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Vantagemech

Vantagemech

Member
Evening all,
Looking at buying an A2, primarily as I will be doing 400 miles a week next year and dont want to either destroy my BMW or (its a 2.5i) my bank balance...
Looking at a tdi as its a bit quirky, sounds like it is reasonably comfy on a motorway and the most important bit its the only small car my wife likes (She has a 07 mk2 TT)
Having read the forums for a few weeks it looks like a 1.4tdi 75 is the way to go.
You can probably guess from my forum name I am a mechanic (though mainly race cars) so working on them isnt really an issue
Ive looked in all the usual places, AT/ eBay .FB Marketplace but all the cars are "oop nurth" or 1.6fsi's

Are there any hidden gems down south (Im in the Hastings / Rye area) as I really dont want to travel a 400 mile round trip for nothing!!

Thanks

Steve
 
Hi Steve, welcome to the forum. There's usually some TDi's about for sale, have a look in the Market. You may need to pay the joining fee to see the Market.
I have a TDi that I will send you information on, with a little TLC I think it will be right up your street!


Sarge
 
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Hi Andy,
yes spotted that, but did the MOT history check and the advisory list looked eye watering - I know from being in the trade advisories never get done on a sales car :) But thanks for looking. Sarges one looks very tempting...
 
Hiya. Funny that you're doon sooth and think that they are all up north, which is where I'm looking and think they are all down there!
 
Vantagemech said:
Hi Andy,
yes spotted that, but did the MOT history check and the advisory list looked eye watering - I know from being in the trade advisories never get done on a sales car :) But thanks for looking. Sarges one looks very tempting...
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are sorted with Sarge then. Sarge's knowledge of A2's is immense, just click on the links in his footer post for a flavour, to say nothing of his reputation for honesty and integrity.

I assume you have also checked out the TDI in Cobham, seemed better value than the Hove one, apart from the owner not very keen to buy new tyres!

Andy
 
I saw the ad Andy, but there was no contact details on it! It looks like it was for sale 30+ days ago so probably the ad has expired?
 
ok, so finally joined the club, picked up a 02 1.4tdi sport 75 yesterday off a young lad,Cameron , pretty sure is on here as he still has an A2.
Not perfect, think I'd have to pay twice that if it was.
Small list of issues but nothing too awful.
Worst in my eyes is the wear on switchgear. The light switch is well worn and the climate buttons blistered.
I see various hard/soft touch references - are there any units that swap straight in or is it live with it, decal kit or rob from a used unit? Would an A3 climate control go in an for example?
The radio volume is tempermental, but also has wear so will either replace or upgrade - options on a postcard please! What are the options for replacement radios? Bluetooth connectivity? Previously Ive had cables into cd changed input under the aux function, my E91 has a cheap and cheerful bluetooth adaptor that does the trick. Maybe just replace like for like, I think its a concert in there now.
Ordered a new fuel flap release button as its broken - still good you can get the fuel flap open easily otherwise.
Will refurb the wheels when I can be asked, probably stick a set of rainsport3 on it, unless anyone has other recommendations.
One thing that did happen was it dropped boost once, I restarted and it cleared. Didnt do it again for the remainder of the journey. A quick read suggests overboost either a leaking pipe or intercooler cracked. I will investigate after xmas as its going ok at the moment.

Ride wise it wasnt as harsh as I was expecting. Sure its stiff, but Id say my BM with RFT's was far worse for crashing and banging and even tramlining.
Wife (who said she liked the look of the car) even asked for a drive, which is unheard of. I can see she will be nicking it if Im not careful...
 
Welcome to the joys of A2 Ownership :) I'll try to answer some of your questions below:
  • You will have the later switchgear on the car, which means soft touch plastics. In simple terms this means they wear REALLY easily to the touch, so unfortunately it's rare to find good examples of these. Cheaper option is to trawl the Marketplace here for good switchgear, most of the actual switches are easily swap outable for other A2 parts, but unfortunately A3 or A6 buttons aren't compatible. Yes you can swap the actual buttons from those cars, but this is quite a faff. There are guides available in the forum to do these if you want to go down that route. One thing to bear in mind if you end up replacing with Hard Touch buttons, they have a darker, more glossy finish to the soft touch so if you have severe OCD (like a lot of the A2OC members) this may well jarr :)
  • Radio (provided it is a standard Audi one) is a quick and cheap swap out with working part. Concert (most likely) are around the £25 - £40 dependent on condition.
  • Alternatives are not do-able with Single Din, but the concensus of opinion on the forum is don't do it, as they look awkward in the slot (you have to use spacers and all kinds of things to get the fascia right) and the reliability of the radio is pretty poor.
  • For BlueTooth X-CarLink do a pretty good adaptor (not too bad at rougly £80-£100 dependent on features) which works with the standard stereos. My wife have this feature and loves it, as it streams directly from whatever is coming from your phone (SatNav, Music, Internet Radio etc.) No cables involved.
  • The wheels if you have the 17" Sport alloys, and wanted a slightly softer ride, perhaps have a look at the A1 alloys that @Keithb is selling, this would provide what you want, are in really excellent condition for less than you would probably pay for getting the 17" ones refurbed :)
  • Finally, boost... I would say do what you are already doing, and monitor performance. See if you can get a VCDS scan as that might give some clue as to what caused the blip.
 
I think Jeremy has covered everything. I used the stickers on the concert ii radio/ cd and on the climate buttons and were a very good match colour wise to the worn soft touch ones, but my volume control became iffy so bought a faulty A3 version and robbed the display board and the better buttons from it and fitted into my unit, ideal time to fit a blue tooth, aux usb adapter when stereo is already out. The sound from the genuine Audi stereos is far better than most aftermarkets so keep original only exception is a Bose retrofit but not cheap. Later I swapped out the buttons on climate for an early A4 unit circa 2000 and being hard touch yes they are black instead of grey. Originally was not keen on the colour difference but now think the slight contrast actually improves the look. As for the lights switch easy enough to replace but good second hand quite rare. Why not fit an auto head light switch to bring the car up to date? For used parts check the Market place, small one off fee to use, or try contacting some of our EXCELLENT parts suppliers from vehicles they break.
Down side think your missus has just found her new xmas present:eek:
 
Welcome welcome!

I’m more of a cheapo and bodger than is good for me (better on my pocket though) and did use Humrol acrylic Matt paint and some plasti-dip to ‘sort’ the scratches on the switches and cup holders etc. It’s not perfect (except in the dark) but is good enough that it’s not something I notice at all often.

I put in a Connects2 for an aux in. It lacks the Bluetooth on the version I got but was super simple. Replacing the head unit is apparently a real faff with power supply, auto switch off and powered aerials. I think the audiophiles tend to go for the xcar link. There are some nice spaces to hide the kit and make it all pleasantly invisible.

I got the auto headlight mod. It took a little work but is very worth it I think. A replacement unit from a hard touch or better soft touch is easier and, again, model paint was good enough for me.

Welcome again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks guys, I have vagcom on my laptop as well as a Autocom - so will pop out in a bit and look for codes.
I dont really want to fit an aftermarket stereo, just I would like to connect my phone to the car. Had an XcarLink on my Accord a few years ago and that worked well, though with a similar unit in an HRV I found that audio in was just a couple of wires and 10 mins to plug it in.
I have an alternative idea that might be possible, if I can refinish the front of the switchgear with perhaps a hard wearing paint, I have a friend that runs a lazer etching company that might be able to remove the paint for the button id. Just a thought.
Ive just got back from a short drive to the woods with the dogs, a fairly steep 2nd gear climb 3 up didnt cause the boost to drop out which I was sort of expecting as it was under about a heavy a load as its had so far. Will keep an eye on it .
 
Just be careful with the laser that you do not go all the way through the switch. If you can pick up cheap replacements I would replace think I paid £20 for the cd/radio from an A3 and £15 for the A4 climate panel. I think the 2 sets of stickers cost that or more! My adapter fits into the cd changer socket on the back of the player and the box sits in the dash cubby as it is not much use for anything else.
 
The radio has an issue where the volume shoots back to zero as you rotate clockwise unless you push the button sideways. I'd assume its wear in the rheostat and even though Id have a go, if theres one for £30 without the wear Id rather swap it out.
 
I had that problem with mine and also my display was failing. Bought an A3 unit off ebay that had no code. Note the A3 fascia is different in size to the A2. I took the front off both units, swapped the front board which contains the display and all the buttons, then popped out the worn buttons from A2 fascia and replaced them with ones from the A3. Now could read all of the display volume worked correctly and buttons all excellent. I know someone one here has just replaced the volume pot but can't remember who it was. Swapping the fronts over is easy only some small screws / torques.
 
One rather concerning feature - or lack of, is theres no eml... Several codes in the ecu but no light on the dash...
doesnt illuminate on ignition on or when Autocom is reading or clearing faults.....
 
You sir are a star, even mechanics get caught out :) Worst one was buying what looked like a mint HRV (real time 4wd) only to find some unscrupulous fiend had removed the rear diff and prop.... £400 off the price and a call to the breaker solved the issue!

Just spotted the blistering on the climate controls is down to - them already being decals. Almost peeled one of them off.
 
Just remember when it comes to diagnostics, the A2 is very early as its computer was designed 20 years ago so in the case of the glow light it can indicate various errors including brake light problems - yep weird I know. Try and find cheap donor units with good buttons and just replace them.
 
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