New A2 owner - have I bought wrong?

bertieuk

Member
Hi All

New user, but read through here as much as I could before buying. I picked up a 2001 TDi Silver A2 over the weekend, which I thought was a good deal until realising it was 8 days shy of the £30 tax date :-(

A few issues, which I'd welcome opinion on before I go any further / cut my losses / sell on for a post 2001 model / etc. I had planned to make it nice again, it being an early model with OSS, rear elec windows and parking sensors already fitted.

Open Sky - seller said it doesn't work, so I've not even tried it for fear of it getting stuck open. Do I get it looked at by @Kleynie ?
NS A-pillar has bubbling paint - been quoted £200 to paint, worth repairing?
Cam belt - has done 142k and no history of belt change. I have it booked in with local mechanic for this + water pump + service, should I drive gingerly until done?

Many Thanks!

Richard
 
Hi All

New user, but read through here as much as I could before buying. I picked up a 2001 TDi Silver A2 over the weekend, which I thought was a good deal until realising it was 8 days shy of the £30 tax date :-(

A few issues, which I'd welcome opinion on before I go any further / cut my losses / sell on for a post 2001 model / etc. I had planned to make it nice again, it being an early model with OSS, rear elec windows and parking sensors already fitted.

Open Sky - seller said it doesn't work, so I've not even tried it for fear of it getting stuck open. Do I get it looked at by @Kleynie ?
NS A-pillar has bubbling paint - been quoted £200 to paint, worth repairing?
Cam belt - has done 142k and no history of belt change. I have it booked in with local mechanic for this + water pump + service, should I drive gingerly until done?

Many Thanks!

Richard
I'd not drive it till cambelt, water pump etc is replaced. If it's done 20 years and 142,000 miles it's well overdue an expensive failure. That would be the end of the car, and your money.
Once it's done, you'll have a time to prioritise any other fixes.
Mac.
 
Hi All

New user, but read through here as much as I could before buying. I picked up a 2001 TDi Silver A2 over the weekend, which I thought was a good deal until realising it was 8 days shy of the £30 tax date :-(

A few issues, which I'd welcome opinion on before I go any further / cut my losses / sell on for a post 2001 model / etc. I had planned to make it nice again, it being an early model with OSS, rear elec windows and parking sensors already fitted.

Open Sky - seller said it doesn't work, so I've not even tried it for fear of it getting stuck open. Do I get it looked at by @Kleynie ?
NS A-pillar has bubbling paint - been quoted £200 to paint, worth repairing?
Cam belt - has done 142k and no history of belt change. I have it booked in with local mechanic for this + water pump + service, should I drive gingerly until done?

Many Thanks!

Richard
Hi bertiuk,
I also fell foul of this weird date as the engine is no different.
You will save £150 / year roughly if you swap to a post march 01 plate car an answer only you can give.
Keith
 
I don't think it's worth changing the car over the road tax issue alone. It's only a small amount if you consider the monthly cost of running the car, one expensive failure on the car you swap to could completely negate a couple of years worth of the difference in road tax!

Open Sky - seller said it doesn't work, so I've not even tried it for fear of it getting stuck open. Do I get it looked at by @Kleynie ?

Yes. Ian is the man for this issue, this is not your most pressing problem however as the sunroof acts as a very nice panoramic window until you get it sorted - and you have air con / 4x electric windows for keeping cool and fresh air!

NS A-pillar has bubbling paint - been quoted £200 to paint, worth repairing?

Yes if you intend to keep the car - again not a priority at this stage though.

Cam belt - has done 142k and no history of belt change. I have it booked in with local mechanic for this + water pump + service, should I drive gingerly until done?

From the wording of the question I strongly suspect you already know the answer: Do not drive the car until this is done! As above, you'd kick yourself very hard if the belt snaps and wrecks the engine, which it surely must be close to doing if it's on the original.

Many Thanks!

Richard
 
Just get the cambelt done soonest. Preferably by someone who knows their way around an A2. Water pump and tensioners as well. Not a job really for your average mechanic.

Good luck, as all the rest is reasonably straight forward with the A pillar being the sort of job that your local smart repair chap should be able to do.
 
Timing belt change recommended interval is 5 years/60k. You can inspect the belt by removing the covers from the top half of its circuit. Unless it looks new, then even if it might have had one belt change in 20 years, to be on the safe side I'd get it trailered to your mechanic for its service.
 
Thanks all! Yes priority is the belt, everything else can wait.

Been through all the books/paperwork and found "toothed belt" changed by Audi at 43k so has had at least one.

Any recommendations around Peak District/South Manchester area for an A2 specialist?

Thanks again
 
The obvious instant answer would be WOM Automotive in Stoke on Trent. They would probably be able to arrange transport, Cambelt failure whilst en route is too grim to contemplate. Hugely well regarded on here.
 
Thought I best include a pic ;-)
2a.jpg
 
Looks good to me. Scrubs up well!
All the best A2s are FSIs ...
Mac.
Not disagreeing with you Mac, but the OP's car is a TDI :oops:

In case it's the source of some confusion, I had edited @kp 115's original post to correct the £30 tax start date to March '01, but for some reason the original version was still there in your reply a couple of hours later. Now edited also.

I'll happily second @simon martyn's recommendation for WOM Automotive 👍
 
Not disagreeing with you Mac, but the OP's car is a TDI :oops:

In case it's the source of some confusion, I had edited @kp 115's original post to correct the £30 tax start date to March '01, but for some reason the original version was still there in your reply a couple of hours later. Now edited also.

I'll happily second @simon martyn's recommendation for WOM Automotive 👍
I hadn't based my assumption from that post so don't worry. I'd just assumed they all were.

Will call WOM tomorrow, thanks again for all the replies.
 
Timing belt change recommended interval is 5 years/60k. You can inspect the belt by removing the covers from the top half of its circuit. Unless it looks new, then even if it might have had one belt change in 20 years, to be on the safe side I'd get it trailered to your mechanic for its service.
Hi Just had by belt/water pump done etc…. Was supposed to be getting it back Wednesday however, the mechanic is not happy with how it is running so might not get it back til weekend.
It had not been changed since 2013 I think, so was always worried whenever I drove it….. that does not make for happy motoring. Please get it changed.
 
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