Shed of the week: yup, the A2's on Pistonheads

Just go on the PH website, it's the main article (for now).
http://www.pistonheads.com/

SOTW is all about buying bargain basement cars for a grand or less so it's not a ringning endorsement, as such, in that way.

Cheers,
Hedge
 
Not a bad article and written by someone who seems to have taken the time to find out rather than just use the old clichés.

The ideal thing for us would be for us all to get our favourite A2 BEFORE the rest of the crowd find out just how good they are.

An A2 in reasonable condition is already holding its price well, with the potential for a small increase in value for well maintained A2s in the near future (due to supply diminishing as they get written off through accidents etc. and demand increasing due to people realising just how good they are).

I am pretty sure that I have personally created 10 new A2 owners just from friends and family and NONE have regretted the decision and they all still have them.

(I am just going to take off my "rose tinted glasses" now)

Steve B
 
Just dropped in to see if anyone had posted this after spotting it myself. The A2 seems to divide opinion on PH but it seems like a good write up. Shed of the week is more about finding cars you wouldn't expect to get for a grand, than labelling any old motor as a 'shed'!

Cheers
 
the article title is a little misleading... and without reading the article youd be forgiven for thinking it was a car-bashing exercise, but on further reading the author actually seems to stand up for the a2
to echo the author, and steve b's comment about value, it still refreshing to hear that a 12yr old 1.4 diesel with 100k + on the clock can still be considered in the £2k + mark - not bad considering the equivalent corsa / fiesta would be in the £1k ballpark
 
problem is once the car is advertised on SOTW prices tend to fall:( happened with my honda accord type R a few years back
 
It is quite a nice article. Confirms to me, that I'll try my damnedest to NEVER sell my A2. I always wanted one, but was a student when they came out, didn't have the income to buy one then, and was happy for many years with little and overpowered french cars and later big silky smooth petrol straight sixes.

The A2 is a car for me at this time in life, and for these economic times now it has depreciated to more affordable levels.

I'm surprised more people don't have A2s, but presume people are put off by the age of the vehicles now and that they still hold their value. Most want a much newer car to impress their peers.

On a slight tangent, has anyone experienced difficulty getting breakdown cover for their A2 based on its age?

My old BMW, a '98, was the most reliable car we had and did about 20k miles without issue. In the 2 years we had it, it rescued the wife and son when her Honda (of all things) broke down. When the wife was purchasing breakdown cover for herself and me, the BMW was too old to be included in the policy!

Anyway, I think the materialistic mentality most people have in this country will prevent, in the main, our beloved A2's price appreciating.
 
I'm not sure we can use the phrase "A2s hold their value" in a thread about "shed of the week" - ie. an A2 that can be found for under 1k?
Let's not forget, the A2s were considered very expensive relative to their size when they came out, which is a contributory factor to their ultimately poor sales and early demise as a marque, especially compared to the Merc A classe.
 
I think it's still a valid point. I spent 3k on a 12 yr old car. If it had been an A3, and not an A2 I could have got a car much, much newer vehicle.
 
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Like anything life true value is what people are prepare to pay. You can stumble across cheaper a2's occasionally as people class them as a 12 year old car to shift on. Sentiment always adds value too which frequently leads to vendors sometimes over valuing a car. There as a seller near me routinely shifting these for upwards of 4-5k.

The shed of the week has issues, and like any car with engine management light on it could be simple, or more pricey than cost of car. Tragically as cars approach the 1k mark they become more valuable in spares.

I for one love these cars for the ahead of their time engineering and still look at ease in the modern day market. Mine is used for a 150mile drive into the depths of Wales every week and I have to say it does it with ease and the driving postion is very comfortable indeed.

I prefer spending money on a car that meets my needs and as much as I love the idea of a brand spanker or a young car as I approach 40 the practicality and bang for your buck sways me more.
 
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My grandad always used to say that everyone knew the price of things but very few knew of the value of them.

Andy B
 
dan_b said:
I'm not sure we can use the phrase "A2s hold their value" in a thread about "shed of the week" - ie. an A2 that can be found for under 1k?
Click to expand...

Hi Dan, I said a REASONABLE A2 will hold its value. Of course you can always find a shed for under £1,000, but they are an exception.

If you can find a tdi that is in useable condition for under £1,000 I will take TEN!!!!

A reasonable TDi is £2k all day long. Yes there are one or two for around £1,500 but they need work or have been slightly neglected and even these are difficult to find.

So I stand by my claim that a REASONABLE A2 will hold its value (providing of course that you didn't over pay when you bought it)
And, of course not including my project which has lost £15,000 in value already!!! (but that is just me and my crazy cars)

There will always be exceptions, some underpriced and several over priced, but that applies to ANY car model.

Steve B
 
andybaggies said:
My grandad always used to say that everyone knew the price of things but very few knew of the value of them.

Andy B
Click to expand...

To quote good old Oscar Wilde:

"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn't know the market place of any single thing".
 
I Just found this post on pitsonheads and thought i would post but happy to see it is already here yes
a good write up it made me laugh when the guy says when you look in the rear view mirror the rear glass makes other cars look like A2's
in 9 years of ownership i never noticed that before ..... I never thought i would hear it being called Shed of the Week LOL :)
 
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