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Bexy Bavaria

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Good evening ladies and Gents,

I am currently looking for an A2 for my wife as she has taken a shine to them over recent weeks.
She currently has a BMW 3 series coupe but it is getting on in years and is becmoing a bit thirsty.
The A2 has everything we are looking for as a replacement, reliable, small but practical and economical.
I have already decided on the 1.4 petrol as she doesnt really do mega miles and the diesel cars seem to be £1500 more on the forecourt.
Is their anything in particular I should look out for in the 2001 model cars? Can you remove the rear seats on all of the cars or is it just certain models?
Your help and advice would be really appreciated.
 
Hello and welcome!

If rear seat removal is important to you, get one with a split rear seat, as these are foldable and removeable individually, as opposed to the bench where it's a one shot affair.

There's nothing in particular to look out for, but be aware that things like climate conditioning cannot be added later, so if that's important, make sure your car has it from the get go.

Check the main body is straight, as ally cars like the A2 are expensive to put right, but all the usual stuff applies equally to A2s (history, VIN checks etc).

Good luck,

Mike
 
thanks for that.
Being a BMW fan, i have visited a lot of owners club sites and this one is definitely one of the better ones.
Having scanned some of the other threads, i was interested to read that the A2 requires a cam belt change after 40k, is this the correct figure?
 
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Hi BB
This is the info my Audi dealer provided last time I checked in 2006. They seem to have relaxed the rules a bit regarding the 4 year limit but now suggest an inspection of the belt. You can't really do this properly without taking the belt off so I'm sticking with the 4 year or mileage change periods, which ever happens first.

''I called in at Audi Teesside today and asked about cambelt change intervals. Both the Service and Parts guys were very helpful and provided the following info
Timing belt should be changed after 4 years on ALL models or at the following mileage (whichever comes first)
1.6FSi and TDi..................60,000 miles
TDi - from May 2004......... 80,000 miles
1.4 petrol ........................No mileage limit
For those brave (or daft) enough to do it themselves, a kit is available which includes the belt, tensioner pulley and idler roller at £88 + vat. The water pump costs £23 +vat exchange.

Cheers Spike
 
Bexy Bavaria said:
so does the 1.4 not require a change? is it a chain rather than a rubber belt?
Click to expand...

It is a belt, and it most certainly does require a change, as I know to my cost. :mad:

Some years back we owned a MK4 Golf 1.4S, bought new for my wife, which uses the same twin cam 75 bhp engine. At the 40k service I asked about the belt, then at the 50k service and again at the 60k service. Each time I was told that it did not need a belt change.

Guess what ... at 65,000 the belt let go, and caused £1,000 of damage to the engine, which of course by this time was out of warranty.

A long and furious arguement ensued, eventually getting as far as the CEO of VW UK. They eventually paid half the cost (they should of course have paid it all!) but more importantly I noticed that they quietly changed the belt requirement thereafter to 60,000 miles.

My advice is do not run a belt past 60k miles no matter what you are told to the contrary.

:mad:
 
Just as an aside, you cannot necessarily trust a garage/dealer to do the job properly! I've just changed the cambelt on my wife's Lupo 3L (same engine as a 1.2Tdi) and found that the valve timing was out by one tooth on the camshaft (retarded). The culprits were a garage in Berlin, the same garage, I think, where Erling bought his 1.2Tdi.

RAB
 
Thanks for that, the advice is really helpful.
I am going to look at two cars this weekend, one is a high miler which is local to me and the other has a lower than average mileage at a dealership on Anglesey.
If we buy a car from the trade I will ensure that the price includes a full service and cam belt change. regardless of mileage.
Thanks again. BB
 
Good evening,
went to look at the cheapest A2 for sale in the UK yesterday!!!!!!!!(according to the car sales website).
It was mega miles but very cheap and just 20 minutes from where I live.
I called to ask about the car, (bearing in mind that I didnt really want to buy the car, but I thought that it would be a really good oppotunity for the wife to have a good look at the A2 and possibly take one for a spin) it had no service history (apparently it was thrown out by the last owner whilst cleaning the car!!!that old chestnut!!!) and 4 owners in 6.8 years.
I drove over to see it and it was as expected, an absolute dog.
Although it was a dog the missus liked the cars look (its funny how my missus is totally blind to seeing dented panels and kerbed rims but has an eagle eye for a coffee stain on the carpet!!) and decided that an A2 is the car for her.
Off to see another tomorrow, will keep you all posted.
 
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