Hello everyone, in need of expert advice!!

Rolp

Member
Hi all, I’m not sure if this is the correct forum for this post so apologies if it’s misplaced.
I’ve got to part with my beloved Volvo due to ulez restrictions in my area (london). I’ve done a lot, a loooot if research on which car would best suit my needs & I keep coming back to an A2. I’ve never driven one but they seem just perfect & the space is brilliant. A few things I wanted to ask the experts, firstly, are they big enough for 2 child car seats? Do they really live up to the hype? And finally, are there any known specialist dealers? There’s hardly any available online for sale & the prices vary quite a lot so it’s difficult to understand what the economy of them is exactly.
Any input, advice, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
 
Hi, If your child seats are in the back; then there is plenty of room, and the doors give access as easy as most much larger cars. I only have experience of the 4 seaters so I'm sure someone will chip in about the 5 seaters. As diesels may be banned from city centres in future, I assume your looking at the petrol. These are great cars, mine average about 60mpg in motorways and about 45mpg on short local trips. Re buying one, look for as low milage as you can afford with all the extras you need (with kids I very strongly suggest a false boot floor). Good cars often come up for sale on this forum, where you have the advantage of knowledgeable sellers. Look for a good service history, few or no MOT advisories, and check that the timing belt and water pump was changed within 80k miles and/or 5 years. And lastly, welcome to the club.
 
Hi @Rolp and welcome to the forum :)

While the only acknowledged A2 specialist in the country is WOM Automotive in Stoke on Trent, there are garages in London that are familiar with working on other members' A2s. Here's a link to a thread that should help you.

For mainly city work you are probably better looking for the 1.4 petrol engine rather than the 1.6FSI, which really doesn't like lots of short journeys in traffic, and needs to be run on 98RON fuel.
 
Thank you @jimonskye & @Proghound for your input. I’ve written all this down. I was indeed looking at the 1.4 petrol, I’d read that the 1.6 can have some issues & it’ll mainly be used for driving in & around london with a few seaside & camping trips a year.
I didn’t know about the false boot, top tip! Where on this forum would I find them for sale? Is there a specific section they’re advertised in? I’ve spotted one on eBay that seems perfect but my husband is being a stickler about the colour ?
 
Thank you @jimonskye & @Proghound for your input. I’ve written all this down. I was indeed looking at the 1.4 petrol, I’d read that the 1.6 can have some issues & it’ll mainly be used for driving in & around london with a few seaside & camping trips a year.
I didn’t know about the false boot, top tip! Where on this forum would I find them for sale? Is there a specific section they’re advertised in? I’ve spotted one on eBay that seems perfect but my husband is being a stickler about the colour ?
Hi, lots of the cars already have false boot floors fitted, so wait until you find the car you want, it may already have one.
 
Am I being a bit thick but why is a false floor an advantage if you have kids? Uneven floor for kiddy kit loading IF you carry a spare wheel?

Andy
 
The A2 is not a small car. Not on the Inside anyway. It is a Tardis ! 4 Adults fit in our 4 Seater easily. Our Son is 6’ 2” with Headroom and Legroom. The Drivers Seat will go so far back that I can not even reach the Pedals, or Steering Wheel. It makes a great little Van with the Rear Seats removed. We took the fully assembled Engine from our 1966 Beetle to the Engine Builders in the back, sitting on top of a very large tyre from our Sons Landrover Defender, so it sat higher than the Rear Lip. It can easily take Fridges, Freezers, Washing Machines and Large items of furniture that you might not expect to fit. We have even taken our Great Danes in the back.
 
The A2 is not a small car. Not on the Inside anyway. It is a Tardis ! 4 Adults fit in our 4 Seater easily. Our Son is 6’ 2” with Headroom and Legroom. The Drivers Seat will go so far back that I can not even reach the Pedals, or Steering Wheel. It makes a great little Van with the Rear Seats removed. We took the fully assembled Engine from our 1966 Beetle to the Engine Builders in the back, sitting on top of a very large tyre from our Sons Landrover Defender, so it sat higher than the Rear Lip. It can easily take Fridges, Freezers, Washing Machines and Large items of furniture that you might not expect to fit. We have even taken our Great Danes in the back.
We had Irish wolfhounds for 40+ years only car with enough headroom for them to walk around unless you had a van ? we never had rear seats in ..infact even with our new lab Sally’s a2 no rear seats in dog crate instead ?...
 
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Hi, If your child seats are in the back; then there is plenty of room, and the doors give access as easy as most much larger cars. I only have experience of the 4 seaters so I'm sure someone will chip in about the 5 seaters. As diesels may be banned from city centres in future, I assume your looking at the petrol. These are great cars, mine average about 60mpg in motorways and about 45mpg on short local trips. Re buying one, look for as low milage as you can afford with all the extras you need (with kids I very strongly suggest a false boot floor). Good cars often come up for sale on this forum, where you have the advantage of knowledgeable sellers. Look for a good service history, few or no MOT advisories, and check that the timing belt and water pump was changed within 80k miles and/or 5 years. And lastly, welcome to the club.

@jimonskye, what's the rationale behind the boot floor recommendatio?

As I discovered when I first joined this club, the five seater is actually no good for child seats, assuming you mean they are secured using the isofix system anyway: Bizarrely, the A2 4 seater has one complete set of isofix mountings for each rear seat, whilst the 5 seat version has 1 1/2 in total - meaning that as one mounting point is shared between the two locations, you can mount a child seat in the middle of the rear seat or to the passenger side, but not both at the same time!

Therefore, @Rolp unless the child seats you are using are secured using the vehicle seat belt (and I don’t know many parents these days that haven’t adopted isofix, so I’m going to stick my neck out and make an assumption here), you can instantly discount any 5 seat versions of the A2 you see for sale.
 
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@jimonskye, what's the rationale behind the boot floor recommendatio?

As I discovered when I first joined this club, the five seater is actually no good for child seats, assuming you mean they are secured using the isofix system anyway: Bizarrely, the A2 4 seater has one complete set of isofix mountings for each rear seat, whilst the 5 seat version has 1 1/2 - meaning you can mount a child seat in the middle of the rear seat or to the passenger side, but not both at the same time!

Therefore, @Rolp unless the child seats you are using are secured using the vehicle seat belt (and I don’t know many parents these days that haven’t adopted isofix so I’m going to stick my neck out and make an assumption here), you can instantly discount any 5 seat versions of the A2 you see for sale.
Thank you so much for this amazing info!! We’ve got very small children so car seats are essential. One is an isofix but the other is a group 2-3 belt in car seat. In theory could I put a car seat in the rear behind both driver & passenger & still have room for a non isofix booster in the middle?
 
So your seats as described would work with a rear bench, but there would only be about 10"-12" between them. The kid in the middle on the booster would need to be skinny and not mind being very much hemmed into place. Also be aware only the later ('53 onward) bench rear seats had the full 3-point centre belt, the earlier ones are 2-point lap belt only.
 
Wait, how many children do you have?

I would suggest that you need a bigger (wider) car than an A2 if you have three, which it seems from that last post you might (assuming you don’t wish to choose which of them travel with you that is!).
 
No idea why they made a 5 seater, for me its a bit silly, yes i have a 5 seater and a 4 and 6 year old

Maxi cosi Axiss is by far the best young child car seat i have used, secures superbly with vehicle seat belt and twists to make getting kids in and out so easy!!

My poverty spec 2002 has false floor for what its worth
 
Our kids only travelled in the A2 when the estate was not available and only for short distances. There is simply not enough metal behind the rear seats. Great second car but not a first family car. Not something to transport kids in.
 
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