2001 Audi A2 - High Mileage Hero (347,750 and counting...)
Discussion
Long time lurker and very infrequent poster, but after it was suggested in the high mileage cars for sale thread that I create a specific thread about my new purchase I thought I would give it go... Sorry, its going to be a long one!
I have always loved the slightly odd side of motoring, I have had over 40 cars since passing my test in 1995, many strange choices but it seems that German cars are my go to and I have had more BMWs than any other marque. Our current fleet is:
2011 BMW F11 528i MANUAL (everyone bought a 520d auto when they were new, this is an ex-BMW UK car, N53 so last of the 6 cylinder N/A BMWs and yes, they are M5 wheels
)
2019 BMW i3 (the wife's run about - a great car and I wont hear anyone say different...!)
2007 Fiat Panda 100HP (mine for nearly 10 years now, track car, not on road at the moment)
1989 VW Polo MK2 "sleeper" (53,000 miles from new, 1.3 5 speed with twin Weber 40s, cam, ported head, 4 branch, full exhaust and loads of G40 bits)
I also have a couple of motorbikes and 4 Brompton bicycles (IYKYK!), so as you can see from all that, what I really need is another car....
Back in the early 2000s my parents had an Audi A4 and a couple of times I took it to the Audi dealer for a service and had A2s as courtesy cars, I loved the quirkiness of them, all aluminium, small on the outside but big on the inside and has the quality feel of that era of Audi, but in a small car ideal for our Norfolk B-roads. Last year for no good reason I joined the Audi A2 Owners Group on Facebook, just for fun really and noticed how many of them are still going, many with well over 200,000 miles. I thought "that would be a fun project, get a really cheap one with over 200k just to tinker with and never have to worry about rust". Of course, as soon as you start with that thought, you end up idly checking out Marketplace and before you know it you are messaging someone about a car...
The advert for this car was not overflowing with detail, but that mileage, ooooh love a hero!!
For sale is my 2001 Audi A2 1.4 TDI Manual, Car is on 347k, with MOT until 16 June 2025, Runs and drives great, no rust present £400ono
Two very poor pictures of a road trip he had used it for into Scotland..
Turns out he had bought it just a month earlier for £320 from a girl who had used it as her first car since 2017, she was given it by her Mum who bought it in 2007 with over 150,000 miles on it then! It had been serviced during that time by her Dad who had always done what it needed to keep it safe for the family, so I had some comfort that it had probably been looked after. The car was in Durham, he was in Exeter and he had absolutely no confirmation of that history or book pack to go with it at all, just the V5 and the MOT. All of this would have most people running a mile, but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, a petrol head who is into old Swedish bricks, seemed very honest about the car and I thought "its pocket change money, what could go wrong..." so we agreed on £275 and I would get the train from Norwich to Durham (£90!) to collect it the following week as the MOT only had 2 weeks to go, so I needed to go and get it quickly. He had the two keys and the V5 with him in Exeter, so posted them special delivery to his friend who would hand them over to me on the day. I love an adventure and this had risk written all over it!
Collection day, and a Royal Fail fiasco meant I was heading to Durham without actually knowing if the keys would be there when I arrived...! Had a pleasant journey working on the train and just 30 minutes before I arrived I had confirmation that the keys had been delivered, phew! Found the car just parked on the side of a random street, a sheepish young lad handed me the keys and V5 and said "I know nothing about this car" and left me to it! I had a walk around the car, and for the mileage its surprisingly clean, yes it has a few scrapes, but not as many as you would think and overall it presents very well on the outside, other than the wheels which are more scuffed than any wheels I have ever seen! Tyres all seemed to have tread and no chips in the windscreen, all good. Opened it up to find no funny smell, just some very grubby seats and the expected wear on the heater controls, but no holes or damage anywhere, just a good base for a deep clean at some point in the future, perfect for what I was after! Turned on the ignition to find that it had 3/4 of a tank of diesel in it - result! That means a free trip home!
15 minute Facetime call to the owner, a transfer of money, V5 done online, insurance (£150) and tax (£35 a year!) later, and I was ready to head off on its first journey, a 240 mile trip back to Norfolk! I knew it was a risk, but I have a friend with a car trailer, so if the worst happened I would just abandon it and collect later.
It had not been started for over 2 weeks, but after a quick fluid check it fired up first time, gears all felt positive with no slop, clutch and brake felt good. First thing I noticed is that the front suspension was clonking badly, sounded like ARB mounts so nothing serious. Nice little peppy 75hp 3 cylinder thrum and off we go! Hit the A1 and just sat at 70mph all the way to Newark, no dramas at all, a warning light about the oil level sensor permanently on, but I already knew that was a common A2 fault and as long as there was oil on the dipstick, its all good. Stopped for a bite to eat and as expected, I was really enjoying myself and planning in my head all the things I want to do to it - it was already getting under my skin!
Made it home with 1/4 of a tank of fuel still remaining and worked it out roughly to be about 60mpg - not going to argue with that! Hostility at home did have me questioning my life choices "How long will that piece of **** be on the drive?" but I was hoping that she would warm to it...
Ran around in it for a couple of weeks putting about 400 miles total on it, stuck £20 of premium diesel in and booked the MOT, I knew it was going to fail, but I hoped it would be at least repairable, after all, it wont be rust on the body, so just rusty subframes or worn suspension components. The heatwave was upon us and although the car has A/C fitted, its 25 years old so of course it doesn't work! My wife forgot to charge her car one night and refuses to drive my 528 (its too big!) so I handed her the keys to the A2, she wasn't happy, but it got her to work and back without fuss, further cementing its usefulness!!
MOT actually ran out on the 24th June, so with the MOT booked for the 28th, I knew that it could potentially be the last time I drove it... An evening of cleaning and checking all lights, wiper, tyres and anything else I (and ChatGPT) could think of gave me confidence that nothing silly would cause a fail. Dropped it off and waited to hear.... WhatsApp message about lunchtime "its failed, what do you want to do" - checked the MOT history online and saw the dodgy AA replacement fuel cap was a fail, but also the rust on the rear beam, oh dear, I already knew A2s suffer in this area and that new subframes are not available, but a Mk4 Polo subframe is the same, just with some different mounting brackets for brake pipes so that could be an option. Anyway, I went to see the garage and he said "I can't weld those small holes up until next week, is that OK - oh and you need to order a fuel cap" - I could have almost done a backflip I was so excited! A quick order to Amazon for a Febi £7 fuel cap and an agreed cash sum for the small amount of welding and a new MOT would be given!
Today was MOT collection day, picked it up and drove it home with a big smile on my face, project "Wilma" (I don't normally like naming cars, but this was the family name for it previously) is now ready for 12 months of clean-up, tinkering and general run around duties!
Stopped to take some pictures on the way home from the MOT - so here it is before I do anything to it.
Just to note, I am no mechanic, I am an oil change and brake pad changer at best, so will be fun to work on something to improve my skills
Found the Service History!
finally the all important mileage money shot!
I will update this thread with anything I do to it... Already ordered stickers for the heater controls and the sides to go around the single DIN headunit. ARB D bushes are on there way (never attempted anything like this) and I have a query out for another set of the same wheels, but with far less scuffs and better tyres.
Thanks for reading!
I have always loved the slightly odd side of motoring, I have had over 40 cars since passing my test in 1995, many strange choices but it seems that German cars are my go to and I have had more BMWs than any other marque. Our current fleet is:
2011 BMW F11 528i MANUAL (everyone bought a 520d auto when they were new, this is an ex-BMW UK car, N53 so last of the 6 cylinder N/A BMWs and yes, they are M5 wheels
)2019 BMW i3 (the wife's run about - a great car and I wont hear anyone say different...!)
2007 Fiat Panda 100HP (mine for nearly 10 years now, track car, not on road at the moment)
1989 VW Polo MK2 "sleeper" (53,000 miles from new, 1.3 5 speed with twin Weber 40s, cam, ported head, 4 branch, full exhaust and loads of G40 bits)
I also have a couple of motorbikes and 4 Brompton bicycles (IYKYK!), so as you can see from all that, what I really need is another car....
Back in the early 2000s my parents had an Audi A4 and a couple of times I took it to the Audi dealer for a service and had A2s as courtesy cars, I loved the quirkiness of them, all aluminium, small on the outside but big on the inside and has the quality feel of that era of Audi, but in a small car ideal for our Norfolk B-roads. Last year for no good reason I joined the Audi A2 Owners Group on Facebook, just for fun really and noticed how many of them are still going, many with well over 200,000 miles. I thought "that would be a fun project, get a really cheap one with over 200k just to tinker with and never have to worry about rust". Of course, as soon as you start with that thought, you end up idly checking out Marketplace and before you know it you are messaging someone about a car...
The advert for this car was not overflowing with detail, but that mileage, ooooh love a hero!!
For sale is my 2001 Audi A2 1.4 TDI Manual, Car is on 347k, with MOT until 16 June 2025, Runs and drives great, no rust present £400ono
Two very poor pictures of a road trip he had used it for into Scotland..
Turns out he had bought it just a month earlier for £320 from a girl who had used it as her first car since 2017, she was given it by her Mum who bought it in 2007 with over 150,000 miles on it then! It had been serviced during that time by her Dad who had always done what it needed to keep it safe for the family, so I had some comfort that it had probably been looked after. The car was in Durham, he was in Exeter and he had absolutely no confirmation of that history or book pack to go with it at all, just the V5 and the MOT. All of this would have most people running a mile, but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, a petrol head who is into old Swedish bricks, seemed very honest about the car and I thought "its pocket change money, what could go wrong..." so we agreed on £275 and I would get the train from Norwich to Durham (£90!) to collect it the following week as the MOT only had 2 weeks to go, so I needed to go and get it quickly. He had the two keys and the V5 with him in Exeter, so posted them special delivery to his friend who would hand them over to me on the day. I love an adventure and this had risk written all over it!
Collection day, and a Royal Fail fiasco meant I was heading to Durham without actually knowing if the keys would be there when I arrived...! Had a pleasant journey working on the train and just 30 minutes before I arrived I had confirmation that the keys had been delivered, phew! Found the car just parked on the side of a random street, a sheepish young lad handed me the keys and V5 and said "I know nothing about this car" and left me to it! I had a walk around the car, and for the mileage its surprisingly clean, yes it has a few scrapes, but not as many as you would think and overall it presents very well on the outside, other than the wheels which are more scuffed than any wheels I have ever seen! Tyres all seemed to have tread and no chips in the windscreen, all good. Opened it up to find no funny smell, just some very grubby seats and the expected wear on the heater controls, but no holes or damage anywhere, just a good base for a deep clean at some point in the future, perfect for what I was after! Turned on the ignition to find that it had 3/4 of a tank of diesel in it - result! That means a free trip home!
15 minute Facetime call to the owner, a transfer of money, V5 done online, insurance (£150) and tax (£35 a year!) later, and I was ready to head off on its first journey, a 240 mile trip back to Norfolk! I knew it was a risk, but I have a friend with a car trailer, so if the worst happened I would just abandon it and collect later.
It had not been started for over 2 weeks, but after a quick fluid check it fired up first time, gears all felt positive with no slop, clutch and brake felt good. First thing I noticed is that the front suspension was clonking badly, sounded like ARB mounts so nothing serious. Nice little peppy 75hp 3 cylinder thrum and off we go! Hit the A1 and just sat at 70mph all the way to Newark, no dramas at all, a warning light about the oil level sensor permanently on, but I already knew that was a common A2 fault and as long as there was oil on the dipstick, its all good. Stopped for a bite to eat and as expected, I was really enjoying myself and planning in my head all the things I want to do to it - it was already getting under my skin!
Made it home with 1/4 of a tank of fuel still remaining and worked it out roughly to be about 60mpg - not going to argue with that! Hostility at home did have me questioning my life choices "How long will that piece of **** be on the drive?" but I was hoping that she would warm to it...
Ran around in it for a couple of weeks putting about 400 miles total on it, stuck £20 of premium diesel in and booked the MOT, I knew it was going to fail, but I hoped it would be at least repairable, after all, it wont be rust on the body, so just rusty subframes or worn suspension components. The heatwave was upon us and although the car has A/C fitted, its 25 years old so of course it doesn't work! My wife forgot to charge her car one night and refuses to drive my 528 (its too big!) so I handed her the keys to the A2, she wasn't happy, but it got her to work and back without fuss, further cementing its usefulness!!
MOT actually ran out on the 24th June, so with the MOT booked for the 28th, I knew that it could potentially be the last time I drove it... An evening of cleaning and checking all lights, wiper, tyres and anything else I (and ChatGPT) could think of gave me confidence that nothing silly would cause a fail. Dropped it off and waited to hear.... WhatsApp message about lunchtime "its failed, what do you want to do" - checked the MOT history online and saw the dodgy AA replacement fuel cap was a fail, but also the rust on the rear beam, oh dear, I already knew A2s suffer in this area and that new subframes are not available, but a Mk4 Polo subframe is the same, just with some different mounting brackets for brake pipes so that could be an option. Anyway, I went to see the garage and he said "I can't weld those small holes up until next week, is that OK - oh and you need to order a fuel cap" - I could have almost done a backflip I was so excited! A quick order to Amazon for a Febi £7 fuel cap and an agreed cash sum for the small amount of welding and a new MOT would be given!
Today was MOT collection day, picked it up and drove it home with a big smile on my face, project "Wilma" (I don't normally like naming cars, but this was the family name for it previously) is now ready for 12 months of clean-up, tinkering and general run around duties!
Stopped to take some pictures on the way home from the MOT - so here it is before I do anything to it.
Just to note, I am no mechanic, I am an oil change and brake pad changer at best, so will be fun to work on something to improve my skills
Found the Service History!
finally the all important mileage money shot!
I will update this thread with anything I do to it... Already ordered stickers for the heater controls and the sides to go around the single DIN headunit. ARB D bushes are on there way (never attempted anything like this) and I have a query out for another set of the same wheels, but with far less scuffs and better tyres.
Thanks for reading!
Edited by venskip on Thursday 3rd July 11:52
Edited by venskip on Thursday 3rd July 15:56
Love this! High mileage really isn't the elephant in the room it used to be, provided there's some evidence of maintenance. I've owned a SAAB 900 turbo bought with 210K on it and this A6, bought with 160K:
(Sorry for the crap pic - it's from a past-date Google Maps search as I didn't take many pics of it when I owned it).
Incidentally, it was registered YV51WNZ, so really close to yours!
(Sorry for the crap pic - it's from a past-date Google Maps search as I didn't take many pics of it when I owned it).
Incidentally, it was registered YV51WNZ, so really close to yours!
Nice car Op!
An old school friend had a green Y reg one for a while - used it more as a van.
I remember when working in the trade in 2003-2005, particularly once you got to A2 Colour Storms, you were well into A3 prices which of course going by looks alone would have been the safer bet for most!
An old school friend had a green Y reg one for a while - used it more as a van.
I remember when working in the trade in 2003-2005, particularly once you got to A2 Colour Storms, you were well into A3 prices which of course going by looks alone would have been the safer bet for most!
Right up my street, congratulations.
Someone on these pages once commented (with a perfectly straight internet face) that their car was approaching 30000 miles and getting a bit past it.
I often think about that comment when I see proper high milage cars, which for me start at around 250000, 200000 if I'm being generous.
Someone on these pages once commented (with a perfectly straight internet face) that their car was approaching 30000 miles and getting a bit past it.
I often think about that comment when I see proper high milage cars, which for me start at around 250000, 200000 if I'm being generous.
Fantastic - great write up on a wonderful car, from a time when Audi innovated rather than just made their cars look angrier each year.
This was firmly on my shortlist vs a Honda Insight but I never found a petrol - the diesel isnt ULEZ exempt I believe.
Good luck and keep adding the miles!
PS. My Insight is at a paltry 210k.
This was firmly on my shortlist vs a Honda Insight but I never found a petrol - the diesel isnt ULEZ exempt I believe.
Good luck and keep adding the miles!
PS. My Insight is at a paltry 210k.
Spinakerr said:
Fantastic - great write up on a wonderful car, from a time when Audi innovated rather than just made their cars look angrier each year.
This was firmly on my shortlist vs a Honda Insight but I never found a petrol - the diesel isnt ULEZ exempt I believe.
Good luck and keep adding the miles!
PS. My Insight is at a paltry 210k.
Correct, its not ULEZ, but my 528i is! Similar age 520d and 530d are not!This was firmly on my shortlist vs a Honda Insight but I never found a petrol - the diesel isnt ULEZ exempt I believe.
Good luck and keep adding the miles!
PS. My Insight is at a paltry 210k.
It was literally the mileage that attracted me to this A2, it needed saving as I know there are loads around for the £500ish mark in varying states of MOT worthiness, realistically no one was going to take this on as just a runabout with its intergalactic mileage, so it was on death row really... Not now though, much like the YouTube famous 500,000 Citroen Picasso I am hoping that the improvements I make to it will ensure that someone sympathetic to its achievements will be the next owner - for now its all mine to enjoy!
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