My A2 "Top spec" project (AKA my Holy Grail)

Absolutely stunning ..................Ive not had time to read all the thread yet but I will do..................I realise it might not matter to you personally but I would love to know just how much this great project has cost?...............if you would rather not say then thats fine.......just curious.
 
Absolutely stunning ..................Ive not had time to read all the thread yet but I will do..................I realise it might not matter to you personally but I would love to know just how much this great project has cost?...............if you would rather not say then thats fine.......just curious.
I have hinted at the cost a few times, I am not proud of the money I have spent on this. It is a silly amount of money.

Basically I could have bought a fully specced, brand new BMW i3.

The main reason being that I am now too old to do the work myself so I have have to pay specialists to do the work.

They have done a great job and at great prices, but it soon mounts up.

I spent a lot more money on the leather / alcantara interior alone than dearest A2 is advertised for sale now.

But I would have bought a brand new fully specced A2 if they were still selling A2s. They are not and so I have had to effectively build one new myself.

Steve B
 
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It's only money, you can't take it with you. There are many an addiction that could have cost you more and had nothing to show for it at the end of it all. Just don't sell it or that's when it may hurt!!!

Plus if you'd bought a fully Spec'd BMW i3 then that would have been the same as all the other fully Spec'd i3's...your A2 is unique.
 
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... Basically I could have bought a fully specced, brand new BMW i3...

As they say in Germany, let me "put some mustard into it" (ok, it's Denglish, the right equivalent is "my two cents").
Just look back at the history of the automobile. Ford T was built million times, being the first mass-production car. Rich people, though, could and would order a car body by a small manufacturer and put it on a universal frame. So, a choice of a car and its list of options was based on income, wealth and social status.
Modern cars have more options, additional equipment and accessories so even a fully-equipped entry model may become expensive. An i3 for 50k € is an expensive mass-production vehicle. Yes, there are rrrevolutionary materials, new gadgets and gimmicks. Technologies are expensive. If one can afford it just go for it. You may encounter same 50k € worth cars during your daily commuting: You are not the only one who can afford it.
On the other hand, something that is custom-tailored, like shoes or a suit, cannot be cheap per se. There is a real person, not a statistical 95% human who desires to improve his/her car to suit his/her wishes. Such car will be unique and cost really much. Why looking at the i3 then? You could have bought a bigger BMW or Mercedes, right? Would it have made you happier now than you are?
My personal experience. After having invested really much money in my project I still don't see either the need or the point of selling it. I could have bought a new car (like Skoda or Seat or Audi A1 or you name it) for the same amount of money (compared with A2 + repairs + improvements). My points are:
- A2 being a small Audi car is still a premium one and offers quality. Ok, forget terrible soft touch buttons and look at interior finish, for example.
- I like the concept. As engineer I adore the tecnical side of the A2: Aerodynamics, light-weight body, spacious interior.
- upgrades and tuning parts are expensive regardless of a car you want to improve. I am the one who likes making improvements on his own or getting something improved.
- tax and insurance cost are not that high. Fuel consumption could have been better ;-)
Buying a new vehicle, produced in nowadays cost-driven world, would be an option too. No need to upgrade it, just drive from A to B. Depends on one's spare time, I guess. Do you enjoy it? Is it smth special? Enjoying a ride in one's car is very personal feeling and cannot just be there because commercials say so.
As Nagah wrote somethere, just take your car and go for a ride. That is how I feel about it.
Sorry for having been excessively eloquent today.
 
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Hi,

No need to apologise, I agree with you 100%, When you look at the good things about owning an A2 and compare that to owning a "New car", the A2 wins by a mile, especially if you have personalised it.

Would it be logical for me to sell the car and buy a brand new car, NO WAY! it would be crazy, no logic at all.

But there are other thins to consider, I get bored very easily and even something as unique as my taxi was or my A2 is, the novelty wears off after a while. AFter all you get used to the Mods and toys etc. it is only when you lose them do you really appreciate them.

I am in no position to buy an i3, we have no space as I say and so I would have to sell an A2, my wife's (no way would she sell that) or mine, as I say that is a big financial loss.

So this is just me getting "twichy" I am like this with houses too. We buy a house and I see the potential and so we "do it up" and then when it is finished I get bored because there is nothing left to do (or in other words nothing new to look forward to).
Part of this is down to my "day job", to be honest I hate my job, but teh money is great. So I keep trying to fnd "rewards" to compensate for that.

The bottom line is that I love my A2 and want to keep it forever, we will see. Perhaps I should just hire an i3 for a weekend to get it out of my system?

LOL

Steve B
 
I'm test driving an i3 on Tuesday to see what all the fuss is about!

Well?

Don't keep us in suspenders!!! How was it?

My fear is that it moght not live up to the hype, but I am assuming that it is even better in action?

Steve B
 
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Hi Steve.

My short drive felt like the future. Really. I'm not sold on the pricing of the i3 (a well specced car will cost Tesla money), I'm not keen on the rear door functionality nor am I entirely happy with the first gen model only having DC rapid charging as an optional extra.

But,.. In short, I want one. The feeling that you're driving a car of its time, the instant torque and regenerative braking, the slow speed crawling feeling fluid, entirely different to ICE cars with manual or torque converter 'boxes mating engines with what we require of them. It was in short, a revelation.

The ONLY thing standing in the way of me buying one is the economics. I drive many short journeys that make the A8 feel ghastly, oversized and a bit awkward. Yet 3 or 4 times a year we cover Europe (remember that place tabloid readers?) and the A8 shines. It makes it effortless.

So, for me. It's an i3 REX with DC rapid charge of nothing. Essentially a compromise too far. I'd have to carry around with me in my overpriced i3 an engine and ancillaries that add 10% to the car's weight JUST for the few weeks of the year when I need more range.

As much as a Tesla Model S it too expensive (for me) and too big and heavy, it would make more sense given its range, than an i3.

So, I think I'll wait til Tesla introduce the model 3 to take the EV plunge, as long as the car's range is sufficient.
 
digital will do for me, if it's not asked to much

Verstuurd vanaf mijn Nexus 5
Hi
Sorry to put a negative spin on this but as a club we should not be openly breaking copyright rules.
The magazine is available electronically for a small price and so please consider the rights of the publisher.
I know this sounds a bit petty but it is important to respect the authors rights (being an author makes me a bit sensitive to copyright)

What our members do in the privacy of their own homes is up to them !! But we should not be openly supporting electronic copying and distribution of such material!!

i hope you understand.

Steve B
 
electronic from the original source for a small fee is fine with me.
didn't know that this existed, so only have to find the right www then.

thnks

Verstuurd vanaf mijn Nexus 5
 
Just to clarify, I meant actually sending you a hard copy from the newsagents via post hence the mention of 'at cost'.
 
Just to clarify, I meant actually sending you a hard copy from the newsagents via post hence the mention of 'at cost'.
Hi Steve,

It was the mentions of scans in some posts that concerned me, not your offer to post the magazine)

By the way, I found the link by googling "Audi Driver Magazine"

if they don't include NL then I am sure that A2Steve's kind offer still stands

Steve B
 
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