crapping myself

[Paulnuneaton]

was at a race meeting today when a guy came up to me in the car park and said these a2's are great cars have a bump and they are finished as no one can do alloy welding is this true not that i plan to crash it but very worrying all the same

 

[bretti_kivi]

Read the Wikipedia article.

Aluminium is very difficult to weld correctly, and parts prices are high. I'll quote myself (since I wrote a lot of this...)

There are fewer and fewer remaining A2's as time goes on. The aluminium chassis is frequently written-off by insurers due to the relative dearth of "aluminium specialists" - for example one in all of Scotland - and the training and experience required to repair the shell. Welding is frequently required and aluminium is seen by many as difficult to weld, mainly due to the very high melting point of the outside oxidation, requiring the part to be welded to be prepared correctly.[16] Combined with relatively high parts prices and hourly rates, apparently minor bumps may mean 'beyond economic repair'. Many examples of damage and subsequent repairs can be found in both the UK[17] and German[18][19] A2 owners club forums, often with tales of personal repair efforts and costs involved.

Bret

 

[Alan_uk]

Hi Paul

I recall some years back the figure was 6 repairers in the UK - can't recall if that was Audi or all makes. A quick google found Fastlane who state

"Fastlane is one of only a handful of bodyshops in the UK which can offer structural aluminium repairs."
http://fastlanepab.co.uk/our-services/aluminium-repairs

Advance Accident Repairs web site says

Repairing these vehicles requires specialist skills, tools, equipment and facilities. Contaminating exposed aluminium with any corrosive material can cause the material to oxidise and become brittle. When working on any exposed aluminium the vehicle needs to be isolated and a completely seperate set of hand tools used to prevent any cross contamination. In addition specialist joining and welding techniques and equipment are required. There are differing specifications of aluminium depending on where it is to be utilised, these material specs need to be properly identified, this is particularly important where the materials is being used in a structural capacity.
http://www.advanceaccidentrepairs.co.uk/aluminiumrepair.htm

I presume for "structural" with an A2 they mean the A2 frame has been damaged. For these repairs gigs will be needed but I note they don't mention handling Audi. If the frame is damaged then my guess is that it is likely to be a write off

For non structural damage then I guess more body work shop could do the work (or say they can do the work!) but I would still want them to have previous experience of working with aluminium.

Other found via google:
http://www.summersmotors.co.uk/audi_aluminium_repairs.htm - mentions A2
- has pictures of an A2 being repaired:
http://www.summersmotors.co.uk/audi_a2.htm
http://www.gaskellmotorbodies.com/aluminium-repairs.html
http://www.keautospray.co.uk/aluminium-repairs.html - not structural
http://www.libra-arc.co.uk/aluminium-repairs.html
http://www.swanswayarc.com/services/aluminium-repair.aspx

Perhaps we should compile a database of dealers...........

Also found this

In February 2007 the British Standards Institute and Thatcham Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre launched the BSI Kitemark Scheme for Vehicle Body Repair, or PAS 125. It was devised because car bodies are no longer just put together from bits of steel. In one BMW 5-Series inner wing structure there are nine different materials/components.
http://www.aa-academy.com/Training/Learning Zone/BSI Kitemark Scheme for Vehicle Body Repair.asp

 

[Will]

In a low speed (<10mph) front or rear shunt the bumpers beams are designed to absorb all the energy. These parts are bolt on/off so no welding is required.

Due to weight saving and mass distribution more cars are using part aluminium body-in-whites. For example the previous BMW 5-series had an aluminium front end, also the Audi TT uses quite a bit of aluminium too. So it's possible the more garages are setup for aluminium repair than when the Audi A2 was first released.

 

[bretti_kivi]

I'll add to this that I've just seen another apparently minor shunt to an A2 (right of way taken and pushed into a traffic light) and the guesses are starting as to whether it's a write off or not. Airbags aren't, unfortunately, a reliable indicator. That's on the German forum if you're interested in following it.

So, yes, the A2 isn't as easy to repair as many who pick up "bumped" a2s on EBay believe ("quick and cheap job!" - nope!) and parts are rare.

It's not a Fiesta. But then compare residuals...

Bret

 

[nuttinnew]

On the way to buy mine we got held up in traffic on the motorway because of an accident, an A2 had been shunted hard from behind and pushed into the car in front. The airbags and gone off, glass everywhere, the back of the car had obviously taken a very hard whack...and all the doors still opened fine, no-one was hurt, the police drove it out of the way! It's good enough for me knowing it'll save me should the worst happen, I'm not going to worry about whether or not it'll get written-off in the unlikely even of an accident.
You could have the easiest and cheapest car to repair in the world but if it the damage is that great...or have a cheap car that gets a small dent & scratch and it'll get written off anyway because of the value of the car.

Don't worry about it, just enjoy the A2 and ignore comments from people who don't like or 'get' them

 

[Allan S]

Mine is having all sorts of bits done to it, I know the wing is part of the repair and the door, also the bumper, suspension, wheel, steering rack .......

The garage doing it are just one of the local garages and nothing special but all seems to be going fine.

 

[markross]

My last one was written off from a rear shunt. It was taken to Audi in Manchester (or maybe Stockport) where they could do Aluminium welding and I think and they quoted £7k to repair (car value was only about £6k). Luckily it wasn't my fault so I got a new car on the other person's insurance.

 

[jp.oog]

Great bit of research Alan_uk. Having lost one A2 to the scrapyard (interestingly I received a speeding ticket for the written off vehicle 2 months later!) its reassuring to see that there are specialists that will repair aluminium cars.