Hi all,
Was looking to put my daughter onto my A3 TDi Sportbacks' insurance and stupid money was being asked for by insurance companies. Was only going to do it to give her some transport over the summer when home from University. Always knew it was cheaper for kids to have their own insurance and have a "responsible" parent as a named driver so decided better to buy a car and that would give her transport whenever she needed it.
Always had an eye for the A2 - ahead of its time in my opinion and probably suffered poor sales because of it. Local "Dent Devils" agent used one as his work car and said it was great. (Elevated driving position, capacity of a small van with the seats out, cheap to run and great in the snow) Was looking at a budget of around £2000 - including insurance so a bit of a tall order and knew I would be looking for one needing a bit of work. A quick look on Gumtree found 2 cars, both 1.4 SE's, one light metallic green one silver (and closer) so took travelled the 30 miles for a look. Car looked ok, a few scratches on the bumpers etc but panels were good. 16" SE 6 spoke alloys were also scratched (swirly kerb marks) and one with a dented rim. Windscreen was badly scratched by wobbly wiper arm and a few other bits and pieces but had to be realistic about car/price. Interior good with just the usual wear on the switches but everything worked. Parcel shelf, first aid kit, floor panel space saver wheel etc all present too. A good clean inside and out and a polish would do wonders.
Took the car for a run and ran ok for a while. EML started flashing and then ran like a dog so limped back to the owners house. He produced all the history for the car and had just had an injector replaced at the main dealers for the same fault - £549!!!!. Car had just been serviced too - new spark plugs, leads, coil pack. Had a quick check nothing obvious. Started the car again an EML had gone out so went on another run and car ran like a dream. Seemed to run bad if left for a while on tickover. Guy didn't think I would want it as it was running bad - and he was peed off that the fault he paid the dealers to fix was still there. I decided that it was worth a punt and price was reduced due to the fault so bought the car for £1200. 2002, 02 reg 1.4 SE, silver 120k miles, stacks of main dealer history (for what its worth) and a pretty standard complete car so a happy chappie.
Insurance for 20 year old daughter (plus her mum as a named driver) fully comp' was under £500 for the year so still had a few hundred in the budget. New wiper arm and blade. Polished out the scratches in the windscreen, found a 16" SE alloy on ebay in cracking condition so got that for £30. General good clean and polish and car has been great. Bought a cheap code reader/resetter on ebay and that has came up with code P0102 - engine misfire cylinder number 2, but that only happens when she is left ticking over for a while so will have a better look at that at some point and might pick some brains on the forum at that time. Daughter knows how to reset the fault if EML comes on and car runs great so not that worried.(MPG also seems really good)
Other intermittent lights come and go. Oil came on once going down the A9 (stopped and checked the level, level fine - if you can read that stupid dipstick haha Then went off after I started the car again). The 3 brake lights (ABS plus the 2 amber ones) came on the other day and then went off so will start looking at earth points etc to check that out. Eldest lad had a 2002 Golf GT TDi, which displayed the same disco lights occasionally so perhaps a VAG issue at the time with sensors - who knows and interested for any comments on faults.
Had the car for 5 months now and love tinkering with it. Used all Summer by daughter in Moray and for a few trips to Dundee with all her Uni crud. Good stereo (Concert CD with volume control fault) and just a great wee car to nip about in.
Been an anonymous visitor to the forum for a while now so decided it was time to say Hi. Will try and catch up with someone with a VAG.com to scan the car to see if there are other issues hiding. Live about 30 miles East of Inverness on the Moray coast.
Cheers for now
Was looking to put my daughter onto my A3 TDi Sportbacks' insurance and stupid money was being asked for by insurance companies. Was only going to do it to give her some transport over the summer when home from University. Always knew it was cheaper for kids to have their own insurance and have a "responsible" parent as a named driver so decided better to buy a car and that would give her transport whenever she needed it.
Always had an eye for the A2 - ahead of its time in my opinion and probably suffered poor sales because of it. Local "Dent Devils" agent used one as his work car and said it was great. (Elevated driving position, capacity of a small van with the seats out, cheap to run and great in the snow) Was looking at a budget of around £2000 - including insurance so a bit of a tall order and knew I would be looking for one needing a bit of work. A quick look on Gumtree found 2 cars, both 1.4 SE's, one light metallic green one silver (and closer) so took travelled the 30 miles for a look. Car looked ok, a few scratches on the bumpers etc but panels were good. 16" SE 6 spoke alloys were also scratched (swirly kerb marks) and one with a dented rim. Windscreen was badly scratched by wobbly wiper arm and a few other bits and pieces but had to be realistic about car/price. Interior good with just the usual wear on the switches but everything worked. Parcel shelf, first aid kit, floor panel space saver wheel etc all present too. A good clean inside and out and a polish would do wonders.
Took the car for a run and ran ok for a while. EML started flashing and then ran like a dog so limped back to the owners house. He produced all the history for the car and had just had an injector replaced at the main dealers for the same fault - £549!!!!. Car had just been serviced too - new spark plugs, leads, coil pack. Had a quick check nothing obvious. Started the car again an EML had gone out so went on another run and car ran like a dream. Seemed to run bad if left for a while on tickover. Guy didn't think I would want it as it was running bad - and he was peed off that the fault he paid the dealers to fix was still there. I decided that it was worth a punt and price was reduced due to the fault so bought the car for £1200. 2002, 02 reg 1.4 SE, silver 120k miles, stacks of main dealer history (for what its worth) and a pretty standard complete car so a happy chappie.
Insurance for 20 year old daughter (plus her mum as a named driver) fully comp' was under £500 for the year so still had a few hundred in the budget. New wiper arm and blade. Polished out the scratches in the windscreen, found a 16" SE alloy on ebay in cracking condition so got that for £30. General good clean and polish and car has been great. Bought a cheap code reader/resetter on ebay and that has came up with code P0102 - engine misfire cylinder number 2, but that only happens when she is left ticking over for a while so will have a better look at that at some point and might pick some brains on the forum at that time. Daughter knows how to reset the fault if EML comes on and car runs great so not that worried.(MPG also seems really good)
Other intermittent lights come and go. Oil came on once going down the A9 (stopped and checked the level, level fine - if you can read that stupid dipstick haha Then went off after I started the car again). The 3 brake lights (ABS plus the 2 amber ones) came on the other day and then went off so will start looking at earth points etc to check that out. Eldest lad had a 2002 Golf GT TDi, which displayed the same disco lights occasionally so perhaps a VAG issue at the time with sensors - who knows and interested for any comments on faults.
Had the car for 5 months now and love tinkering with it. Used all Summer by daughter in Moray and for a few trips to Dundee with all her Uni crud. Good stereo (Concert CD with volume control fault) and just a great wee car to nip about in.
Been an anonymous visitor to the forum for a while now so decided it was time to say Hi. Will try and catch up with someone with a VAG.com to scan the car to see if there are other issues hiding. Live about 30 miles East of Inverness on the Moray coast.
Cheers for now
