How long can it last ?

66Beetle

66Beetle

A2OC Donor
Hopefully that’s another trouble free year of motoring in the A2 but how long can it last ? Just Passed the MOT again but resulted in me fitting 2 new Front Anti Roll Bar links, and 1 Rear Coil Spring. Did Discs and Pads while the Front Wheels were off then the Power Steering Pump failed. That’s all done now but we still have the rattling 1.4 Petrol Piston Slap that started at 60,000 Miles, so that was at 5 years old. Now at 15 years old is it going to be at that stage where everything starts to fail, and cost a lot of money ?

Our first Audi was a 1992 2.0 Petrol Avant. Great car but at 12 years old everything started to fail. Last few times I drove it smoke used to come out of the Dash / Steering Column. Changed that for a 2001 Audi A6 1.9 Tdi Sport Avant. Same thing. Around 10 to 12 years old everything started to fail. Mainly due to perishing of the wiring. MOT Garage we used to go to then said it was obsolescence built in by Audi to stop the cars lasting forever !

We are very reluctant to get rid of the A2. It is just so useful, and there has been nothing made to replace it. It has transported all sorts of furniture, fridges, cookers, the Engine out of our 1966 Beetle when it needed taking to be rebuilt. Even 2 of our Great Danes have been out in the A2.
 
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There are cars still on the road that are over 100 years old! What worries me, though, is the rate of attrition of our A2's .... the slightest body damage and it's an Insurance write-off. There's always quite a few on Ebay being broken, too. We are down to only 11,000 or so registered on the roads. Going, fast? Mine has done over 200,000 miles and I don't think that I'll ever sell it. I wonder if it is possible to be buried in it? I AM joking (I think?)

David
 
It will last as long as you want it to. If bits break, change them. Nothing on the A2 is THAT expensive as long as you are happy to use second hand parts.
 
Yes, we have heard about, and worry about, A2 Write Offs due to lack of Bodyshops who can repair these Aluminum Bodies, and yes we run a 52 year old Beetle and 46 year old VW Type 3 Variant but the cost of anything they need is a fraction of the cost of A2 parts. As for being buried in a car, I know someone who has had a Citroen DS forever who says it will be with him to the grave !
 
We pride ourselves (well at least I do) that the A2 is a true modern classic, but with this status/ age comes a price. On average this more or less a 16 yrs old vehicle and like everything mechanical/ electrical, the older it gets the more parts will fail, it's inevitable, and should not come as a surprise. Unfortunately, unlike true classic cars, the A2 is a modern car with plenty of electronic components, most of them difficult to fix on DIY basis, and some parts can be scarce and expensive.

I believe the A2 generates interest as it's cool, unique, quirky, practical and apparently "cheap" to buy, but often unaware owners, allured by the low-entry purchase price tag, do not account for necessary fixings, so as soon as a sensor goes or something else that needs replacing, the car is good for scrapping or parts. Insurances do not help either in case of a minor collision, repair costs, car value etc.
So, just like a cherished classic car, ensuring that an A2 can endure many happy years of motoring it will inevitably require a financial commitment, which of course is subjective and personal.

Personally I am constantly battling the temptation to upgrade, retrofit and modify my A2 not only because I am a big fan of OEM look and originality, but also I want to make sure I will always some cash in the pocket to fix whatever fails and take my A2 to my grave :D
 
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My Mk1 Golf Gti was 21 years old and 156k miles when I sold it in 2003. It never went wrong and it is still MOT'ed and road worthy now.
If a steel 1982 Golf is still running I don't see why a 15 year old A2 would die any time soon.
 
There are still a lot of A2s on UK roads and the fall-off slope on the graph of roadworthy A2s is flat (have a look on the Howmanyleft site) compared to the other cars I own. It's going to be several years, if not decades, before numbers left become a problem. Parts availability for almost everything is good, either used or second hand, and services popping up like Kleynie's OSS and depronman's check strap refurbs are making things easier still.

Stop fretting! :)
 
Replacement and wearable parts are definitely going to start failing because they are beyond their expected lifespan so of course pumps and motors and moving bits are going to need replaced and more of them each year until you hit a balance between renewing and wearing out. If the average life of the parts is 15 years then you will theoretically need to replace all of them once every 15 years - it’s really nothing like that though.

A lot of campervans are still going after 30 or 40 years and so are the commercial vehicles they were based on. I think there’s a lot of life left.

Aluminium welding may make a nice resurgence with the jaguar iPace and maybe other aluminium chassis models being produced.

Ideally I’d like to see a point when it’s a simple proposition to convert my lovely Audi into an electric vehicle and retain all I love about him but give him a new lease of life and another 220,000 miles.




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The i-Pace is bonded and riveted, even though it's 94% aluminium, there's no welding in the car. It was the manufacture of the A2 and the associated costs of production which were its downfall. Plasma/laser welding is incredibly expensive compared to rivets and glue and it's not better either - the Jag has the stiffest chassis of any car Jaguar have ever made apparently, so it's not like glueing makes things less strong.

I am looking forward to having 2 aluminium cars on the drive - one from the past and one representing the future of motoring.
 
I saw the riveting on a cut away shell - i hadn’t realised it wasn’t welded at all though! Maybe we can start riveting A2 repairs!

I was driving behind an f-pace yesterday, the iPace looks a LOT nicer.


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The f-pace is a typical SUV - a boxy lump of a car. It's the same with the new e-tron - an awful design and I am so glad I'll be getting the cross-over-like i-Pace instead. Jag's electric car has svelte curves and grace unlike anything that Audi are producing at the moment. I understand why the likes of Audi and Mercedes are coming out with SUVs in great numbers, but they're not clever cars at all and are a massive let down for me, who would like to buy another Audi, but they haven't lived up to the cleverness of the A2 since the A2 was made, so I'll take my purchase elsewhere and can proudly buy British.
 
There’s a good interview with the iPace designer on Fully Charged which I enjoyed.

I like that it makes a noise like a space ship hitting hyperspace when you give it welly - and that it’s totally possible to turn the sound effect off!


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