One careful owner...

Hi.

I joined recently after an invitation from a member who uses the same garage as me, so thanks for the invite, Rince/Andy.

I've already made a small contribution in the 'highest mileage' thread, but this seems the most appropriate place to give the full story. Please bear with me, as I have very little spare time just at the mo.

So, the story began in the summer of 2002, when I placed my order for a 1.4 TDi Sport at Dane Audi in Chester. A work colleague had a rather snazzy S3 that I liked the colour of, so I duely handed over an extra thousand quid for them to paint mine Imola Yellow.

several months later, in November, I was able to go and pick up my little ray of sunshine:

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Part of the justification for the purchase was the rather high miles I was doing to and from work - 170 daily, so I soon racked up a lot of zeroes on the mileometer. One of the joys of the car at this time was the service interval. 32,000 miles, the car told me, but the max under the warranty was 30,000, so that's what I stuck to.

Anyway, here's a few key points, as I remember them, no guarantee of 100% accuracy!

Up to 350,000 miles, I had the car serviced by the dealership. Notable replacements were the clutch slave cylinder (they replaced the master first, because that had gone on a TT they'd had in), and the first turbo, at about 160,000 miles. I think they may have done a couple of EGR valves along the way, as well.

Perhaps one of the most notable replacements has been the wheels. I consider these consumables, having been through around 16, in three different patterns. I calculated that on average, I replaced one every 60,000 miles. Having said that, I don't seem to be having as much trouble with the current set.

Different wheels:

Original:

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Next:

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Current:

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So at 350k, I parted company with Cheshire Oaks Audi, as they had become by now, after some botched engine maintenance which left me needing a new engine. That and the sarky comments coming back from the workshop, along the lines of: 'Isn't it time you got a new car?'

Enter Manor Garage in Chester. After a bit of advice, I acquired a new (well, slightly used) AMF engine, and they fitted it for me.

I still have the top of the original engine, it struck me that there are bits in there that might be useful later.

Since then, I've had two gearbox changes - the first was another ebay job, which unfortunately didn;t last, so I bit the bullet and ordered a factory fresh one. The main problem with the original was that the selector was entirely worn out, apparently.

( by the way, while technically literate, I have no interest in doing work on the car myself - it was bought to do a job, which it continues to do admirably. The most I've done is repair the windscreen washer pipe after it came undone following a windscreen replacement )

On with the replacements: both drive shafts and various joints - one went after a particularly nasty encounter with a massive pothole on the M56 at high speed - I wasn't usually in the inside lane. Back springs and dampers, although the fronts are still original. The exhaust lasted past 400k before all the wear and tear on the front caused the cat section to fail, and since then it has progressively deteriorated - the next bit on the list is the back box.

Speaking of which, post-engine swap, I started to have problems with the turbo. Much limping. After some investigation, Phil at Manor reckoned that when the engine swap took place, the turbo had got some water in it, and this had caused the small steel actuator for the variable vane geometry to rust, making it stick. Once this had been sanded back and cleaned, it was much better, but was still subject to causing limp mode, particularly when either changing power very slowly, or demanding lots of power.

I managed this for a long time, becoming very adept at turning the car off and on at 70, but preferably doing a lot of feathering of the accelerator, particularly when going up big hills. However, a couple of weeks ago, I had a shiny new turbo fitted, andit's made a world of difference.

So here's a short record of my mileage. In the early years I was doing up to 45k a year, but that has tailed off now.

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The last one being taken at the Sligachan Hotel on Skye, one of my favourite places. I did all the calculations and predictions to book holiday at just the right time to be able to drive up there and hit the half a million somewhere significant.

There's undoubtedly more, but I hope this introduction is enough to be going on with.
 
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Great story and amazing mileage, hopefully your car can do anotger 500k !

Euan

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
Blimey! You're a few minutes away and I go to Holywell every other day! (In fact I'm on my way, now). I've never noticed your car .... and with that colour, I should have! Amazing! Oh, I've got LOADS of A2 parts, if you ever need anything?

David
 
Great write-up and a good read. Such a shame that Audi destroyed the original engine as i'm sure it would have hit the 500k mark itself. Still 350k is an impressive achievement. I am really surprised that you are still on the original front shocks!!
 
Shows the benefits of a good run every day, I bet it's in better health than one less than a third of the mileage used for more stop/start journeys.

Any pictures of how the bodywork and interior has stood up to the mileage, I've yet to see an A2 with a worn interior, mine at 85k is still like new.
 
What a great write up and testament to a great little car,
And a great colour of course lol
Cheers Jeff
 
32,000 mile service intervals ! Well that is proof that variable servicing is OK and that oil is very good these days. Still change mine on the fixed interval of about 9,000 though.
 
I concur with the previous comments, a great privilege to share your story and a great advocate for the sheer durability and longevity of the mechanicals, body and innovation and design.

Whilst I am a huge fan of the yellow colour storms, your full body coloured example is a peach; stunning if I might say. The picture above could be straight out of a 2017 brochure for Audi's new A2.

Safe motoring and here's to another 500k.

Cheers,

Darren
 
Great write up and images---the beach shot is as others have said is quality. Hope to see it in the flesh at a social please. cheers mike
 
Thanks all for your comments. Some quick answers below.

Great story and amazing mileage, hopefully your car can do anotger 500k !

Euan

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Thanks Euan, unavailability of parts is the only reason I can see for not keeping it on the road, and having just put a new turbo in it, some of the joy has returned. Thinking about a remap now.

Blimey! You're a few minutes away and I go to Holywell every other day! (In fact I'm on my way, now). I've never noticed your car .... and with that colour, I should have! Amazing! Oh, I've got LOADS of A2 parts, if you ever need anything?

David

Ah, well, you are unlikely to see it during the day - I didn't get to that mileage by leaving it in front of the house ;-)

I can see myself calling for spares, though.

Great write-up and a good read. Such a shame that Audi destroyed the original engine as i'm sure it would have hit the 500k mark itself. Still 350k is an impressive achievement. I am really surprised that you are still on the original front shocks!!

I agree about the engine. It's possible it could have been salvaged, but at the time I couldn't spare the time off the road, so took the mist expedient route. I'm pretty sure the front shocks are still original - I remember the back ones being done, and asking about the fronts, and being told they were fine.

More to follow...
 
Don't worry about the supply of parts. David has a large stockpile and I will do all that I can to keep this car on the road. This isn't an idle offer, I will genuinely do you the best price I can on parts you need to keep this very special A2 on the road.
 
Don't worry about the supply of parts. David has a large stockpile and I will do all that I can to keep this car on the road. This isn't an idle offer, I will genuinely do you the best price I can on parts you need to keep this very special A2 on the road.

Sorry for the long delays - just very short of spare time at the mo. Thank you for the very generous offers of help. Genuinely much appreciated.
 
Shows the benefits of a good run every day, I bet it's in better health than one less than a third of the mileage used for more stop/start journeys.

Any pictures of how the bodywork and interior has stood up to the mileage, I've yet to see an A2 with a worn interior, mine at 85k is still like new.
I think you're right about the long runs. When I changed jobs & worked in Manchester, the service interval dropped to 9000, mainly, I suspect, down to the queueing on the M602.

I need to get it properly (and thoroughly) valeted before I expose the inside to the public. It's been used extensively for moving wood-based products from B&Q, amongst other things, and there is a certain amount of wear to the top of the dashboard as a result.

I suppose I should also mention the crashes, which have subtly altered the external appearance: the first was when I ran into the back of someone at a set of traffic lights - new front bumper & A/C cooler. The next was a bloke reversing into me in a car park - slight tow-ball sized depression in front bumper. Then there was the glancing blow to the rear corner of a BMW of some sort - mostly it buffed out, but there is a slight crease in the skin of the driver's door. And finally, I got squished from behind on the M602 by a woman who I suspect was on her phone while queueing, and consequently have a new rear bumper.
 
Good take, thanks. Average mpg¿
Currently, about 52, based purely on the DIS, which is a bit suspect, in my view. I'm happy if I can get it to 55, but last winter, with a dodgy turbo, it was down around 48.

That said, having just put a new turbo in, I'm perhaps being a bit heavy-footed, with the joy of being able to accelerate properly again.
 
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