Things you hate about your A2

Hi peek a boo
One thing you can knock off your 'hate' list :-
The rear number plate light fixing screws tend to rust badly and burst the plastic lens. Replacing the standard screws with stainless steel self tappers usually solves the problem.

Cheers Spike
 
The torque effect to the left when I floor it hard ...

Those bloody wheels will be the death of me (and my wallet at the refurb shop unless i can find the right paint code - anyone?) ...

The CD skipping when i hit a REALLY F...king hard bump ....

Those wheels (I have too mention them again!!!!!!) ....

The temp gauge taking forever to get off cold ....

AUDI servicing costs :eek: ..

Only 4500 rpm .....

the wheels ........ did i mention those wheels..
 
I wish Audi had made an "S" version, with about 150-180bhp, 4 wheel drive, 6 speed 'box, maybe a similar engine or the same as the A3 1.8T Sport Quattro, with about 7 secs 0-60, top speed about 135-140mph.


Even though I have the 1.6fsi version, i still find times when I'm left wanting for some more power.
 
Hard suspension / small wheels, especially over potholes & speed humps.
My elderly mother dislikes sitting in the back - says hard seat / no side support. But she does find it easier to get into/out of.
No centre lap belt in rear seats so can't legally have 5 people in car.
"A" pillar (though got used to it now).
Centre pillar blocks over shoulder view (now use wing mirrors from different angle and mirrors angled right back)
Can be sluggish at low revs (75TDi) (noticable when huge truck heading ones way!)
They were still fitting cassette players in 2004 - LOL.
Black interiors seem to be standard in 2004 with most models - shows up all the dirt. Oh, those grey leather seats/interiors look wonderful.
Almost too small a space between clutch pedal and console for left foot (size 11)
Can't see top of dashboard dials, indicator lights (or hear them with radio on) and 60+ speeds - I'm 6'+ / 187 cm tall.

Small things really. Nothing makes me think I made a wrong choice given the plusses. Is there a perfect car [note no ? mark]
 
Ref the foot rest, i have size 11 feet and have just learnt to tilt my foot onto it, i naturally do this when sitting anyway, one thing i did find a problem was the bump to the right of the accelerator... do i removed it, it's bizarre it merely covers another bit of plastic it has absolutely no function at all
 
Pet hate is trying to drive over small sleeping policeman on my works car park- try to go over them straight on otherwise you knock yourself out banging your skull against the head rest.

Also hate the oil dipstick thing - think I'm going to break what seems to be a thin fagile piece of plastic inserting it about a metre into the car trying to ascertain whether it needs a top up.

Also trying to gauge how much screenwash/water to pour in- plus no warning for low screenwash - got caught out recently - luckily had a bottle of water in car which I threw on the screen from the side window!

Oh and spent about a week trying to figure out where to insert a CD till it dawned on me that I've only got a radio/cassette player - how C--p is that!

Having to tell the kids to slam the doors after years of telling them not to!

Thinking I've slammed the boot shut and oh no I haven't!

Otherwise the coolest car I've ever had and will definately keep for many a year.
Fingers crossed.
 
A pillar, flickering headlights etc

Much as i love the design of the A2, i have a 2001 base model, wish i'd waited n got an SE, gripes i have are: yes, the A pillar, headlamps flicker on main beam (very distracting), u cant have the front windows open without opening the rears otherwise u get horrendous air pressure noises like a helicopter! My power steering seems to fail intermittently making steering super heavy, oh yeah, and the windows mist up at the slightest glimpse of rain, apart from that, i'm loving it
 
Throttle lag. I know I'm an inexperienced driver, but it's very difficult to predict just when and how far to release the clutch, if the throttle response is unpredictable and seems to change as the engine warms up. Great fun at red lights on a climbing hill.
Dipped beams seem to get fainter when accelerating from stop (am I seeing things?)
Tin roof sound when it's raining.
Radio with cassete tape. TAPE? I've stopped using my Walkman 8 years ago! I don't have tapes anymore, given them all away!

As for the rest, I luv my spartan A2 and I keep getting looks of astonishment: "what do you mean that car is 6 years old?!"
 
I'm not an A2 owner (yet), but one thing that bugs me with all Audis and VWs these days is the changing scale and different sized numbers on the speedometres (km/h models). From looking at pictures, mph models don't seem to have this problem. It's especially annoying because there's no real reason for it and no benefit comes with it, it's just more difficult to read. First A4:s still came with normal, easy-to-read speedometres, but I guess at some point someone desided that easy-to-read is no longer the way to go...

I'm still getting one though...
 
Hi Kkallioj, Merry Christmas and welcome to the A2oc.
This just shows how different we all are - Ths speedo markings would not bother me at all. The thing that bugged me with my 2001 TDi was the fan spray washer jets - I changed to the jet spray type as soon as ther became available but I have never heard anyone else complain about them

Let us know how you get on with your search for an A2

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
Hi Kkallioj, Merry Christmas and welcome to the A2oc.
This just shows how different we all are - Ths speedo markings would not bother me at all. The thing that bugged me with my 2001 TDi was the fan spray washer jets - I changed to the jet spray type as soon as ther became available but I have never heard anyone else complain about them

Let us know how you get on with your search for an A2

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...


that is one of the things i hate most...i mean it sprays the bottom of the screen...whats the cure?
 
Things I hate about the A2 (after 5000 miles, 3 months) are:
terrible seats, little back support and don't go low enough
awful suspension and ride
stupid hole in the dash with the concert radio
rattles from the back seat
difficult to open service flap
slightly smug image
some rubbish service from dealers (but also some good)
apart from that its OK, glad I didn't get a golf
 
lyndonbuck said:
Things I hate about the A2 (after 5000 miles, 3 months) are:
terrible seats, little back support and don't go low enough
awful suspension and ride
stupid hole in the dash with the concert radio
rattles from the back seat
difficult to open service flap
slightly smug image
some rubbish service from dealers (but also some good)
apart from that its OK, glad I didn't get a golf
Click to expand...
Well, Audi have won awards for their seat design, from chiropractors and osteopaths, so I can only assume that you have a non-generic back. I must say that my sport seats are great - I can do 600-700 miles in a day and get out of the car feeling fine.

Oh, and how low do you want them to go? I'm 6'2" and they give me plenty of headroom.

The suspension on the sport is very firm, but the SE is supple enough, as long as you're not coming out of a French car - the only way I can get seasick!

The hole in the dash can come in useful for storing cds etc, but I'll admit that Audi should have fitted the Symphony tray as standard. You can get one from Vagparts for about £20 though.

The back seat does have a tendancy to rattle, so just wedge it between the parcel shelf roller with something.

Audi dealers are not necessarily the most helpful bunch, especially as the car is out of production, but if you build up a relationship, it'll pay dividends in the long run.

What's wrong with a little smugness now and again? You're driving around in a fully aluminium car, which is pretty green, costs little to run and has an air of quality to it that other manufacturers can only dream of.

The A2 isn't perfect, if it was, Audi wouldn't have canned it, but now that there are some great second hand buys around, we're starting to see that it's a pretty good stab at the perfect all-rounder - fairly sporty, very practical for a family of up to 4, cheap to run and great to live with, in town or out of town.

Cheers,

Mike
 
things you hate

Yep i agree with Skipton's last comment about good all rounder lots of room and vroom and econ if you want it . Only small car to get my daghters pram in without getting rear seats down.
By the way the rear seat rattles annoyed me over the summer after id taken them out. I took it to my dealer, well it was the summer holidays... they sprayed some grease into the latch opening but this didnt sort it so i decided to spend the afternoon looking into it. I finally found that for me the rattle was caused by the upright section of the rear bench not clasping very tightly to the locking pins. At first i didnt know what to to do about it but as it was only the rattle that annoyed me and not the tiny movement causng it i decided to increase the diameter of the upright bench locking pins. I did this by wrapping a small section of double sided b&q carpet tape around the pins. This tape is thicker than insulation tape and so far has done the trick no rattle s some 4 months after the event . Lyndon and others could give this a go - its so lo tech it cant do any harm you cant see it and you can still get your seats down - regards Paulc
 
The rear seat ratte? That was little poor design. I have some p-profile draught excluder tape between the seat upright and the catch panel. So when the seat back is in place, there is no room for the seat back to move - no rattle.

As for the poor ride, sometime after the new year, I will get a set of Koni FSD dampers installed and will report back here. Obviously it was a custom fit, but it is good enough for a Gallardo, so I have high hopes for it.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'll give the seat a go, its driving me mad. As for the seats, my old BMW has Recaros and they are fantastic, I never get a bad back from them, and they go low enough so I feel as though I'm sitting right down in the car not perched on top of it, if you know what I mean.
 
Things I hate:
  1. Non opening bonnet for dummies.
  2. Dipstick that doesn't work.
  3. A pillars / dangerous visibility.
  4. Rear bench seat that is almost impossible to fold down without two people (retaining clips so stiff).
  5. Harsh suspension.
  6. Creaks and groans.
  7. Poor sound quality from stereo (only 2 speakers)
  8. The arrogance of Audi dealers (believe me they aren't any better with my A6)
  9. The high cost of servicing and repairs.
  10. The unreliability of what is supposed to be a high quality car.
  11. Tiny 25L fuel tank.
  12. Poor torque at low revs / throttle lag.
  13. Harsh sounding engine, especially on starting.


Things I like:
  1. Styling.
  2. Interior space.
  3. Good front seats
  4. The fact that my wife likes it.
 
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