The £200 A2, what could possibly go wrong?

The £200 A2, what could possibly go wrong?

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martin mrt

Original Poster:

3,768 posts

200 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Yes, that’s right, £200 was the asking price for this semi working Audi A2 TDI a couple of weeks ago. Bought completely blind, without viewing, And I say £200 was the asking price, but I paid £250 as the seller was kind enough to drive it to the next village so I could get it transported home.

I think just about every rule in car buying was broken in this purchase.

Semi working A2, it drove fine in Reverse, 1st and 2nd, no 3, 4, 5th gears, advertised as needing a replacement gearbox, I however wasn’t convinced it did.



The sellers picture, looks good for the money.



Loaded on a truck from work ready for its trip south to Aberdeen.

Anyway I done some research, and I found that the shifter tower on the gearboxes on these can give bother due to the placement of the bonnet water drains, could I be THAT lucky a £10 part from a scrap yard will fix it??
YES I could, pulled the old one out, and it collapsed as I lay it on the workbench, replacement fitted and all gears now work. Result.
The gear cables need lubricated and final adjustments, but work fine for now.

I hated the wheels it came on, and I’ve always liked these on TT Comps, a set was found on marketplace locally and fitted Once I’d got the car driving with a complete set of gears




These are not to everyone’s taste, however I really really like it. It’s far from perfect but as a winter/beater car it’s perfect.

I looked at fitting winter tyres to my C63 but this has came in at less than half the cost of a decent set of tyres and winter wheels

The total spend so far is

Car £250
Shifter £10
Wheels £200
Tax £30
Tank of fuel £30

£520 with a years tax and a full tank of juice I’m chuffed to bits with it

castex

4,935 posts

272 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Lovely. Huge props to you!

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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That worked out well!

A diesel A2 must be about the most economical car ever.

sutoka

4,636 posts

107 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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I've had one for the last few years and they are utterly brilliant cars. I would go as far as saying they are the last interesting Audi.

Even for a well though out car some of the quirks I've found are that the wind noise above 60mph is hilarious and the buffeting when your window is down makes my ears pop so fitting wind deflectors if your doing a lot of motorway driving is a must.

It's also difficult to operate the indicator stalk when the right hand cup holder is in use.

The car rocks when the massive Aerotwin wiper is on the highest setting

The glovebox I'm convinced is a portal to another dimension it's so deep.

Due to the Aluminium body everyone can hear what you are listening to.

Apart from that it's a genius little car.

Here's mine on a trip to the local shed after a well deserved wash.



[

Edited by sutoka on Tuesday 27th October 23:07

Paul S4

1,181 posts

209 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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A friend bought one of these recently, and the more I learn about them the more interesting they are.
All aluminium body, they were developed around the time of the original A8 IIRC, and they have some great features: like the aero flutes on the roof.
Apparently they have a good sound system as well.
I would be a bit wary of access to the engine.... !! In fact not sure how you would work on it at all !

Well done on your purchase, shall follow with interest.

Jules Sunley

3,933 posts

92 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Great work OP - a bargain

snotrag

14,446 posts

210 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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Brilliant - I once did something similar when I was young and had a very modified MX5. I priced up winter tyres, and then instead bought an Audi 80 for £300 I think it was and ran it all winter.

Your A2 is far, far nicer though!

sutoka

4,636 posts

107 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
quotequote all
Paul S4 said:
Apparently they have a good sound system as well.
Some came with Bose sound systems, the standard Concert is a pretty good system though.

martin mrt

Original Poster:

3,768 posts

200 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
Thanks for the positive replies, it is an interesting car and I’m glad I took the gamble on it.

At the moment it’s not proving to be terribly economical, as the I believe the thermostat is sticking open and it’s not getting to temperature. I will rectify that hopefully today.
Which leads me to the next comment regards engine access, Very easy, the bonnet pops off.

All in all I’m rather pleased with my little quirky car

Between this and my C63 estate you couldn’t get more different

rossub

4,400 posts

189 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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How did you get it onto an HGV in a village?

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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Paul S4 said:
I would be a bit wary of access to the engine.... !! In fact not sure how you would work on it at all !
The whole bonnet comes off with a couple of small catches, literally 20 seconds. Then after that the access is just as good if not better than a regular car.

agent006

12,029 posts

263 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
martin mrt said:
At the moment it’s not proving to be terribly economical, as the I believe the thermostat is sticking open and it’s not getting to temperature. I will rectify that hopefully today.
There's also a diesel burning heater that keeps the coolant up to temperature. If the eco button on the a/c is on then it won't run, assuming it's working at all. Idling or in slow traffic in winter the temperature will drop without it on.

Rozzers

1,658 posts

74 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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My mate usually has about 3 of these on the go and buys at your sort of price point. His main one is a mega high spec special order colour type one with every extra, needed the engine out of different one though and new wheels, I believe it still sufferers from electronic issues as the modules are not best friends with the new engines ECU. None owe him a penny though. He had a set of those wheels for a while but didn’t like the ride/handling.

martin mrt

Original Poster:

3,768 posts

200 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
rossub said:
How did you get it onto an HGV in a village?
We work alongside Northwards, they loaded on the ramp at the fish market.

martin mrt

Original Poster:

3,768 posts

200 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
agent006 said:
martin mrt said:
At the moment it’s not proving to be terribly economical, as the I believe the thermostat is sticking open and it’s not getting to temperature. I will rectify that hopefully today.
There's also a diesel burning heater that keeps the coolant up to temperature. If the eco button on the a/c is on then it won't run, assuming it's working at all. Idling or in slow traffic in winter the temperature will drop without it on.
I will investigate those tonight, saying it’s not terribly economical is a bit harsh, it’s still doing near 40mpg in town, a far cry from the 17-18 I get from my other car

Usget

5,426 posts

210 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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I love these little things. Never driven one, but I love how wilfully different they are.

roadie

593 posts

261 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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I love the A2. Yours sounds like an absolute bargain!

PaulJC84

922 posts

216 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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Love these, such a marmite car.

Had them at courtesy cars a few times a long time ago and they always left a good impression.

MickyveloceClassic

369 posts

58 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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We had one of the first A2 tdis.

It was great, and had a lovely three-cylinder off-beat sound and real character.

I think it was around £13k new, and we got our money back, minus around £100 after 12 months and 12,000 miles.

There was a “scene” in Germany, and mods including fitting Porsche Cup wheels and mirrors, which somehow worked well.

AndrewGP

1,976 posts

161 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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Top work OP, following with interest smile