I want another A2. Am I mad?

AudA2Numpty

A2OC Donor
I had a 2005 A2 for while (Dec 2013 - June 2016), I had issues with it as the seller was less than honest with the description and then he went missing when I asked for my money back a day after purchasing it.
I spent a bit more money getting it professionally repaired via A2 cars (thank you Tony for the advice and assistance) which brought it back to great condition.
Then in a mad search for more MPG I ended up purchasing a Nissan Leaf electric car in February 2016. All of this coincided with an imminent move to Sweden last year and a dreadful "Sophies Choice" dilemma that we could not take two cars with us. So ended up deciding to sell my beloved A2 1.4 66mpg awesome car which I now think was a massive mistake.

Don't get me wrong, I have done 20,000 miles in the Nissan Leaf and this has technically cost us £384 in electric in all that time, but the purchase price was £11,000.
I say technically as I have not had to pay for most of that energy as most of the electric points are free to use so we have really only paid £98 and half of that was a subscription to Polar Plus, with the added bonus of entering a draw every month to be able to drive a super car (I got a Tesla Model S to drive for a week) so the running costs are super low.
The latest servicing cost for the Leaf was £149.
The A2 cost £2695. The repair (£1100), servicing, road tax (£20) and fuel cost (£3923) came to a grand total of £10,059.76. The total mileage I did with this was 51,817.

So at present after a years worth of Nissan Leafs ownership the super low running costs of the newer car are hopefully an ongoing advantage the only caveat the lack of range. Though I have become accustomed to charging up regularly.

Now I look at both cars on paper. Both cars would end up being the same to run especially if I include the Nissan Leafs depreciation.
Though without that the A2 would likely to have ended up being more expensive due to ongoing higher servicing costs and fuel and more maintenance/repair costs though it is possible I was unlucky to have bought this car from a total **** of a seller? Or was this was a bad example of a fantastic car IDK?

One thing I have found is Sweden is so flipping big that an electric car with 100 mile range is less than ideal, especially in Winter and living in the remotest part with the nearest big town which is an hour away in every direction. So I'm now looking at a longer range practical car with great economy and I keep coming back to the A2.
But this time I want the 1.2 with it's claimed 100mpg abilities and the auto gearbox as I am not going through the sore back and shoulder issue I had with the manual one I had last time.

I realise that this car was only made in LHD but having now driven a right hand drive car in Sweden (which I have no problems with) I do not forsee any issues with a LHD car in the UK, especially when I now expect to be travelling around Europe a lot more.

Am I mad in wanting another A2 especially a 1.2?

Good thing is the wife hated my A2 and it would be all mine if I got another one. :)
 
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Not Mad at all, you were =bitten by the A2 bug and so you have realised that even though you had a bad experience, the A2 is a really addictive car and fun to drive as well as economical.

A 1.2 is an amazing A2 and has LOTS of character and I would certainly have one if there was one available at a suitable price.

The LHD thing would be no issue to me, in fact it has advantages that I think you have experienced driving the RHD car in Europe.

For one thing you can step out directly on to the pavement when you pull up, instead of waiting for a gap in the passing cars so you can open the door.
Passing parked cars is also easier because it is easier to judge the gap.

The only downside I see is that, when overtaking your visibility of oncoming cars is reduced, but an A2 is no supercar and so that is not a big issue, and if you do need to overtake you can do that safely with suitable caution.

I have owned many classic American cars and the fact that they were LHD never bothered me at all (and with a big V8 I did a lot of overtaking too.

So, to me, the fact that you are even considering another A2 is a clear indication that you are NOT mad.

Have a word with the guys at "WOM", they occasionally have 1.2s available for sale, but be prepared to pay much more than you would for a similar 1.4 / 1.6 A2 due to rarity and other justifiable costs.

Best wishes and I hope that you find a great little 1.2

Steve B
 
One thing I have found is Sweden is so flipping big that an electric car with 100 mile range is less than ideal, especially in Winter and living in the remotest part

Well I thought you must be living in the north of Sweden, not 2 hours north of Stockholm ;) Mind you, I drove your way a few years ago on a particularly foul night and it felt a bit scary peering though the lashing rain, half expecting the lightning to show a massive elk in the road. Rarely meeting another car. Only met some wild boars, mind you can they do some damage.

Nice part of the country. Agreed, a big country for an electric car, a 1.2 would be great for the long distances and the relatively low speed limits.
 
Cheers guys.

I have found 14 1.2 Audi A2's in Germany and Sweden, 4 of them with low mileage and very reasonable in price too. So the next thing I wanted to see was the cost of insuring it.

Holy crap this seems expensive.

Screen Shot 2017-05-26 at 17.25.53.png

I changed the details to a RHD 1.4 and the premium was £388!

I am over 40 years old and have no accidents or claims or convictions so is this the best there is?
I have access to a motorbike and another car. I chose computer operator as a safe profession as any other fancy title I might bestow upon myself would hike up the price.

What are you guys paying for yours, is £400+ about right these days?

I went to a company called Stuart Collins & Co to get 12 months of European cover as our existing policy only cover us for 6 months of European insurance for our Nissan Leaf, this was £600 which I think is reasonable for the extra coverage. Our previous UK insurance for the Nissan was only £300.

What gives?
Has Brexit caused some insurance premium overload?
 
It is always worth checking the options for "Classic car" cover.

No harm in asking since the model is over 15 years old even if the car isn't.

As for LHD in the U.K. I have insured classic American cars on that kind of policy too.

One quote I had was less than £150 (a few years back but still super cheap then compared to a normal cover)

So it is worth a browse on the web just to see if the car can be covered by a classic car policy.

Steve B
 
In uk I used the Aviva app to get over 600 quid savings on insurance...

Basically you install the app, configure it and set it to start when you begin a journey.

When you get 200 miles of driving with it you apply for a quote... it gives you a score , I got 9.5 and the average driver scores 7.3
 
Thanks guys. Will check them out.

Apologies for the slow reply I just drove back from Sweden (1067 miles) in the Leaf which took three days, roughly 28 hours of solid driving and many stop charges. Never firkin again!!
Although it cost me about £15 in electric to get back it was too much in one go. Although having to stop after every 90 miles to charge it did mean I did not fall asleep. lol.
It is the most comfortable car I've driven long distance (technically) and managed to fit winter wheels 6 bags and a roof box on top too with little degradation in range.

As needs must I really need an A2 1.2 to do the super long distances I now need to do so need to sell this Leaf and get an A2 1.2. Just need someone to take this Leaf off our hands.

Thanks again I'll check the insurance quotes again once I get the right 1.2 for me.
 
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Well 28 hours is pretty good going. I admire you for proving such journeys are possible by EV.

In 2010 we made the same journey from near Bath to 60 miles north of Stockholm and it took 3 days and roughly 25 hours of driving including stops for fuel and eating and ferries/tunnel but excluding some sightseeing. Google says 23.5 hours and I find google is always optimistic that you can always drive at the maximum speed limit.

Pitty you want a 1.2 and not a 1.4, I might swap my 1.4 for your Leaf!
 
Dammit, just read your comment. I would have taken you up on that but I've just bought the dirtiest A2 possible.
Well actually it's now 80 clean inside but here is a picture of what I started with.

IMG_4564.jpg

The pictures of the outside are horrendous but it was £500 so I should not complain.


Well 28 hours is pretty good going. I admire you for proving such journeys are possible by EV.

In 2010 we made the same journey from near Bath to 60 miles north of Stockholm and it took 3 days and roughly 25 hours of driving including stops for fuel and eating and ferries/tunnel but excluding some sightseeing. Google says 23.5 hours and I find google is always optimistic that you can always drive at the maximum speed limit.

Pitty you want a 1.2 and not a 1.4, I might swap my 1.4 for your Leaf!
 
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