Looking to buy A2 (but not diesel)

Skyeten

Member
Hi new member here in Scotland..... I am thinking of buying an A2 , don't do many miles nowadays and having to say goodbye to the Seat Leon Cupra 150TDI I have had for the last 9 years as soon we will be getting a "low emission zone" in Edinburgh that rules out all pre Euro6 diesels (or you pay a tenner a day to drive it ! ). So a petrol model it has to be as the Euro4 standard of the petrol A2s is OK. My question is what is the best petrol engine ? I have read that the FSI is troublesome but the extra power might be handy !Is the 1.4 pretty gutless and if so can it be improved slightly with any mods ? I know either of them will be a come down from the 315 lbs/ft torque of the remapped Leon but hey its time to slow down a bit :)

BTW someone is selling a 1.6 54 plate A2 here in Edinburgh with 78000 miles for £1800 with year MOT, only thing is that it needs a "coolant pipe" replaced and the guy says the garage has quoted £320 so I assume its the plastic pipe under the inlet manifold ? Is this such a pain in the ass to do myself , I am pretty good with stuff and dont mind giving it a go if this seems a good price for the car....

Thanks
Alan
 
Hi Alan,

Welcome.

My initial thought was that the 78k FSI is overpriced, especially with a leaking death pipe. Very difficult to asses value, so much depends on usual factors, FSH, overall condition, extras etc. Have you a link to the advert?

Yes you can replace the death pipe yourself, a long job, nearly all the £350 quote will be labour, the only thing is you might be opening a can of worms in terms of time, cost and scope.

Andy
 
Welcome welcome. I’ve a tdi so can’t really help but I’m sure Glasgow will go the same way soon.

The 1.6 owners seem to refer to that pipe as the Death Pipe so I think it’s a fairly common problem and a nuisance to access to replace.

That said, the 1.6 owners also rhapsodise about the revvy joy of their FSI engines and the smooth power so it might be closer to what you liked about your Cupra.

Anyway, welcome.


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Hi Alan, you might have missed this thread at the start of the month whilst you were looking around on the forum.
Everything you need to know is here in buying the petrol 1.4 and 1.6FSI. I’m back 1.4 or 1.6

Considering the newest ones are at least 13 years old just make sure it's got a full history showing lots of oil changes, regular oil changes shows good ownership and should provide longevity.

Best of luck finding the right car. Mark.
 
Hi Alan,

Welcome.

My initial thought was that the 78k FSI is overpriced, especially with a leaking death pipe. Very difficult to asses value, so much depends on usual factors, FSH, overall condition, extras etc. Have you a link to the advert?

Yes you can replace the death pipe yourself, a long job, nearly all the £350 quote will be labour, the only thing is you might be opening a can of worms in terms of time, cost and scope.

Andy
Hi Andy and thanks for the message, here is the link to the A2 for sale in Edinburgh
https://www.gumtree.com/p/audi/audi...til-25th-november-2019-low-mileage/1324217804
Cheers
 
Hi Alan, you might have missed this thread at the start of the month whilst you were looking around on the forum.
Everything you need to know is here in buying the petrol 1.4 and 1.6FSI. I’m back 1.4 or 1.6

Considering the newest ones are at least 13 years old just make sure it's got a full history showing lots of oil changes, regular oil changes shows good ownership and should provide longevity.

Best of luck finding the right car. Mark.

Thanks for the link Mark, will check it out !
 
Hello Alan,

Just returned to A4 ownership and can confirm that the 1.4 Petrol is pretty gutless - but then again I am comparing it with a ForFour Brabus and 175bhp. The benefit of gutless is - I suppose - a low risk of any points on your licence.
Horror stories abound concerning the FSI. There is one near me for sale in a garage for just a few hundred £. The garage just fitted a new cambelt and water pump but then found it was still overheating quickly and thowing coolant out. They have given up and are offering for spares / repair. The point being there is little value in them and little point in throwing good money after bad.
So if you are not bothered about a fast getaway at the traffic lights I'd go for a 1.4. Don't be put off by an early car either. The early cars often had (in my opinion) nicer interior colour combinations. The later cars tend to have a lot of black trim unless up-specified by the first owners.
Key to it is whether the car has had a pampered existence or a hard life. There are some very nice A2's being advertised around the £1,000 mark - but there are also quite a few advertised that you wouldn't want to keep chickens in!!!
There are so many being broken now so spares availability is good - particularly from the well known members on this forum. Ebay prices range from reasonable to laughable. But that's eBay!
Good luck with your search.

Mike
 
Hello Alan,

Just returned to A4 ownership and can confirm that the 1.4 Petrol is pretty gutless - but then again I am comparing it with a ForFour Brabus and 175bhp. The benefit of gutless is - I suppose - a low risk of any points on your licence.
Horror stories abound concerning the FSI. There is one near me for sale in a garage for just a few hundred £. The garage just fitted a new cambelt and water pump but then found it was still overheating quickly and thowing coolant out. They have given up and are offering for spares / repair. The point being there is little value in them and little point in throwing good money after bad.
So if you are not bothered about a fast getaway at the traffic lights I'd go for a 1.4. Don't be put off by an early car either. The early cars often had (in my opinion) nicer interior colour combinations. The later cars tend to have a lot of black trim unless up-specified by the first owners.
Key to it is whether the car has had a pampered existence or a hard life. There are some very nice A2's being advertised around the £1,000 mark - but there are also quite a few advertised that you wouldn't want to keep chickens in!!!
There are so many being broken now so spares availability is good - particularly from the well known members on this forum. Ebay prices range from reasonable to laughable. But that's eBay!
Good luck with your search.

Mike
Thanks Mike, good advice there I think ..... looking more and more like a nice slow wee 1.4 :)
 
To be honest the 1.4 Petrol is just fine for town driving, and light motorway work. As has been said above and elsewhere the engine is really reliable one, and I have been through plenty without any real issues. I've only had one that overheated, and that was terminal to that engine, but cheap enough to replace.

The 1.6 is a fickle beast. They are lovely cars on the motorway when they are running right, but unfortunately nowadays unless you get a well loved example that's been well serviced they now fall into the "it's got 4 wheels and I'm not going to spend any money on it" category. This is particularly troublesome with the engines as they require to be run on 98+ Octane fuel, and most owners described here do not follow this through. This will inevitably lead to poor performance and misfires - and eventually a dead engine.

As for the one you have seen in Gumtree, imho steer clear (especially at the price requested). It's got nothing special on it apart from being a potential can of worms as it sounds as if most of the coolant parts were replaced in November, and the garage hasn't properly fixed it, saying "it needs the coolant pipe" without much confidence that this will actually fix the issue. For that money I would be expecting leather and maybe OSS.
 
Hi Alan,

Looked at the car in your link. Standard SE, Mauritious Blue I think, looks tidy enough but most cars do after a wash, cameras always make them look better than they are never picking up scratches and blemishes. The good condition climate would make me think it might be acceptable condition.

HOWEVER it strikes me the seller has looked at national listing of compatible mileage to arrive at a price, most of which are trade dealers with an expected £450 markup over private sales. At least a dealer would professionally valet, basic service and have fixed the leak with maybe some form of guarantee, at least you can take it back. With the bill for the leak to come I would put this around a £1000 or less dependent on actual condition. Also noticed no mention of cambelt renewal and the lack of 'Full' with service history and as Jeremy points out basic, no extras. Optimistic seller.

On a general level do not expect the FSI to be quick, especially after your last TDI, in my mind, I do drive one, they were designed for economy and emission values not nimbleness, but they are not bad if running right.

There lare ots of threads on here about 1.4 v 1.6 petrol, if you can find them! (Search is not good). Here's another..

https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...-of-engine-is-better-1-4-or-1-6-petrol.28117/

Andy
 
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