Chat My First Car! Hello Everyone.

Welcome.
Voice of reason here.
As a former ADI the last thing I wanted to hear from any learner was that they played driving games. That crashing doesn't result in injury or death is an attitude attributable to arcade games and leads to drivers believing that driving responsibly is for old f**ts.
As for Top Gear, words fail me. Suffice to say that the presenters' attitudes towards both cars and driving aren't things to aspire to.
Once you have a full licence, I recommend joining your nearest Institute of Advanced Motoring group and taking advantage of the advice you will find there.
Being as fast as your friends with hot hatches is nowhere near as good a thing as not crashing your A2 and ending up dead or severely disabled.
 
Hello everyone, 👋
I'd like to introduce myself and what is now my first car.

View attachment 94671

I've just picked up this absolute beauty from @jasonh from the forum. I could not be more pleased with the car, it pulls so nicely!

I started learning to drive around November 2021 time, and haven't yet passed my test, but should be passing in late July. (hopefully)

Gran Turismo, Need For Speed, Forza, Mario Kart, you name it. I've grown up playing it all. Not to mention having watched Top Gear since I've had eyes. I'm massively into car culture and always have been, hence my purchase here; I love the community present and feel it will be a fantastic way to get into the social aspect of car culture, with a truly great and unique car.

There's something so humble about the A2 - it very much appeals to my taste. I can drive a nice badged, quality & fast car and not feel like I'm showing off to everyone. This is the 1.6FSI version, really quite nippy for a first car so I feel very lucky that I can outpace my friends in their 'cooler' cars. Been looking for examples of this for months on and off, with my other top choice being the Volvo C30. (if you can't tell by the two volvo estates in the back, we are a volvo family) And coming across this forum was what sealed the deal for me. As much as I love the C30, the A2 is going to be a much more interesting experience to own with all of the quirks of having a rarer, older, quirkier car + all the enthusiast events I can show up in.

My mum bought me some magnetic L plates around Christmas time, and it only occurred to me as we tried to slap them on the A2 that they were about as useful as burnt toast, so double sided sticky tape it is! Anyways, I am learning to drive in this car, but I must reassure you all, I'm being as careful as physically possible, as the last thing I want to do is damage this pristine example. I'm in the South Yorkshire area, so if you ever see me driving about do give us a wave or say hi.

Apologies for the quality of the photo, this was took pretty much as soon as we got home with it. I do marketing for a living, so I'll be getting the camera out ASAP for some nice shots which I will post on here. If work lets me, I'll also bring it to any events I attend with the club so we can show off these excellent cars in all their glory.

Jobs to do:
-Polish headlights
-Respray front wiper
-Replace rear coils
-Replace or print stickers for the interior buttons
-Bluetooth?
-Maybe find rear bumper
-Two tone paint job maybe
-Pass my bloody driving test
-Any other odd bods that crop up.


TL;DR - Hi, this is my first car, and I'm super excited to be a part of this community.

If anyone has any tips, advice, or anything of the sort please do feel free to chat below.

Cheers for reading. I hope to meet you all soon!
-Saff
Saff,

Good on you for taking the time to post. Your new car looks lovely and is without doubt in one of my favourite colours, though I’m biased!!!

I’m glad you’ve found the forum a helpful place. There is a great deal of knowledge and expertise that can be tapped into here, especially for those who are as interested, positive and polite as you have been. The vast, vast majority of members are equally positive and I’m sure will be happy to encourage your interest in these lovely cars.

I hope you enjoy your purchase and it gives you many, many happy miles. 😊

Erling
 
Welcome.
Voice of reason here.
As a former ADI the last thing I wanted to hear from any learner was that they played driving games. That crashing doesn't result in injury or death is an attitude attributable to arcade games and leads to drivers believing that driving responsibly is for old f**ts.
As for Top Gear, words fail me. Suffice to say that the presenters' attitudes towards both cars and driving aren't things to aspire to.
Once you have a full licence, I recommend joining your nearest Institute of Advanced Motoring group and taking advantage of the advice you will find there.
Being as fast as your friends with hot hatches is nowhere near as good a thing as not crashing your A2 and ending up dead or severely disabled.
Hi Jeff - thanks for the level-headedness. always appreciated 👍

Don't worry - I won't be doing any racing or even speeding for that matter. It doesn't interest me. Plus, I have a black box so I couldn't if I wanted to lol! I've only ever played racing games as a compromise for not actually being able to drive, and now I've got my chance I'm going to do it right.

Far from do I aspire to be like the three silly car blokes on TV... they're just entertaining.

AM group is actually a very good idea - I'll definitely look into it. Don't you get benefits with an advanced qualification too? Solid advice, cheers.
 
Saff,

Good on you for taking the time the to post. Your new car looks lovely and is without doubt in one of my favourite colours, though I’m biased!!!

I’m glad you’ve found the forum a helpful place. There is a great deal of knowledge and expertise that can be tapped into here, especially for those who are as interested, positive and polite as you have been. The vast, vast majority of members are equally positive and I’m sure will be happy to encourage your interest in these lovely cars.

I hope you enjoy your purchase and it gives you many, many happy miles. 😊

Erling
Thanks Erling! The colour is great isn't it?

You're spot on about the forum, I'm blown away by the activity on this small silly little post of mine.

I will greatly enjoy it, thanks for the kind words.
 
@jp.oog used to offer a refurb, not sure if they still donthe button etc. There's a member services section on here. I may be right in thinking they're on Facebook too if not active on here anymore. Maybe someone else can do refurbs now? Many have done there own, not much to loose really, plenty of guides on here. You need stencils and correct paint and patience that's all. Results can be superb
 
For bluetooth it can be much simipler to keep the headunit and use one of these, certainly 30 minute installation job.
Do you know if it can work together with the factory CD changer? And is possible to switch between them?
 
So glad to see it go to an enthusiast. I'm sad to see it on someone else's drive. Was a wrench to see such a fun and quirky car go (wish my garage was bigger).
Safbeafbe good luck for the future, and when I'm passing South Yorkshire my eyes will be peeled.

This forum is wonderful, and I'm sure I will be popping in occasionally
 
Hi Jeff - thanks for the level-headedness. always appreciated 👍

Don't worry - I won't be doing any racing or even speeding for that matter. It doesn't interest me. Plus, I have a black box so I couldn't if I wanted to lol! I've only ever played racing games as a compromise for not actually being able to drive, and now I've got my chance I'm going to do it right.

Far from do I aspire to be like the three silly car blokes on TV... they're just entertaining.

AM group is actually a very good idea - I'll definitely look into it. Don't you get benefits with an advanced qualification too? Solid advice, cheers.
I wouldn't be surprised if passing the IAM test brings with it access to preferential insurance schemes.
I did their test at the age of 20, having been a biker from 16 to 19 when I passed the car test.
I certainly felt more confident by the age of 20 when I bought a 130 mph Jaguar MKII, in the days before there was a National speed limit!
 
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Welcome.
Voice of reason here.
As a former ADI the last thing I wanted to hear from any learner was that they played driving games. That crashing doesn't result in injury or death is an attitude attributable to arcade games and leads to drivers believing that driving responsibly is for old f**ts.
As for Top Gear, words fail me. Suffice to say that the presenters' attitudes towards both cars and driving aren't things to aspire to.
Once you have a full licence, I recommend joining your nearest Institute of Advanced Motoring group and taking advantage of the advice you will find there.
Being as fast as your friends with hot hatches is nowhere near as good a thing as not crashing your A2 and ending up dead or severely disabled.
No claims bonus comes in handy too.
Mac.
 
Not sure !? @2work ?
Evening Ed,

I don’t know this exact item in question but the concept in the way it communicates with factory head units does lead it to being capable of working along side the factory CD Changer. This only goes for the Chorus, Concert and therefor assume also the Symphony, not the RNS-E though.

For quite some time I used a Xcarlink along side a boot panel mounted CD changer connected to a Chorus II. To switch between the CD changer and the Xcarlink was simple, a tap (or double tap) on the CD button. When I completed my first double DIN dashboard conversion and subsequently moved over to the RNS-E Mk1 I lost this functionality and could only use one of the items, this is mainly due to the way the RNS-E communicates to its peripherals. Won’t bore you with it as it’s too off topic and I’ve probably gone on long enough.

The shorter answer is that this item, if connected correctly, can be used along side of a factory CD changer in a factory head unit environment.

Hope this has helped to answer the question.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
@jp.oog used to offer a refurb, not sure if they still donthe button etc. There's a member services section on here. I may be right in thinking they're on Facebook too if not active on here anymore. Maybe someone else can do refurbs now? Many have done there own, not much to loose really, plenty of guides on here. You need stencils and correct paint and patience that's all. Results can be superb
Nice one I'll have a gander at some point cheers!
 
So glad to see it go to an enthusiast. I'm sad to see it on someone else's drive. Was a wrench to see such a fun and quirky car go (wish my garage was bigger).
Safbeafbe good luck for the future, and when I'm passing South Yorkshire my eyes will be peeled.

This forum is wonderful, and I'm sure I will be popping in occasionally
Thank you for the kind words - it will be loved I can promise you that. Hopefully will see you around 👍
 
I wouldn't be surprised if passing the IAM test brings with it access to preferential insurance schemes.
I did their test at the age of 20, having been a biker from 16 to 19 when I passed the car test.
I certainly felt more confident by the age of 20 when I bought a 130 mph Jaguar MKII, in the days before there was a National speed limit!
Glad to hear you found it useful, sounds like something worth investing in. Lucky with that Jag!
 
Evening Ed,

I don’t know this exact item in question but the concept in the way it communicates with factory head units does lead it to being capable of working along side the factory CD Changer. This only goes for the Chorus, Concert and therefor assume also the Symphony, not the RNS-E though.

For quite some time I used a Xcarlink along side a boot panel mounted CD changer connected to a Chorus II. To switch between the CD changer and the Xcarlink was simple, a tap (or double tap) on the CD button. When I completed my first double DIN dashboard conversion and subsequently moved over to the RNS-E Mk1 I lost this functionality and could only use one of the items, this is mainly due to the way the RNS-E communicates to its peripherals. Won’t bore you with it as it’s too off topic and I’ve probably gone on long enough.

The shorter answer is that this item, if connected correctly, can be used along side of a factory CD changer in a factory head unit environment.

Hope this has helped to answer the question.

Kind regards,

Tom
Good to know - it wouldn't bother me greatly not being able to use the CD player (being a youngen) but glad that it will still work.
 
Good to know - it wouldn't bother me greatly not being able to use the CD player (being a youngen) but glad that it will still work.
No problem,

Happy to help out where I can. To connect your intended device into the head unit’s mini ISO connection you’ll require one of these.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of of the A2 and the A2OC. You will have seen from the responses to your post the enthusiasm, not just for the cars but to help every member in their quest to to keep the cars in tip top condition.
The helpfulness and courteousness of members means it is the friendliest forum I know of. Meaning that no matter how basic your question might be don’t hesitate to ask, someone will give you guidance without talking down to you.
The only possible downside of having an A2 as your first car is it could get addictive and stop you trying out other vehicles!
It will certainly outlive your mates cars both in terms of vehicle life but also your own love of owning it.

Good Luck and good colour choice too
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of of the A2 and the A2OC. You will have seen from the responses to your post the enthusiasm, not just for the cars but to help every member in their quest to to keep the cars in tip top condition.
The helpfulness and courteousness of members means it is the friendliest forum I know of. Meaning that no matter how basic your question might be don’t hesitate to ask, someone will give you guidance without talking down to you.
The only possible downside of having an A2 as your first car is it could get addictive and stop you trying out other vehicles!
It will certainly outlive your mates cars both in terms of vehicle life but also your own love of owning it.

Good Luck and good colour choice too
Thank you for the warm welcome. What a great community indeed.

Made me laugh with that downside - very true!

Cheers, can't wait to get passed.
 
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