new A2 owner - advice please

dmw300

dmw300

Member
Hello to the group

I've owned 2 A2 1.6 FSi SE / Sport - the last (last one I had for 4 years and sold in 2011) ... so I've never ran one as an older model.
As my daughter has reached the age to drive, we've bought an A2 for her to gain experience in, and will be her first car until she leaves for University.
The car we have is a 83000 mile 2005 special edition. Its got reasonable service history, a few gaps in the last few years. 2 previous owners, last owner 8 years.
The car is booked in to have the timing belt, water pump, etc to be replaced, as there is no evidence this has been done in the last 4 years. It will also have an interim service at the same time.

My question is what else should we get checked at the same time? I have read the fantastic advice on the forum, but any additional advice is always welcome :)

Thank you.

Darren
 
At 83K I would hope there is not too much significantly wrong. My A2 has made 130K on its original water pump and is still going strong. My best suggestion, I think I understand the reason you are asking the question, is to find a local experienced member to drive the car. They will be able to hear and feel issues. Hopefully at that mileage you have a cracker.
 
@philward Thank you - I hope so ... driving it back today made me start to think about what ‘my’ ideal spec A2 would be ... this could get addictive ...
 
My drive today reminded me how much I loved the A2 ... hence why I had 2 in the past ... now it makes me want a nice example for myself to cherish.
 
We all start somewhere. I got a reasonably well equipped one to start off with and have added the equipment it didn’t have that I wanted including rear electric windows, auto dim rear view mirror, rear parking sensors, cruise control and other minor details like LED’s komfortblinker, TT pedals, and with still lots more to come.
 
Is there any preventative maintenance I should take into consideration with the 1.4 petrol?

I think the door straps have failed ... the noise opening the front doors is not pleasant :(
 
Remove the coil packs and check for oil in the aperture, the rocker cover gasket may need replacing if there is oil there, this should be done at the same time as the cam belt.
Ours has done 122k but the rear spring seats were so far gone that one had actually disintegrated. Rear springs break also due to corrosion, easy to check. Oh and the exhaust will be past it’s best.
 
Thanks for the advice - I'm hoping the exhaust will last a little longer, it just passed its MOT with no advisories on leaks. We'll see what the garage thinks when they have a closer inspection of the car on Saturday (fingers crossed).
 
You will not see leaks from a leaking cam cover if it is the internal seals that go between the machined surfaces and the spark plug tube. You will only notice it by pulling out the spark plug lead and looking into it.

I found this out when I service Albus just after purchase when I was fitting new spark plugs. There was oil nearly to the top of the spark plug itself. I cleaned out the oil using a rag to soak it up and fitted new spark plugs. I still have to do the cambelt change so will check again to see if oil is still leaking and if so whip the cover over and reseal it. It will mean new bolts for the cam cover as I have read somewhere to replace old bolts with new on the cover.
 
I haven't done it yet but have looked on the web but the cam belt has to come off which is why you need to do it at the same time. It is a case of cleaning the surfaces and applying the sealant without putting too much on that will then spread to areas that you don't want it!! You then have to re-torque the cover down using new bolts and then put it all back together again and hope you have sealed it enough to prevent oil seepage (but you will only know after putting it all back together and running it!!!)
 
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