Hejira
New Member
Hello all!
After coveting my mother's A2 for 6 years I have finally inherited the little beast. The process was a wrench for both of us. Mum bought the car with the help of Timmus circa 2013. Although doing little but essential maintenance since then, she nonetheless became rather attached. Severe neck issues mean it's no longer comfortable or safe for her to drive a manual, so she's moved on to an automatic Mini Countryman. For the last 6 years I've been driving a 1ltr petrol K11 Nissan Micra, 'Blodwen'. Initially I wasn't a great fan of her severely underpowered engine, binary gearbox and utilitarian styling , but I grew to love her sturdiness and reliability. She was very cheap to maintain and relatively easy to tinker with. Whilst I never got around to any of the mods I planned, I replaced her alternator and did my own services. I also briefly owned a Smart Roadster with aftermarket Brabus tuning, 'Christine'. She was fun to drive, but ludicrously small inside and had weird little electrical demons which made her seem possessed (hence the name).
Brienne is a 1.4 TDI (75bph) Sport with Bose and red Nappa interior. No major dings/scratches on the exterior, but the non-leather aspects of the interior are quite worn in places. She's lovely to drive (esp. compared to a Micra!), but her gearbox is quite 'clunky' (feels like it's built from lego) and the suspension is harsh (which, I understand, is normal for a Sport?). When the car was originally purchased Timmus noticed the gearbox counterweight was missing, which has still not been replaced and may (????) be why the gears are so difficult. There are quite a few other minor niggles, but she's otherwise in good condition.
I'm a medical student, so while I have great ambitions for Brienne, these are (unfortunately) inversely proportional to my current bank balance. The following is a wish list of things I would like to achieve when I can afford them.
Fixes needed:
- Finding/replacing counterweight (if this improves the gears....I'm assuming it was put there for a reason)
- Whatever else improves the feel of the gearbox (and I can afford) e.g. oil change
- Ditto the suspension
- Fixing the rear defogger
- Tightening the hand break
- New starter motor (I think)
- Replacing worn interior buttons etc
Mods I can (hopefully) afford at some point:
- Bluetooth/aux head unit input
- Cruise control
- Turn on anti-hijack
- MFSW
- Wind deflectors
- Rear parking sensors and camera
- Komfortblinker
- ECU remap
- Heated front seats
Most wanted mods I probably cannot afford without selling my soul include:
- Full respray to metallic blue or black
- Re-leathering to complement new paint
- Re-trimming the rest of the interior
- 6th gear
While my knowledge of automechanics is probably better than average, it's still quite basic, so any guidance, suggestions etc are welcome.
Thanks
After coveting my mother's A2 for 6 years I have finally inherited the little beast. The process was a wrench for both of us. Mum bought the car with the help of Timmus circa 2013. Although doing little but essential maintenance since then, she nonetheless became rather attached. Severe neck issues mean it's no longer comfortable or safe for her to drive a manual, so she's moved on to an automatic Mini Countryman. For the last 6 years I've been driving a 1ltr petrol K11 Nissan Micra, 'Blodwen'. Initially I wasn't a great fan of her severely underpowered engine, binary gearbox and utilitarian styling , but I grew to love her sturdiness and reliability. She was very cheap to maintain and relatively easy to tinker with. Whilst I never got around to any of the mods I planned, I replaced her alternator and did my own services. I also briefly owned a Smart Roadster with aftermarket Brabus tuning, 'Christine'. She was fun to drive, but ludicrously small inside and had weird little electrical demons which made her seem possessed (hence the name).
Brienne is a 1.4 TDI (75bph) Sport with Bose and red Nappa interior. No major dings/scratches on the exterior, but the non-leather aspects of the interior are quite worn in places. She's lovely to drive (esp. compared to a Micra!), but her gearbox is quite 'clunky' (feels like it's built from lego) and the suspension is harsh (which, I understand, is normal for a Sport?). When the car was originally purchased Timmus noticed the gearbox counterweight was missing, which has still not been replaced and may (????) be why the gears are so difficult. There are quite a few other minor niggles, but she's otherwise in good condition.
I'm a medical student, so while I have great ambitions for Brienne, these are (unfortunately) inversely proportional to my current bank balance. The following is a wish list of things I would like to achieve when I can afford them.
Fixes needed:
- Finding/replacing counterweight (if this improves the gears....I'm assuming it was put there for a reason)
- Whatever else improves the feel of the gearbox (and I can afford) e.g. oil change
- Ditto the suspension
- Fixing the rear defogger
- Tightening the hand break
- New starter motor (I think)
- Replacing worn interior buttons etc
Mods I can (hopefully) afford at some point:
- Bluetooth/aux head unit input
- Cruise control
- Turn on anti-hijack
- MFSW
- Wind deflectors
- Rear parking sensors and camera
- Komfortblinker
- ECU remap
- Heated front seats
Most wanted mods I probably cannot afford without selling my soul include:
- Full respray to metallic blue or black
- Re-leathering to complement new paint
- Re-trimming the rest of the interior
- 6th gear
While my knowledge of automechanics is probably better than average, it's still quite basic, so any guidance, suggestions etc are welcome.
Thanks
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