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[Audi A2] Oops....eBay purchase...


PeterS
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Seem to have bought an A2... ☺️ Always been intrigued by them, and drove a few as courtesy cars when they were current... In fact we did get as far as test driving one in 2002, but bought the then new MINI instead. Even in Cooper trim with a shed load of extras it worked out around £5k cheaper!! But I liked the slightly left field, and wilfully unconventional approach taken by Audi. So, £850 later...

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Well it was tall and narrow before that became more usual, and it's aluminium construction and light(ish) weight is sort of where car design/construction is nowadays. That and the fact you can't open the bonnet!! Squint and it looks a bit like an i3 ☺️

Edited by PeterS
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It's best not to look too closely...it passes the 3 metre test, but look too close and you'll see the lacquer peel ☺️ Good service history, interior in nice condition, climate control and all electrics still working!

Oh, and you can add it to the myAudi app which will recognise the VIN and pull up the cars details. The app can't connect to the car though

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I am not quite sure what was wilfully unconventional about them, but £850 has to be a bargain.

 

Try one - the driving position is just odd!  It always makes me laugh when something like a Mercedes B Class comes up from the DVLA as '5dr van'.  But thats how the A2 actually feels.  Windscreen miles in front of you, gearstick on the floor, very little centre console between you and the passenger side, big square doors, and you step rather than climb into the drivers seat.

 

A mate insisted I drove his, a remapped 1.4 TDi on lowered springs and TT wheels, actually very fun, and quick when the turbo hooks up!  Very narrow car, so great through town, roundabouts etc.  And well under 1000 kilos, even in TDi trim with big wheels and options etc, due to its aluminium space frame, technology borrowed from the flagship A8

 

If it had been launched when petrol was £1.50 a litre it would have been a hit.  But launched in 1999 (iirc?) it simply wasn't a big seller due to the high price tag

 

£850 is ridiculous!  I've paid more than that on a service ffs!

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It is interesting when you look on eBay and Autotrader to see what you can get for under £1k.

 

Some will easily run for a long time, others might be a project for restoration.

 

I think I've said before that one of the richest blokes I ever knew used to drive around in a knackered old red Chevette (1.3).  He didn't care about cars and his philosophy was that when it stopped working he'd spend another £600-700 (this was a good while back) on another Chevette!

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Best automotive "investment" I ever made 318is £80 4 years, 2 tyres, discs & pads all round & servicing, on it was still going strong when I parked it outside a scrappy near York with the v5 behind the sun visor signed up & put the key in his letter box.

 

Forgot the 2 Citroen front seats I welded to the bmw seat runners.

 

It even had 6 months tax on it when I bought it!!!!

Edited by E-bmw
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Oh I agree NNMM, you can get all sorts for under or around a grand. In the last 10 years or so I've bought 5:

1992 BMW 316i Touring. Bought for £750, sold for £750

1988 BMW 325i Touring. Bought for £1,150. Sold for £1,300. Should have kept this - they're worth more now!!

1994 Audi 2.6 convertible. Bought for £536. Still got

1996 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro. Bought for £595 (I think) and sold for roughly the same.

2002 Audi A2. Bought for £850

Despite their age, mileage and general lack of research on any of them (the specific cars) pre purchase, none have actually broken down. I've let the battery get flat on two of them - the A8 when I left the lights on, and the 316i through lack of use. The convertible and the A8 needed replacement thermostats - cheap enough at my local garage. The A2 needs one as well...

All were serviced annually at the same local garage for far less than having a proper car serviced at a main dealer. MOTs don't usually throw up much. The most expensive to run was the 325i because it needed pads and discs all round, and I also had the suspension overhauled with new dampers, springs and bushes. Even so, including insurance, the odd pair of tyres and road tax, I reckon it's only averaged £1k per year to have a banger alongside our other cars.

If you're obsessive about everything working the it's probably not for you - the sunroofs on both BMWs were flaky. The A8 also had a fault sunroof, but the climate control worked. The AC on the 325i didn't work. The auxiliary oil pressure, oil temperature and voltmeter in the convertible have a mind of their own, and the electric aerial (when did you last have a car with one of those!!) doesn't work. On the A2, one of the cup holders is broken, and the lacquer is peeling in places. Climate control works though!!

What it has stopped me doing is changing our 'main' cars more frequenty, and as I tend to buy them either new or nearly new the amount I've saved in deprecation on that side more than offsets what running and insuring the odd banger has cost. So running more cars saves money

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I installed an electric aerial on a Morris Ital 1.7 HLS.

 

Big rocker switch on the dash that you had to keep held up or down.

 

The problem was that I didn't mount it straight, so when it came up.....it did so at an angle so bad that the tip of it would be a good foot away from wing of the car. :roflmao:

 

The BMW Touring is a car I'd buy.  I love the look of them.

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Missing the boat is one thing Tipex, having had the boat and letting it drift off doesn't bear thinking about

 

Oh I make a point of not thinking 'what if I'd kept X'.

 

I prefer to think 'I wish I'd bought X'.

 

I'm sure I'd be considerably better off* if I'd kept the Integrale, the Thema 8.32 the Alfa GTV & 75, the Skyline etc etc.

 

 

 

*not necessarily only financially, but I'm sure I'd be happier if I still had them all in the garage.

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Late comer to this thread - great buy. +++

 

Let me know if you need any info, otherwise the A2oc is a good place to go and there is actually a garage in Milton Keynes that services and upgrades just Audi A2s!!!! 

 

Is that a multi function steering wheel - wwant to sell it?

 

:D

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It does have a multi function steering wheel +++. Are they in demand then?

Optional by the looks of it...but the first owner didn't stretch as far as electric rear windows ☺️

It does have a DIS and climate control however, which I think were also optional +++

Once we've had it a few months, and if it's reliable, I'll look at refreshing the suspension, refurbing the alloys and fitting sommeporoper tyres. But let's see how it goes!

I have registered on A2OC as well; seem like a friendly bunch

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