A buyer's question - well lots really!

davzrx8

davzrx8

Member
Hi everyone,

I am a newbie who is looking at buying an A2 but have lots of questions in my quest to buy and would appreciate any advice.

The A2 will be for my wife to run around in but more importantly, to me;) is the A2's ability to carry racing cycles. If I use the Audi roof bars will I be able to carry 3 bikes using thules fork locking type carriers?

Is a boot mounted carrier like a saris bones a good fit ( I took one back as I couldn't get the hooks in as the shut lines are so tight on my car?

I today tried a 1.4tdi 75hp and was greatly disappointed in its performance expecting a surge of torque but nothing of the sort. Is the 90hp tdi much better?

I am considering the 1.6fsi for more hp but I have read on this forum that a cam belt should be done at 40k or 4 yrs which seems very low, is this correct?

Are 1.6 sport's in storm colour less loved, is a metallic colour a better choice?

Apart from checking that everything works electrically and no repaired crash damage is there anything that needs to be checked specifically such as too much black smoke on a tdi meaning the turbo is cooked?

What should i pay for an 04-05 model, either a 90tdi SE/sport or a 1.6fsi/sport. The 52plate 1.4tdi I looked at today with 52k on the clock at a ford main dealer was £5.5k window price.

Any advice/answers to questions greatly appreciated

Andrew
 
Murdo?! Murdo ... ANOTHER one for you ...LOL :D

Hold on mate, he'll be along in a minute



SARGE
 
carrying bikes is almost easier inside. there's lots of info around, if it's not here, it's on the German site. I'll take a quick butcher's and see what I can find.
External carriers (you'll need a boot one if you've got open sky) include basically the Paulchen - €285 - it's not cheap, but it's good and fits nicely.

i find all the TDIs are ... not my thing - but there should be torque at 1800. OTOH, it's only 75hp, which means minimal fuel bills.

There's a bunch of checklists elsewhere, I'll have to go searching....

here you are: http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7493

Bret
 
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Andrew,
Just a wee thought re: carrying bikes on roof bars....
It may or may not be an issue, but when washing or waxing my car's roof I really have to stretch, and I'm over 6 foot tall. So, perhaps you should think about how easy it would be to use a roof mounted cycle carrier with the A2's height in mind?
As I say just a wee thought.
Graham
 
Sarge786 said:
Murdo?! Murdo ... ANOTHER one for you ...LOL :D

Hold on mate, he'll be along in a minute
Click to expand...

Hee Hee! Cheers Sarge - and true to form here I am. :D

Although very biased I would recommend the 90BHP A2, the performance is agile enough once the turbo kicks in - and around £300 will remap the cars ECU to between 110 and 120 and give loads more torque - this will transform the performance of such a light car, and you can't do this to an FSi if you opt for the petrol. The torque from the diesel will always make it feel faster anyway!

Ref bikes, I havent tried putting mine in the car, but if your remove the back seats when you are on a trip and whip off the front wheel (of the bike-LOL)you have a mini van to transport your kit. If you still need seats though, I would look at a boot rack for the bike (dont know anything about this, sorry)Graham is quite right re. the roof bars though- the A2 sits pretty high up.

Theres lots on here about buying and owning an A2 as per Brets thread, I used this to great advantage when buying Ada.

The Colour Storms are good looking cars, I fancied one when I was first looking, however they are based on the SE, (trim levels are better on the Sport) the interior fabric could take a bit of getting used to (colour coded to body colour so you have centre seat panels in Red, Blue, Yellow, Silver or Orange) Colour Storm residuals are lower as well, although that is not often reflected in dealer asking prices who sometimes market the car as a 'limited edition' The red and blue storms are common enough, but you will seldom see silver and yellow and I have never seen an orange one for sale!

The cars you have asked about prices on will be between £5500 and £6500 ('04) in a private sale with average miles for year, add £500 for '05 plate and at least another grand onto all these guides for dealer prices.

If your budget is around the £5 -6 grand mark, here is the pick of the crop in my view!
Personal fave is the third link - I have previously highlighted on the forum as a potential good un, and the dark blue metallic is quite rare!.. Keep us posted as to how you get on and welcome to the club :cool:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2004&vehicleRegLetter=04


http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2003&vehicleRegLetter=52

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2004&vehicleRegLetter=04
 
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re bikes , i wanted the tow bar rack but couldn't justify the cost of fitting a tow bar, I have open sky and have used OE bars and bike racks to carry two bikes around on the roof all year, admittedly i am 6' 5" and i do have to stretch when locking and lifting.
I also have both 75 and tuned 75 (100) A2s and whilst the tuned is pretty impressive on acceleration, on motorway both are more than acceptable. depends what you want, and if you are carrying bikes on roof, mpg does drop quite a bit, so happy to use the 75. Seem to also remember when i was looking that the 75 tdi is pretty good in comparison to the petrol variants anyway.
cheers
Glen
 
ULP said:
Murdo is mostly correct on this - Colour.storm was an option pack on 'base' and SE models, it was never available on the Sport. However, many of Colour.storm SE's do have 17" wheels which is why it appears they are Sport models. The Colour.storm is a personal choice, if you like them then buy one; despite costing over £500 extra they are generally between 10 and 15% cheaper than a comparable 'base' or SE because they are more difficult to sell.
Click to expand...

You learn something new every day on this great forum. I knew that Colour Storm was never available in Sport spec. my reference was to the better spec on Sport models in general. I didnt know you could get Colour Storm on base models, nor did I know that the correct nomenclature was Colour.storm. Cheers Chris ;)
 
ULP:
You can't fit a boot-mounted bike rack to the A2 as it would require the top-mounts to be fitted around the glass -you can see where this is going! Bike racks need to be on the roof (three will fit) or on a tow-bar mounted rack, but be aware the tow-bar is a complex fit and costs £600-700 (a steel cross member, designed to add weight to the back, needs removing as the tow-bar provides the weight instead)
Click to expand...

This isn't quite true - or at least not for all carriers.

A Towbar alone is under €250 + electrics. Fitting is a day-job. I've looked a little into this; Bertelshofer has one at €333 + 80 or so.

The Paulchen DOES NOT require mounts at the top of the glass; you take one of the top screws out of the hinges and the upper attachment points are then screwed in to both sides of the boot lid.

There's a complete explanation here (I'm sorry, it's again in German, I could translate if needed) http://www.a2-freun.de/forum/showthread.php?t=18324 - and there's lots of pics as to what it looks like when built on.

Bret
 
Thanks guys for the detailed replies, really appreciated.

I went back to the stealers to have a look at the height of the A2 I test drove, concerned that it would be a pain to lift the bikes up but it really isn't that much higher than "normal" car and besides the racing bikes are very light (15lbs) so very easy to lift and then with the fact that the boot rack from Germany means that i can put 4 bikes on it, it's a winner!

It looks like due to pressure from the other half that a tdi is out of the window and that a 1.6fsi is going to be purchased. I have sourced two, both in milano red storm SE spec, one with 24k miles (private sale) and one at a dealers with 34K miles and both selling at £6200. The dealership is a volvo and is offering 6 months warranty so that is my preferred choice. What would be a reasonable price to pay with no trade in? dealers always knock off £500 for no trade in, so I was thinking about £5k to £5.4k with some haggling.

Andrew
 
To echo Chris' remarks, the car at TMS looks a good 'un if its the FSi you are going for. Park sensors are a good feature on a high waisted car like the A2, and if you negotiate a deal below £5500 you have yourself what looks a very nice car at a reasonable price. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
Thanks for the encouraging advice.

I have spoken to the volvo stealer today and it sounds a good car but not had the cam belt done. He didn't seem too keen to move on price as he said he had just reduced the price of the car. How long has it been up for sale? If you could let me know that will give me some bargaining power!

The private sale sounded good as well, one lady owner, in as new condition! no pets/children/smokers. Had a new water pump (which failed) and a cambelt at 15500 miles just out of warranty which Audi paid a large contribution to.
The owner was told that to change the water pump the cam belt would have to come off so might as well change the belt, is that correct? Next service due in 10k and has 11 months tax with mot in June.

Tyres are still original, I was told they are still legal but 25k on the fronts, i should imagine they are now worn out or are A2's light on the tyres due to the low weight?

both looking good but the 6 months warranty from the stealers is attractive.

advice greatly appreciated

Andrew
 
Brabazon, the black one looks good but too far for me to travel!

Another question ..... or two (sorry!) How long do the exhaust systems last, will a 4 1/2yr system be due for renewal soon? How much does a system cost?

Cheers

Andrew
 
Havent ever replaced an exhaust on any of my Audis, I have had to replace a bracket on my first A3 at 39k miles and 4 years old as it had corroded.
My cousins P plate A4 (bought new) was sold in late 2006 with 218k miles and the original exhaust.
Moral is (I hope) that you shouldnt have to worry too much about a 4.5 year old exhaust, although the low mileages on the cars you are looking at may result in more condensation due to short runs affecting joints etc.
 
The cam belt should allways be replaced if its removed for any reason, and i had my A2 on the ramp at work on saturday to change my wheels around, had a look at the exhaust still looks in very good condition and thats on a 52 plate

Cheers Phil
 
Hi Ulp,

Regarding the RX8, I have had it from new and now done 27k miles with no problems yet. There is a lot of codswallop printed about the rx8 that they flood regularly, that you need to put oil in them all the time, that they drink fuel etc etc

The very early ones did have a flooding problem in that if you turn the engine off within a few mins it could flood, this was fixed with an ecu flash upgrade and I have never experienced this problem. The engine is designed to have oil injected to lube the rotor seals so it uses about 1ltr per 2K miles, so it costs about £20 in oil per year, no big deal. Fuel....... well it depends on your outlook, I average 27mpg with 32mpg on a run but if I am gunning it that will drop to 22mpg. An A2 owner will probably be horrified by that consumption but other cars which have similar performance ( 350z, tt, boxster etc) will see that as normal, you can't really expect 150mph, 0-60 in 6.4secs and 50mpg, I don't know why the rx8 is singled out in reviews for high fuel consumption when other cars in its class never are?

The biggest cost is now VED, Gordon Brown in his wisdom has taxed the rx to the tune of £400! no matter how many miles travelled. I expect to only do 4-5k miles in the rx once I have an A2 so i will be paying a heavy penalty for a few miles.

That's the bad bits of ownership.... the good bits-
A very practical car, the suicide doors are not gimmicks, they make it very easy to get in and out of the back and there is room for 4 adults albeit a bit claustrophobic in the back with little 'porthole" windows..... my kids love it though. There is a big boot but a narrow opening which can make it difficult to load big things.

The handling and steering are simply amazing, plenty of feel through the steering wheel and with 50/50 weight distribution the balance of the chassis is perfect, I have never driven a car which can change direction so quickly and with such precision, I relish a series of bends as it will flick through them with ease leaving you with a huge grin on your face, you don't even have to go that fast to enjoy the chassis such is the satisfied feeling it leaves you with. One might think that for a car to handle so well the ride will be horribly firm and crashy, that is not the case, the ride is very compliant, some in the rx8owners club complain it is too soft! Many have lowered the car with uprated springs but i am loathe to do that such is the bad state of the uk roads for fear of ruining such a good ride.

The rotary engine is something else, if ever you wanted to feel like your in a race car this engine will do it. It revs and revs and then revs some more..... 9500 revs! and sounds like nothing else, passengers say it reminds them of a jet engine. The beauty of it is that the engine is uncannily smooth, loves being red lined and yet is very tractable, I can potter along in 3rd at 15mph and then floor it and hit 100mph in the same gear! When it hits 7k rpm the world becomes a very blurry place as the third port opens and it really lets fly. The rx is often cited for a lack of torque, but those that say that don't really get how to drive the rx, its no use being in sixth at 2500rpm and flooring it and expecting to take off like a scolded cat, the idea is to use the ultra slick gearbox, drop into a lower gear and then hold on for dear life! For those people who like low down torque there is an engine for them... a diesel or an automatic if changing gear is alien to them, but they miss out on the fun of revving to 9500rpm.

So in a nutshell, a practical car, fantastic engine and chassis which will bring a huge grin to your face every time you drive it, but like every other performance car needs regular feeding of fuel.

There is no time like now to buy one as the market has dropped out of performance cars due to the recession and high VED, which after paying 22k for mine 2yrs ago (at the time had over 50% retained value which has now crashed to 33%) is a tad annoying. Good job I don't want to sell it!

Regarding the purchase of an A2, I am going to look at the private sale on Sunday, if it is as good as i am led to believe and i can agree on a good price I will be an A2 owner.
 
.........actually, the correct designation is colour.storm (note the use of quattro style all lower case lettering) - that is according to the April 2004 Audi A2 Details brochure which came with my 2004 1.6 FSI Imola Yellow colour.storm.:D

The A2 colour.storm was available in europe from late May 2003, and in the UK from September 2003 (so the earliest rhd UK colour.storms would be registered on a '53' plate).

The colour.storm option (because initially it was just that, an extra cost option) comprised factory applied Matt Black painted roof, service flap, exterior mirrors, side rubbing strips, bumper trims and wheel arches. For the interior, all colour.storm models gained the luggage compartment floor cover and additionally, you could specify (no cost option) colour co-ordinated colour.storm interior seat covers in black/yellow, black/red and black/blue. The electronic climate control system was available for the reduced price of £250 if purchased together with the £630 colour.storm option.

The colour.storm option was available on the the 1.4 petrol, 1.6 FSI and the 1.4 TDi (75bhp) models in either Standard or SE trim. Whilst it was not possible to order a colour.storm in Sport trim straight off the price list, the Audi Exclusive 7J x 17 'nine-spoke' alloys with 205/40 R 17 tyres and sports suspension from quattro GmbH as fitted to A2 Sport models could be specified as an option on your Standard or SE trim colour.storm if you so wished!.

When Audi undertook the promotional campaign of the colour.storm in europe in February/March 2003, they used 14 cars (all were 1.6 FSI models with the 17" wheels and sports suspension package) painted in the following colours; Misano Red Pearl, Imola Yellow, Sprint Blue Pearl and Papaya Orange.

Imola Yellow and Sprint Blue Pearl were made available on all A2 models, not just the colour.storm. Misano Red Pearl was (I believe) only available as a colour.storm. Papaya Orange was never offered as an A2 paint colour -to get an A2 colour.storm (or any other A2 for that matter!) in Papaya Orange you would have had to special order it using the Audi Exclusive paint option (about £1500 I think) which is why you are unlikely to see one for sale! I suspect the lhd Audi promotional tour cars are the only Papaya Orange colour.storm cars ever built:cool:.

In 2004 Audi made the colour.storm a specific model in the A2 range rather than just an extra cost option, and in addition to the Misano Red Pearl, Imola Yellow and Sprint Blue Pearl paint finishes you could now have a Silver Metallic colour.storm.

I brought my colour.storm with me to New Zealand when I emigrated here last summer. The A2 was never sold in NZ, the importer brought in two for assessment and decided they would not be able to sell them in sufficient numbers to make it worth their while financially, so as far as I know mine is one of only three A2's in the country. Needless to say, about 99.9% of the population have absolutely no idea what it is!
 
there are a few papaya orange ones around; one of the board members of the German club has one, there was one in Berlin until recently and it does pop up occasionally.

Bret
 
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