Audi A2

[inconsistant]

With the V70 sold and a few months of being down to a2car family and using the Mini convertible for all duties it’s unsurprisingly not working as a family car. You know your fleet strategy is flawed when you have to use a 41yr old Porsche for trips to the DIY store & for tip runs! The 924 is now safely tucked away in a garage for the winter so there’s space in our life (and on the drive) for a replacement for the V70. 

 ULEZ is coming to our neighbourhood at some point in the not too distant future so we need a ULEZ compliant, petrol car. I’m done with diesels.

Needs space for 4 adults, fuel efficient, easy and comfortable to drive around town and longer distance. And cost as little as possible but also be reliable. But what to get?

 Another V70?

https://autoshite.com/topic/44824-volvo-v70-phase-3-2007-2016-what-do-we-think

No.

Alfa 159 estate or Honda Accord estate?

https://autoshite.com/topic/48549-no-longer-fancy-an-alfa-159-i-fancy-a-2007-honda-accord-am-i-mad/

No.

 Volvo V50?

https://autoshite.com/topic/51721-volvo-v50-or-not?

No.

 BMW 3 series estate?

https://autoshite.com/topic/47628-communal-bmw-e9-3-series-thread/?do=findComment&comment=2573317

No.

 So, none of those then. But what DO you replace an awesome V70 with? 

Well, I’ve had a fancy breakfast (a fluffy coffee and a chocolate muffin that's been sitting since yesterday), had the first of many poos, and been dropped at the station.  Hold tight and let’s see if this all works out…

[inconsistant]

The story so far….

Nice and warm for a change  this morning, 

bus to station…

…train to that London.

Filthy Clap Junc breakfast

[inconsistant]

Onto the Basingstoke Express. Coach 2 is a good coach

[inconsistant]

Basingstoke achieved, Fellow Shiter met.

Now to check out the car…

[PicantoJon]

TRAINS!

Looks like you caught one of Network Rail's railhead treatment trains in yer pic at Clapham Junction, behind the abhorrent lump of Siemens finest* plastic.

Train wibble aside, looking forward to seeing what quality motoring appliance you're going to burden yourself with.

[outlaw118]

Iz on tenterhooks.

Chodspeed Rich!

[garethj]

This will be inspiring!  Or involve a call to the RAC, either really.

[inconsistant]

Business done. Family conveyance achieved!

 

[High Jetter]

Was not expecting that!

[Lacquer Peel]

A2, excellent 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Just now, Lacquer Peel said:

A2, excellent 

Kent? Thought he'd gone down Basinstoke way?  
Safe journey home

[garethj]

Excellent!  Please keep buying cars I want 👍

[inconsistant]

Pez shots

 

 

Thanks to @Sir Chocolate Teapot for making it nice and straight forward.  

[inconsistant]

Smol car shocker!

[garethj]

What’s the spec?  How fast will it go, mistah?

[inconsistant]

It's the 1.6 fsi which by all accounts is the one to not get. But it's Ulez compatible and 110bhp felt easier to   live with than the 75bhp the petrol 1.4s have. Goes nicely. Brisk rather than fast. 

It's SE spec which means it's top of the range, but is only reasonably well equipped. Aircon, central locking, CD player, but not a lot else. Wind up rear windows ftw!

It feels like an incredibly well built car, and it's very clever. Completely wasted on the car buyers of the 2000s obviously who avoided them like the plague and all bought Minis because they're more chintzy. 

Way, way bigger inside than you could possibly imagine from the overall size. It sounds like a cliche but it's proper Tardis.  I honestly can't workout how they did it. 

You think it's amazing that Britain has had 3 Prime Ministers this year? That's nothing, this A2 has had 4 Autoshite owners this year. 

[Carlosfandango]

These are fantastic cars. So few of them about now. Basically A8 standard in a smaller form. Well wear dude. Here’s mine  

 

CFD 

[Dj_efk]

Nicely done - here’s mine!

 

I take it you’ve checked out A2OC.net? Cracking forum.

[inconsistant]

Great looking A2s! Love that dark red and those alloys with the round holes really suit the A2. Might have to see if I can get hold of a set.

I’ll add more details soon but for now here are some more photos.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Great to see this is still alive and serving the AS community !

[GagaStan]

Looks amazing! I’ve always lusted after one of these (serious) but they’re completely unobtainium down here.

Truly the thinking man’s family car, well bought indeed! Have fun with your sexy single pantograph wiper action 😎

[Dj_efk]

So does your EML come on and then go off as it should when you start it? These are notorious for the light coming on, with some “interesting” solutions being applied by previous owners to extinguish it involving a piece of black tape!

[inconsistant]

After a bit of a Christmas delay here's some more A2 facts and ownership info for all you boozy dullards who need a bit more holiday reading. This car has 105,000 miles, looks like it's been well cared for in its early life, and although it has passed through a few Autoshitters over the last year and has some areas of tattiness, it's generally in good shape and has clearly had some time and money spent on it sorting out a few issues and keeping on top of servicing and maintenance. 

 

Before getting into this car’s issues here’s some thoughts on what A2s are like based on the first couple of hundred miles/half tank of driving. It’s like our old 2000 A6, but with a less chunky feeling and you sit higher up and can see out of it better. The doors in particular are noticeably thinner and feel a bit flimsy. It’s like my dad’s old 2002 Audi TT but less sexy and taller and squarer. I think this era, early 2000s, was a great time for Audi, they produced some really good cars and I’m a big fan. 

 

The A2 idles, revs and pulls nice and smoothly. Really good stereo, everything is simple and in the right place. Has a few bells and whistles but is not that well specced for an SE top of the range model. I think there was probably a long options list on these from what I can tell, and these are what Audi made their money on. Or rather, these are what enabled Audi to lose a bit less money on some well optioned A2s. 

It’s nice and easy to drive, it feels bigger than it is, but you notice how narrow it is when you meet a car going along a country lane and have to squeeze through. The steering is a bit light and could do with a bit more feel. Way bigger than expected inside. We had 4 adults in it and it was fine. There’s tons of room for its size. I’m 6ft and need the drivers seat about half way forward to be comfortable. Loads of head room. Behind me is room for another 6ft adult in the rear. The rear foot well is deeper that the fronts, so there’s plenty of room for legs & feet.

My nephew has a same colour, similar age Polo and it’s interesting putting 4 adults in that to compare the space. The A2 is genuinely some sort of magic. I don’t know how it’s so different to the Polo inside for pretty much the same size outside. The boot is about the same size as the Polo, but the floor pulls up to reveal un ‘unterboot’ big enough for a few small bags of shopping. The unterboot floor lifts up too and reveals the battery, jack and associated breakdown gubbins. 

 

 

 

 

The back seats fold individually, flip up against the fronts, and their special trick is that they can be removed completely.

I’m going to see if I can get 2 mountain bikes with the wheels off in there, I reckon it’s possible.

 

 

 

 

The 1.6 is rough sounding but fairly nippy even with 4 adults who had spent the previous 48 hours stuffing our faces with Christmas food and various strong boozes. On start up the first 2-3 secs gives you a diesel clatter start up noise, then it quickly settles into being a petrol engine. It’s not a smooth or nice sounding engine but has a fair bit of torque and revs nicely up to the red line when needed. 

Vision is very good all round, even out of the rear where I expected the spoiler half way up the rear window to obscure vision, but it doesn’t really. No rear wiper is a bit of a pain, as road dirt cakes the lower rear window below the spoiler and there’s no way to clean it off on the move. The A pillars are bit of an obstruction and take some getting use to as the drivers pillar in particular obscures the view to the right on approaching roundabouts and junctions. Wing mirrors are a bit small, or maybe odd shaped. Car tax is cheap (£180), Insurance is expensive (£400 vs £200 for identical policy for our Mini of the same age)

It was raining a lot when I bought it and drove home. One of the first things I noticed was that puddles/laying water splashes hitting the underside of the car at speed sound different to other cars. It was also nice to not have to worry about hunting for rust on a 20 year old used car. The underneath is pretty much as new. Felt a but unsettling.

And finally a dull fact for all you VW/Audi/NSU fans, the A2 was of course built at the old NSU factory in Neckarsulm, the same factory that built the Porsche 924. 

[Rustybullethole]

Small yet tall. Useful. 
Nice arse too. 

[inconsistant]

And now onto THIS Audi A2. As I said, looks to have been well looked after in its early life, and recently treated to some love and money.

Last year it had a new high pressure fuel pump, 4 new tyres and a full cam belt kit (2x belts, 2x tensioners 2x idlers and a water pump), a replacement EGR hose and new springs and shocks. Since these are all things to look out for when buying a used A2 I felt reasonably confident about the prospect of owning it. So, all good so far...

 The jeopardy is that the ABS warning light is on, it gives three beeps as you drive away, and the MOT is due in February 2023, 8 weeks away. 

Having had a look at the car and a chat with the seller it appears that when the springs/shocks were replaced earlier in the year this may have damaged the ABS wiring in the front wheelarches, as both sides show some damaged wiring. Hopefully, fingers crossed, some replacement wiring and maybe an ABS sensor or two will extinguish the ABS light and all will be fine. 

Then I will just have the EML light to worry about. Yes, like all of these 1.6FSI A2s, the Engine Management Light is on. It comes on when you turn the key, then goes out, and then shortly after firing up comes back on again. POs suggested the code for this shows a faulty Oil level Sensor is doing this. It’s due an oil change very soon so hopefully a replacement Oil Level Sensor (about £20) at the same time will extinguish that light. At least for the time being…

  

So they’re they two main ‘faults’ and other than these it’s a really nice car. Not perfect inside or out but it feels really well built and has a solid durable feel., and I hope will be easy to live with and drive. We’ll see! 

To Do list:

ABS wire/sensor damage drivers side

 

ABS wire/sensor damage passenger side

 

Looks like it’s sitting a little too high. Need to investigate?

 

Boot struts are bit weak, only hold the boot up when fully open

 

Only has one key and a different one for the ignition (possibly replaced at some point. Need 2^nd set of key/s

 

Glove box handle broken.  Have handle here but unsure whether it’s fixable or something is broken and needs a new glove box 

 

Missing cigar lighter need replacement 

 

Passenger window switch loose in door, pulls up when switch pulled

 

Boot lock bit of plastic trim needs refitting

 

Looks like it fits over this hole but need to work out how.

Spoiler repainted badly, WHY??? Surface is cracked/crazed. Remove and replace spoiler? Remove with paint stripper?

 

 

 

Front fogs panel repainted badly Replace panel? Remove with paint stripper?

Alloys need a refurb. They're livewithable but the centre caps are a bit scruffy, looks like they're plastic and moisture has got under the lacquer. Not sure if refurbabable or replacements? Or ignore, obvs!

 

All these photos make it look well scruffy but it's really not. I can live with most of the cosmetic stuff but I do think with cars that if I can make big difference for small cost then it's nice to make them look a bit tidier. 

[New POD]

Interesting side window tints. My OCD can't cope with that 

[inconsistant]

Its odd because it hardly shows in real life, I didn’t notice it until the photos. 

[Dave_Q]

Definitely worth getting a VCDS cable, will help with your ABS and engine lights.

I am using a clone version from this marketplace seller. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/852878299242793/

The real deal is a bit more.

https://m.gendan.co.uk/product_VCV23.html

Can do everything a dealer can and works on any old windows laptop.

[SiC]

21 hours ago, inconsistant said:

I think this era, early 2000s, was a great time for Audi, they produced some really good cars and I’m a big fan. 

It was also when they got a hell a lot flimsier. I say this as a 2003 TT owner where the passenger window switch has fallen out and only opens them not closes! 

Btw these early FSI lumps much prefer Super Unleaded and really don't like 95 octane. 

[Sigmund Fraud]

ABS light is clearly the wiring, when that is repaired the light will simply go off and stay off (the system self-tests after every start).

EML was due to an EGR flow code when I owned the car, hence the EGR pipe replacement (done during Alan Prost's tenure). A VCDS scan will help you work out if it's still the same code (in which case the valve itself may be to blame), or whether there's another issue. The good news is that the car's age means a lit EML will not be an MoT failure anyway.

Oh, and get yourself on the A2OC forum. There is loads of know-how on there, and it's also the best place to source A2-specific parts at reasonable prices.