Despite having already posted with a minor problem (P1031), I thought I should really stick with forum etiquette and introduce myself. Cars have been a hobby for the last 40 odd years while electronics is work. I do all my own work on my cars and those of a number of other people and am also involved in importing and exporting cars, primarily from the US to the EU. As I need something to tow a car transporter trailer around Europe, I run and maintain what many consider to be the most unreliable vehicle ever made, a 1998 V8 P38 Range Rover. My partner is a Mercedes fan and runs a 2007 SLK280 with a 3 litre V6.
I first got interested in the A2 when my partner's parents needed a new(er) car. She is originally from Latvia and her parents still live there in a little seaside village about 30 miles north of Riga. The house is less than 500m from the sea and their previous car, a Ford Mondeo, was suffering from terminal tin worm. At the last MoT test (yes, they do have an MoT in Latvia), her father was told that he would pass it this year, just, but it was a toss up whether the engine or the drivers seat would fall through the floor first and he didn't expect to see it the following year. So, we offered to find him a replacement. If you want a good quality LHD car, Holland is the place to go. Cars are almost always well maintained with full service histories and as their road tax charges are horrendously high compared with most other countries, cars are cheap.
As her father is 80 years old (but still very fit and active), we needed to find something that was easy to get in and out of, something you step in and out of rather that drop into and climb out. Initially looked at A Class Mercedes but their reliability record is horrendous, probably the least reliable car Mercedes have ever made. The automatics have gearbox problems, the manuals eat clutches (and it's a subframe out, 8 hour job, to change one) and generally they didn't look a good idea. Then I saw an A2 and thought it looked to be suitable. Found one in a local dealers and took it for a drive just to see what they were like. Despite appearing small, it didn't feel cramped inside, it was quick, quiet and, according to all the reviews, reliable and economical but, above all, it wouldn't rust. So, an A2 it would be.
Found a suitable one in a dealers in Holland, so we flew to Amsterdam and picked it up. A 2000 1.4 in blue with full main dealer service history and 260,000 kms (162,000 miles) on the clock. It drove fine, everything worked and we set off back home. Petrol is cheaper in Belgium than Holland so decided to fill it once we were over the border but by then the fuel gauge was reading nothing. Stopped at the first filling station and found it only took 32 litres to fill. This was after I'd had to resort to the (Dutch) owners handbook to find out how to open the filler flap though..... Drove it to Calais, cruising at 75-80 mph, over on the ferry and then up to home in Cambridgeshire and the fuel gauge still showed it had a quarter tank of fuel left! Took it into my local MoT test station for an MoT pre-test (didn't need a test as it wasn't going to be registered in the UK) and told then to give it a thorough going over. All they could find was a split boot on one of the anti roll bar drop links and the front brake pads getting a bit thin. Bought a set of pads and bunged them in the glovebox for when the time came and fitted a pair of drop links. A week after picking it up from Holland, put it on a trailer behind the Range Rover and took it to Latvia. The A2 isn't common in Latvia and even though the cars there are much the same as anywhere else these days (the former Communist rubbish rotted away long ago) any Audi is considered very upmarket. Partner's parents were chuffed to bits with it (and still are). The day after we got it there, we drove it to their equivalent to a DVLA local office and a couple of hours later it was registered in Latvia.
So then we come to the latest one. A very good friend works as a live-in carer in Devon but lives in Lincolnshire. She works 2 weeks on, two weeks off so every fortnight she does a 5 hour drive to get to work or back. A couple of weeks before Christmas she calls to say there's a problem with her car, it won't do more than 30 mph on a fairly slight uphill. AA told her they couldn't get there for 2 hours so I go to see if I can find the problem. Nothing wrong with the engine, sounds fine, but the cause of the lack of speed was pretty obvious as soon as I tried to drive it, the clutch has burnt out and is slipping. She had been considering changing the car anyway for one that would use less petrol and cost her less in road tax, so asked me to find her something suitable and reliable. Only one choice then, it had to be another A2. There's a lot less to choose from than there had been in Holland and after missing out on a 2000 1.4 in a dealers, found her a 2004 1.6FSI at the right price due to the P1031 fault (which I've still not got to the bottom of). However, as the fault only affects driving at over 3,000 rpm, it shouldn't trouble her at all as she's the driver we all curse for sitting at 60 mph on the motorway. But, I've got a generic OBD code reader, Vagcom, Opcom (GM cars), iCarsoft for Mercedes and a Nanocom for Range Rover if anyone needs diagnostics doing on anything else and lots of experience with importing cars and getting them registered in most European countries.
I first got interested in the A2 when my partner's parents needed a new(er) car. She is originally from Latvia and her parents still live there in a little seaside village about 30 miles north of Riga. The house is less than 500m from the sea and their previous car, a Ford Mondeo, was suffering from terminal tin worm. At the last MoT test (yes, they do have an MoT in Latvia), her father was told that he would pass it this year, just, but it was a toss up whether the engine or the drivers seat would fall through the floor first and he didn't expect to see it the following year. So, we offered to find him a replacement. If you want a good quality LHD car, Holland is the place to go. Cars are almost always well maintained with full service histories and as their road tax charges are horrendously high compared with most other countries, cars are cheap.
As her father is 80 years old (but still very fit and active), we needed to find something that was easy to get in and out of, something you step in and out of rather that drop into and climb out. Initially looked at A Class Mercedes but their reliability record is horrendous, probably the least reliable car Mercedes have ever made. The automatics have gearbox problems, the manuals eat clutches (and it's a subframe out, 8 hour job, to change one) and generally they didn't look a good idea. Then I saw an A2 and thought it looked to be suitable. Found one in a local dealers and took it for a drive just to see what they were like. Despite appearing small, it didn't feel cramped inside, it was quick, quiet and, according to all the reviews, reliable and economical but, above all, it wouldn't rust. So, an A2 it would be.
Found a suitable one in a dealers in Holland, so we flew to Amsterdam and picked it up. A 2000 1.4 in blue with full main dealer service history and 260,000 kms (162,000 miles) on the clock. It drove fine, everything worked and we set off back home. Petrol is cheaper in Belgium than Holland so decided to fill it once we were over the border but by then the fuel gauge was reading nothing. Stopped at the first filling station and found it only took 32 litres to fill. This was after I'd had to resort to the (Dutch) owners handbook to find out how to open the filler flap though..... Drove it to Calais, cruising at 75-80 mph, over on the ferry and then up to home in Cambridgeshire and the fuel gauge still showed it had a quarter tank of fuel left! Took it into my local MoT test station for an MoT pre-test (didn't need a test as it wasn't going to be registered in the UK) and told then to give it a thorough going over. All they could find was a split boot on one of the anti roll bar drop links and the front brake pads getting a bit thin. Bought a set of pads and bunged them in the glovebox for when the time came and fitted a pair of drop links. A week after picking it up from Holland, put it on a trailer behind the Range Rover and took it to Latvia. The A2 isn't common in Latvia and even though the cars there are much the same as anywhere else these days (the former Communist rubbish rotted away long ago) any Audi is considered very upmarket. Partner's parents were chuffed to bits with it (and still are). The day after we got it there, we drove it to their equivalent to a DVLA local office and a couple of hours later it was registered in Latvia.
So then we come to the latest one. A very good friend works as a live-in carer in Devon but lives in Lincolnshire. She works 2 weeks on, two weeks off so every fortnight she does a 5 hour drive to get to work or back. A couple of weeks before Christmas she calls to say there's a problem with her car, it won't do more than 30 mph on a fairly slight uphill. AA told her they couldn't get there for 2 hours so I go to see if I can find the problem. Nothing wrong with the engine, sounds fine, but the cause of the lack of speed was pretty obvious as soon as I tried to drive it, the clutch has burnt out and is slipping. She had been considering changing the car anyway for one that would use less petrol and cost her less in road tax, so asked me to find her something suitable and reliable. Only one choice then, it had to be another A2. There's a lot less to choose from than there had been in Holland and after missing out on a 2000 1.4 in a dealers, found her a 2004 1.6FSI at the right price due to the P1031 fault (which I've still not got to the bottom of). However, as the fault only affects driving at over 3,000 rpm, it shouldn't trouble her at all as she's the driver we all curse for sitting at 60 mph on the motorway. But, I've got a generic OBD code reader, Vagcom, Opcom (GM cars), iCarsoft for Mercedes and a Nanocom for Range Rover if anyone needs diagnostics doing on anything else and lots of experience with importing cars and getting them registered in most European countries.