. Having never changed a set of brakes before (shocking I know) I practised on the breaker I've got in the garage to get a feel for it before going on to my own car. Must say its a relatively easy job for a home mechanic with the only difficulty being getting to piston to move back into the caliper without a tool as it was a little stiff. Very happy with the end result and I think they look great.

2rr1jl0.jpg


Next up was the pendulam support bar aka dogbone mount. I'd been having a bit of vibration when coming on and off throttle for a while and so it was time for a change.
The A2 specific part is around £100 from the dealer but Manhattan$ had posted the number for the VW Polo 9n item ( 6Q0 199 851AK ) which was available on eBay made by Bilstein for £29.99 delivered.
The picture below is the two side by side. As you can see the actual mount for the gearbox has to be swapped over by undoing the 16mm bolt at the centre joint and swapping then over.

mcbsb8.jpg


While I was underneath the car I also took the opportunity to paint the wishbones and subframe in black Hammerite as a bit of extra rust protection.

I'll report back on whether the new polo mount has done the job once I've driven the car for a few days and can also comment on the brake set-up.
 
Thanks Dave. Suspension is next on the list but I'll have to wait until my garage is empty for that.
 
Ive only done a couple of disc and pad changes myself. Each time ive found that the small screw which holds the disc in place to be seized in and ive had to drill it !. :)
 
Ive only done a couple of disc and pad changes myself. Each time ive found that the small screw which holds the disc in place to be seized in and ive had to drill it !. :)

The best way to get that off is to borrow an impact screwdriver, that tends to work nearly every time.

Steve B
 
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