Advice Please About Buying an A2

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Ruabon Red

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Hi, I'm new to this forum and looking to purchase an A2 for my son who's just turned 17 to learn to drive in.
My budget is £2000 and I'm looking to for advice please as to the best model to go for insurance wise and what I'm likely to get for that sort of money?
Most seem to have 100k plus mileage - if I went for a diesel does that matter as long as the cambelt has been changed?
 
Have you had any insurance quotes?

As the A2 is Aluminium, insurance seems to be higher than a similar car. My A2 was dearer to insure than my MK7 300PS Golf R
 
Ruabon Red said:
Hi, I'm new to this forum and looking to purchase an A2 for my son who's just turned 17 to learn to drive in.
My budget is £2000 and I'm looking to for advice please as to the best model to go for insurance wise and what I'm likely to get for that sort of money?
Most seem to have 100k plus mileage - if I went for a diesel does that matter as long as the cambelt has been changed?
Click to expand...
Hi,

The youngest A2 around is 10 years old now, so 100K is the average mileage and almost classed as low mileage these days.

Don't let the mileage put you off, I would rather have a well maintained 150K car than a poorly maintained 90K car. Service history (genuine) is key and the cambelt is the one thing that you would not take chances on. You need proof that it has been done in the last 4 years at the most and ideally in the last 40K miles (again at LEAST that.

I believe that a Diesel would be better to learn in than a petrol, I find the low down torque and advantage when learning clutch control.

Having driven lots of petrol A2s and Diesel A2s I must say that I cannot ever remember stalling a diesel A2 but I have stalled many times in a petrol, but that could just me trying to drive the petrol A2 the same way as I drive the diesel A2. But that is something that a learner needs to be able to avoid, stalling!!!

£2,000 would get you a usable 2001/2002 A2 but expect a few cosmetic problems at that price, but you could get lucky and get a really nice one for that but you would be lucky.

Again, at the cheaper end of the scale a diesel may well be less expensive to maintain (not trying to upset petrol fans). But as with any car, there are good and bad.

The thing about a petrol A2 is that you are likely to get more for your money (specification wise and lower mileage perhaps) They are first class when they are running well as most of them do, especially when they have been properly maintained.

Keep an eye out on here and also eBay and if you spot something you like then let us know and we will try to offer you some help and advice.

Best wishes

Steve B
 
I've got a lengthy 'ready reckoner' for A2 tyre kicking. Some of it generic common sense consumer stuff but mostly A2 specific. I've not posted it in the past as it contained price guides so was always needing updated but I will post it to the thread linked by Spike then if there's anything else I've missed people can add to it in the spirit of helping those seeking or wanting to learn a bit more about the common things you tend to find with the A2. It'll just need updating periodically. On the to do list :eek:
 
As to insurance, I can confirm that the A2 is an expensive little beast to cover - although officially classed as group 6 (or it was when I bought my TDi 90 new), it's within £20 of my 2012 TT TDi Black edition, which is apparently group 32!!

However, if you're willing to take the chance and you're prepared to sort out any prangs should they happen, I can't imagine a better car for a learner to start their motoring career in.

Cheers,

Michael.
 
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My experience this week on insurance.....

Renewal Premium including 19 yo soon with licence for one year.....£2,105. . That is before some concerted shopping around, admittedly.

Premium without him for me and wife.....£152.

Instead, we've now got an 11 yo Honda Jazz insured TPFT (£500) for him and his younger brother who's learning. Much cheaper and relaxing all round as we're quite attached to the A2. The Jazz isn't as cool as the A2 but it's free (for them) for now!!
 
Skipton01 said:
As to insurance, I can confirm that the A2 is an expensive little beast to cover - although officially classed as group 6 (or it was when I bought my TDi 90 new), it's within £20 of my 2012 TT TDi Black edition, which is apparently group 32!!
Click to expand...

Michael, when you bought your A2 it will have been classed as group 6 of 20; now there are 50 insurance groups.

Andrew
 
I havn't found insurance on my TDI 75 to be that bad, 30 yr old full ncb fully comp £280.

The only issue I see for a learner with an A2 is the large A-pillar tends to block out a lot of the view while going around corners.
 
andrewparkeruk said:
Michael, when you bought your A2 it will have been classed as group 6 of 20; now there are 50 insurance groups.

Andrew
Click to expand...

I know - that's why I stated the case when I bought the car new back in 2004. Not sure what group it's classed as now, but if it's a simple arithmetic solution of multiplying by 2.5, then you're looking at group 15 now. That's less than half the TT and the value is around 1/7 that of the TT, but yet I'm being charged within £20 of the TT - makes little sense.

Cheers,

Michael.
 
The one I'm considering is on eBay an Audi A2 1.4TDI 2002MY SE for £1995 with 122k on the clock and a full service history though no mention of a Cambelt change. How much would that cost roughly?



Sent from my iPad
 
Sorry, I should have thanked you all for your invaluable assistance - much appreciated!
 
Ruabon Red said:
The one I'm considering is on eBay an Audi A2 1.4TDI 2002MY SE for £1995 with 122k on the clock and a full service history though no mention of a Cambelt change. How much would that cost roughly?



Sent from my iPad
Click to expand...

Have you got a lin to the advert? People may be able to give some advice based on the advert. My timing belt is being changed today on my TDI. Its costing £300 using genuine Audi parts. The majority of the price is the parts so if you use aftermarket parts you could come in between £225-250 I would guess.
 
Struggling to link it sorry - its in Holt near Wrexham at a garage and is the cheapest on eBay at the moment
 
I called to see them earlier; sold within half an hour to a buyer in London who bought without seeing or driving it. They reckoned they could have sold it ten times over such was the interest
 
Yes, you will have to be prepared for that with any half decent A2. As for insurance my A2 and A6 are only £50 apart, bonkers!
 
Looks like this is the favourite

View item:
AUDI A2 1.4 TDI DIESEL**CAMBELT CHANGED**FULL MOT**£30 PER YEAR TAX

End Time: 14 Mawrth 2015 21:54:55 GMT
 
Ruabon Red said:
Looks like this is the favourite

View item:
AUDI A2 1.4 TDI DIESEL**CAMBELT CHANGED**FULL MOT**£30 PER YEAR TAX

End Time: 14 Mawrth 2015 21:54:55 GMT
Click to expand...

unfortunately that link didn't work. If you just copy the web address from the field at the top left of the web site advert (Starting http://www.....................) that will give a working link.

Steve B
 
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