Buying Used A2 from Audi Dealers

jamjia

Member
Hi everyone,

I'm about to buy a A2 in the next couple of weeks. I was thinking of buying from the audi uk dealerships. What do u all think of them??? I am having problems sourcing out the right car, (ideally a 1.4TDI Sport or 1.6FSI in Black) I have a budget of about £9500. I've seen some nice examples from audi's website but they are too far away from me so I can't test drive it. So the question I really have is can i buy a car from the dealers without test driving it first??? What are the likelyhood that the car will come with mechanical and electrical faults??? On audi's website, it says that all cars under goes a 112 point inspection and any parts that needs replacing are replaced first. Is this true? Are there anything specific I should look out for when buying an A2? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Jia
 
Hi jamjia
Welcome to the A2oc.
The dealers are quite variable with regards to the level of service they provide. If you let us know which part of the country you are from and i'm sure our members will point out the good and not so good garages. Buying from a main dealer is the safest option and on your budget your car will still be in warranty so you should be ok. Personally I would test drive as many A2's as possible. The TDi and FSi are quite different in character so driving them is essential (my choice would be a 90 bhp TDi) Once you know exactly what you want and have a feel for what drives nicely, start the hunt. I would have no hesitation in travelling 200+ miles to look at the right car - much better than picking one unseen and regretting it.
What to look for was covered recently in the attached thread. Add the glove box and tailgate lights (expensive to fix if they don't work) to the list - and let us know how you get on.
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3646&highlight=buying

Cheers Spike
 
Hi Spike,

I am looking to buy through the main audi dealerships throughout the country. Predominatly around the south east as I am in London, saw a good one from Audi stanstead but the sales lady said the car just came in so I can't do a test drive, and basiclly it might not even make it to the forecourt... Its a 1.6FSI which I think suites me better cos the TDI I drove at cargiant was a little noisy for my liking... Anyway I will still keep looking around, its hard to find a good A2 with the right spec... I feel that the dealers and most private sales are pricing their A2 too high??? I really would like one with a low usage, say below 30k??? Anyway, maybe I've just hit a bad patch as all the A2 that I would want have all suddently disapeard! Thanks for the advice on the tailgate lights, had a look at the other thread, seems like there is not much there to look for. Am I right to assume it is ur opinion that a main audi dealer is to be trusted?

Thanks!

Jia
 
My mother who owns my old A2 is quite possibly looking to sell it in the not too distant future. I don't know what price she will be asking, book price maybe, but it's a nice spec car in my opinion (see footer).
 
I was in Hitchin Audi the other day to look at what they had and I think that 9.5K was not getting you anything like that spec / age. On the forecourt there were two 1.4 petrols and they wanted over 7.5 for those on y plates!
 
Fsi vs Tdi

I was in a very similar position, although the decision to go for the FSi was mainly down to a few factors. I had a lower budget than you so an older car was inevitable. But since I do not cover many miles each year, the FSi made sense - the lower fuel costs and I achieve around 43mpg.
The FSi is quieter, and quite nippy if revved, but it does sound like a diesel when first started, and the motor is noisy over around 3500 rpm under heavy load. But day to day, it's civilised and I don't regret my decision over a Tdi.
Also I called for three Tdis one Saturday morning and they'd all sold!
But there's no substitute for trying one yourself and making your own decision. After a couple of drives, you'll know which one is for you.
 
Well the problem is that I can't find a good TDI Sport or even a FSI Sport with under 30K and all of a sudden all the quality A2s have disapeard??? I would prefer the 90BHP TDI over the FSI to be quite honest but I can live with the FSI as its not a big deal for me as I don't clock up too much miles... What do you guys think I can get for around £9500??? I saw a nice 2004 1.4TDI Sport (90HP) but the mark price is over 10K so I'm a little afriad if I can get that one or not. The 1.6FSI I'm looking at standstead tomorrow has clocked over 30K and they want £9995!!! I don't think so... Personally I recon its only worth about £8500 to £9000 Max... Am I being over optimisitic here? How much do u think the Audi Dealers are really willing to go down to? I'll post the car I am looking at...

http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print3.aspx?carid=500997007
http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print.aspx?carid=500991660
http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print3.aspx?carid=501005608
http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print.aspx?carid=501033229
http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print3.aspx?carid=500997515
http://www.audi.net.r66.co.uk/AudiUk/site/general/print.aspx?carid=501025441

I'm gonna go and view the Black A2 1.6FSI at stanstead tomorrow... Any thoughts on that paticular car? What should I expect to pay for that spec? Thanks so much everyone, I really wanna make sure the A2 i buy is the right one for me...

Cheers
 
The FSI Sport at stanstead looks a bit expensive, but you pay a premium for buying from a dealer. I'd try to knock them down at least 500quid.

My A2 is an FSI Sport in ebony black (see below), currently 27k on the clock, and is better spec'd than that car (no leather, but opensky, allround leccy windows, 6 disc cd & tape stereo, 23k on the clock when I bought it), its a feb 2003 car so very nearly an '03 reg, i bought it for £8.5k in july last year. I had to look for a few months to find the car I wanted at the spec i wanted and had to travel about 1.5hours to get it.

I have noticed that A2 prices have stayed pretty stable in the last year, S3 prices when I bought my A2 were around £11-12k at the cheapest, now there are a few cars out there at £8-9k.

If I was going to sell mine, i'd be asking for between £8-8500 (Which i may well be doing in a few months time - An Audi S2 beckons...;))
 
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I bought my A2 from a VW/Audi dealer it was 2.5 years old with 10k on the clock. Yes its only a 1.4 base model with a few extras like open sky and rear bench seat but I bought it because of the low mileage which was more important to me that high spec. Paid 8995 which I thought was a good price. it was reduced from 12995 and of course at that price it was not selling. Came with a full years warranty which I used twice for parts that went wrong. renewed the warranty for another year which cost 300 but well worth it for peace of mind. Seems things keep going wrong with the A2. Anybody thinking of buying an A2 and looks at this forum may well be put off by all the problems encountered and posted by forum members but i am sure 90% of A2's run without problems !!!!!
 
Skipton01 said:
What's with the S2 Paul?

You wouldn't want mine - trust me!
S2 -What's one of these then!?


When I was looking for my A2 TDI Sport (03/75) I tested a 52 plater with virtually identical miles (circa 30-35K) at a local dealer that was up for £10995. In the end, I found my A2 which was newer (and hence, in warranty) with a 6CD changer, and paid well over 2.5K less than what the local dealer was asking. Mind you, it was a private sale and I had to travel 100 miles to get it...

Ian
 
driveforward said:
S2 -What's one of these then!?

The S2 was based on the Audi 80 Coupe and avant, made from 1991 until 1996, it has a 5-cylinder turbocharged 2.3 litre engine, with 220/230bhp & 250lbft of torque, quattro 4-wheel drive, and a 6-speed 'box in the later versions. 0-60 in 5.8seconds with a top speed of 154mph.


Avant
gatebilmolde70.jpg

Coupe
DSC00587.jpg


they are very tunable (i.e. £500 gets you to 300bhp and 350lbft) they are very rare, there's probably no more than 20 for sale in the whole of the uk at the moment. have a look at www.s2forum.com there is a big community surrounding these cars, i should be having a ride in one next weeked, thanks to that forum.

Why the change...? I want something a bit/lot quicker, more of a drivers car, something that has a much better ride (my suspension does my head in - its very hard!), i suppose i'm just getting bored with the A2, plus i'm about to turn 25, which opens up a whole load of performance cars i couldn't own before!!!

Plus the fact that you can buy a mint S2 at the moment for around £6000-7500, they were a £32k car when new!!

Not many peope know about them too, try spotting one on the road, you might wait years!
 
TallPaul said:
The FSI Sport at stanstead looks a bit expensive, but you pay a premium for buying from a dealer. I'd try to knock them down at least 500quid.

My A2 is an FSI Sport in ebony black (see below), currently 27k on the clock, and is better spec'd than that car (no leather, but opensky, allround leccy windows, 6 disc cd & tape stereo, 23k on the clock when I bought it), its a feb 2003 car so very nearly an '03 reg, i bought it for £8.5k in july last year. I had to look for a few months to find the car I wanted at the spec i wanted and had to travel about 1.5hours to get it.

I have noticed that A2 prices have stayed pretty stable in the last year, S3 prices when I bought my A2 were around £11-12k at the cheapest, now there are a few cars out there at £8-9k.

If I was going to sell mine, i'd be asking for between £8-8500 (Which i may well be doing in a few months time - An Audi S2 beckons...;))

So your thinking of selling? When were you looking to sell??? I am looking to buy in the next two weeks. If you are interested let me know as I have cash on hand to make the purchase. PM me and I'll give u my mobile number.

Jia
 
Hi, good luck with the search for you car, i spent 2 months trying to find a car that suited me.
I settled for the TDI 90 SE which drives great, its very nippy with excellent economy , i usually get 60+ mpg.
I think the prices at the dealers are over priced, i bought mine a year ago with 10k on the clock for £10, 000 and it had lots of extras ie winter pack , front fogs and dis.
Good luck with the search.
 
Hi everyone,

Just put down a deposit at the Stanstead Audi dealers today for the Black 1.6FSI :D On the website of audi used cars, the description isn't really that good... But having seen it first hand and test drove it I am very happy to lay my money down. I was pleasently suprised to see that the car had been kept in really good condition and audi said they have yet to carry out any refurbishment work and any inspection work yet. I was also suprised to see that it had the sports body kit and also a 6CD auto changer and a cassette player which is great cos that saves me money trying to get my ipod connected to the stereo. Also the grey leather interior is just to die for, really great condition overall and glad I was lucky enough to find one and put the cash down. One down side is that I believe the steering and wheel alignment needs to be checked and corrected as the car was pulling to the left and there were uneven wear on the front left tyre... But audi promissed me that any steering issues will be fully corrected before I take delivery. The kurbed 17inch alloys will be reconditioned or replaced and I was suprised that the car had front and rear disc breaks... I thought only the newer models had this installed... Anyway, I will take delivery in two weeks time so when I do, will post pics then. Thanks all for the input which helped me loads... Cheers!

Jia
 
Great news Jia,

I'm sure you'll enjoy your new vehicle. The rear disks were first introducted on the 1.6 FSI - and later on the TDi 90.

Let us know when you take delivery.

Ben
 
Hi Jia
I know the excitement of collecting the car in 2 weeks time will probably override all logic but if you can, take a checklist with you and make sure everything has been done before you hand over the cash and drive away. With a little luck Stanstead will have the car fully prepared as promised but it's amazing how often garages 'forget' or 'run out of time' to do everything the salesman agreed to.

Hopefully the first thing you will buy for the FSi - is a set of A2oc window stickers and matching discount card.

Cheers Spike
 
Hi Spike,

I told the dealer that if i am not happy with the car when I go and pick it up then I will get my deposit back. If I am ok but have a few worries then I reserve the right to bring the AA in for a independent check... But yeh I know what u mean with the excitement... I can bearly remember what the test drive was like yesterday as I want to get back into that car ASAP!!! Damn that leather sport seat feels snug on my bottom :D Consider the stickers done, no idea what the discount card does tho??? Will read up on it and probably will buy it too. Cheers!!!

Jia
 
identification number

Hi,

is there anyone who can tell me where I can find an identification number (a sticker). I spent some time looking for that but unfortunately without any result (I need it for a technical inspection of a car)?

Thank you,

Stephan.
 
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