Prospective buyer looking for first foray into the world of A2 ownership

Shippers84

Member
Hi!

I have a long-standing interest in the A2 and now find myself with an excuse to purchase one. I'm looking for a second car for our small family of three. Its main duties will be a very short daily commute to work for my wife, the weekly shop, and running our son to nursery and back. Ideally looking for a 1.4 petrol. It doesn't need to be in mint condition cosmetically as not only will it be the first car my better half will own and drive daily, it will also be occupied on an almost daily basis by our often grubby fingered offspring. As it will be used to ferry about the two people most dear to me, I would prefer to buy one that I can be reassured has been owned and looked after mechanically by somebody with a keen interest in the model.

If there's anything I should know on our quest to find our first A2 please treat my level of knowledge as 'straight-up beginner'. Aside from the .gov MOT history check website becoming my latest browser bookmark, I haven't much in-depth knowledge of what to avoid.

To this end, if anyone on here is selling a 1.4 petrol that can be had for sub £1500 I would be very grateful to hear from you. I'm based in the West Midlands but happy to travel to view prospective purchases.

Thanks in advance!

Andy
 
Welcome aboard Andy :) You've definitely picked the right engine for your A2's intended duties, but you'll soon find you enjoy driving it a lot more than just as a local runabout - be prepared for the makeup of your fleet to change!

You'll find cars offered for sale by club members on our Marketplace, to access this click on your username in the black menu bar, select Account Upgrades, there's only the one, there's a £2 one-off fee via PayPal and you're done ?
 
Welcome aboard Andy :) You've definitely picked the right engine for your A2's intended duties, but you'll soon find you enjoy driving it a lot more than just as a local runabout - be prepared for the makeup of your fleet to change!

You'll find cars offered for sale by club members on our Marketplace, to access this click on your username in the black menu bar, select Account Upgrades, there's only the one, there's a £2 one-off fee via PayPal and you're done ?
Thanks very much for the welcome! All sorted with the account upgrade, thanks for the advice.
 
Hi Andy,
Pre 2003 had cast front wishbones but later cars were pressed steel. They do corrode very badly. Worth a visual check. Replacement can be £350 fitted.
The BBY engined petrols have coil packs that can fail and cause missfires. Egr valves can be come clogged causing the EML to come on. They can be cleaned along with the throttle body.
Check the sills of all cars as they are often jacked up in the wrong place damaging floors and crushing brake pipes.
If it sounds like a diesel engine it may well have piston slap - walk away.

James.
 
Hi Andy,
Pre 2003 had cast front wishbones but later cars were pressed steel. They do corrode very badly. Worth a visual check. Replacement can be £350 fitted.
The BBY engined petrols have coil packs that can fail and cause missfires. Egr valves can be come clogged causing the EML to come on. They can be cleaned along with the throttle body.
Check the sills of all cars as they are often jacked up in the wrong place damaging floors and crushing brake pipes.
If it sounds like a diesel engine it may well have piston slap - walk away.

James.
Hi James,

Thanks very much for the pointers, all duly noted!

Andy
 
Welcome Andy - used to live in the opposite side of Birmingham, Erdington but also commuted to Solihull for a while so not far off from where you are :)

Here's some threads that helped me recently as a first time buyer too

and once you get one (or you could browse now too)

This place is an online thesaurus, so careful, it's addictive!
 
There is a petrol A2 for sale near me in Carmarthen, advertised on Facebook. Happy to go and have a look for you. I have no connection to the seller.
 
One thing that you should know is that the sport models do not come with the false floor as standard and this limits your ability to have the Audi spare wheel set up. It’s fine if you just want to sling a wheel in the boot, but it will be on show and not secured.
If you find one with a open sky (panoramic) roof, it will probably be broken, but this can be fixed :)
 
Welcome Andy - used to live in the opposite side of Birmingham, Erdington but also commuted to Solihull for a while so not far off from where you are :)

Here's some threads that helped me recently as a first time buyer too

and once you get one (or you could browse now too)

This place is an online thesaurus, so careful, it's addictive!
I have friends over that way, small world! Thanks for the links, really useful!
 
There is a petrol A2 for sale near me in Carmarthen, advertised on Facebook. Happy to go and have a look for you. I have no connection to the seller.
Hi Dave. That is a very kind offer - as long as it’s not putting you out in any way at all? How would you want reimbursing for fuel/time? It looks like it has a fairly solid MOT history and it’s about where our budget sits.
 
I have a small project just about to finish well within your budget. It is a 52 plate SE with an excellent spec, Black leather heated sports seats. Bose. Factory cruise, Winter pack, full DIS, recent clutch. etc etc. The full reveal will be when I get round to taking pics
 
I have a small project just about to finish well within your budget. It is a 52 plate SE with an excellent spec, Black leather heated sports seats. Bose. Factory cruise, Winter pack, full DIS, recent clutch. etc etc. The full reveal will be when I get round to taking pics
Sounds interesting!
 
Just a quick note to thank everyone that very kindly got in touch to offer advice, this forum is such a breath of fresh air! Very happy to announce the search is over and I made my maiden voyage in our new-to-us A2 yesterday. Looking forward to many happy miles of motoring!
 
Hi Simon, so far, so good I think, with the exception of my clumsiness. I dropped the wiper arm last week whilst washing the beast and I’ve cracked the windscreen :-(
 
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