Chat No wonder Audi A2 prices are dropping!!!

Birchall

Dick Chown Award 2016
Just for fun I used the Autotrader valuation check on my wife's car (Standard apart from the colour change)
A 2004 TDI 90 with 86,000 on the clock

Equipment includes
Double Din
Leather
BOSE
5 Seater
Rear cupholders
4 Electric windows
New Clutch and DMF

None of which would be taken into account of course.

The value came out at £1,290 Part exchange or £2,100 outright sale !!!!!

So if less well informed owners are looking to sell their A2 (without the benefit of using this forum for help) it is no wonder that prices are dropping.

I can only imagine that a car that is 12 years old is classed as "end of life" by the general valuers, with no consideration of the actual condition of our great cars.

Steve B
 
Steve, I'm selling mine and won't be putting up on Autotrader for that reason. Mine has done 180k. It's a 1.4 Petrol granted but the fact it's been looked after and has all hard touch buttons and the upholstery is still good makes me nervous. Enthusiasts are the way ahead but will people see what I see?
 
Steve, I'm selling mine and won't be putting up on Autotrader for that reason. Mine has done 180k. It's a 1.4 Petrol granted but the fact it's been looked after and has all hard touch buttons and the upholstery is still good makes me nervous. Enthusiasts are the way ahead but will people see what I see?


Advertising it on here at least puts it in front of knowledgeable A2 enthusiasts. The only problem being that we have all probably got our preferred A2 already.

So it is difficult to get the true value for your car.

It is currently a "buyer's market" for A2s unfortunately.

If you put a "Future classic" spin on your advert you might catch the eye of a car enthusiast that hasn't yet discovered the A2.

Put lots of good pictures on the advert and tell the story of the A2 and its best features.

Steve B
 
Use CAP for valuations or Glasses Guide not Auto Trader nonsense!

Even 150,000 mile X plate Salvage / written off A2s are selling for scrap / repairable for £800 to £1000 !

BCA Nottingham sold a Grade 4 ( worst condition) A2 1.4 TDI SE in Blue, approx 140k miles with some service history for £1250 subject to reserve last week!

As for 1.2 TDIs they are going UP in price in Germany - lots of 2001, 250,000km cars 6000 to 7000 Euros on mobile.de at present.
 
Cap shows £2,250 and so not much difference to Autotrader.

The problem is that the spec on cars like an A2 vastly affect the value and no valuation method available to an everyday owner will correctly take this into account.

Glass's Guide is probably the most accurate but used mainly by dealers and not "Joe public"

My point was not relating to how best to value your car, it was to point out how "Joe public" undervalues cars like the A2.

This, to me is the biggest cause in an overall drop in values on A2s in recent years. Not because they are worth less but just because they are genuinely under-valued.

In time, that will stop as the majority of A2s are seen to be more than just an A to B runaround.

It will take time, but it is very definitely a great time to buy an A2.

Steve B
 
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When I bought mine I found prices were all over the place, they're pretty hard to value really. Although come insurance renewal, I will be declaring the value closer to £4k because that's what it would cost me to replace like for like now.
 
When I bought mine I found prices were all over the place, they're pretty hard to value really. Although come insurance renewal, I will be declaring the value closer to £4k because that's what it would cost me to replace like for like now.


Yes, owners who know what they have will ask a ggod price for their A2.
Owners who see it as an A to B cheap and economical car will also see the 100K plus mileage and the 12 years of age as being massive negatives and so will under value their A2, the TDI I bought for £300 being a prime example

Hence the wildly varying prices.

Steve B
 
They will hit rock bottom, then the numbers will drop, and they will become rare and values will probably start going up. Now is the time to build up a massive spare parts store.
 
They will hit rock bottom, then the numbers will drop, and they will become rare and values will probably start going up. Now is the time to build up a massive spare parts store.

I am hoping that the numbers will only drop due to the occasional write-off and not because people see a well specced A2 as a parts donor.

I have seen lots of adverts on eBay (more so recently) where the seller has stripped an A2 and is selling every piece, including stripping the engine into individual components. Advertising engine pulleys, alternator brackets and other tiny parts and not cheaply. Examples include a battery lead connector (nut and bolt) for £9.95.


There is also the Danish guy/company that list mutliples of the same kind of part and for HUGE sums (I am not sure how they even sell one thing at those prices) current examples include well used throttle bodies at £204 (several of them) and dirty and well used rear wheel spindles for £129. Most of their parts are for sale at prices that well exceed the Audi new parts price (even though they are still available).

Luckily we have some really decent members offering parts at great prices on here and only from "end of life" A2s, so there should be no need to "feed" the coffers of the strippers (well whatever you do of an evening is up to you I guess) ;)

So yes, the numbers will dwindle, but unless we see a big increase in "gold diggers", that may take some time because our A2s last a LOT longer than "normal cars".

Steve B
 
Generally, second-hand car values are particularly low at the moment. This is partly explained by a surge in new car sales, leading to excess stocks of cars taken in part-exchange There are bargains to be had out there! The A2 is very "specialised" and is only really appreciated by people like us!

David
 
"CAP clean" is used by dealers at auctions and for trade ins so forecourt prices higher - more like Glasses that is available to public. Most buyers don't use guides and if they do it's traditionally been Parkers or Car mags.
 
I am hoping that the numbers will only drop due to the occasional write-off and not because people see a well specced A2 as a parts donor.

I have seen lots of adverts on eBay (more so recently) where the seller has stripped an A2 and is selling every piece, including stripping the engine into individual components. Advertising engine pulleys, alternator brackets and other tiny parts and not cheaply. Examples include a battery lead connector (nut and bolt) for £9.95.


There is also the Danish guy/company that list mutliples of the same kind of part and for HUGE sums (I am not sure how they even sell one thing at those prices) current examples include well used throttle bodies at £204 (several of them) and dirty and well used rear wheel spindles for £129. Most of their parts are for sale at prices that well exceed the Audi new parts price (even though they are still available).

Luckily we have some really decent members offering parts at great prices on here and only from "end of life" A2s, so there should be no need to "feed" the coffers of the strippers (well whatever you do of an evening is up to you I guess) ;)

So yes, the numbers will dwindle, but unless we see a big increase in "gold diggers", that may take some time because our A2s last a LOT longer than "normal cars".

Steve B

I think what they ask and what they get are two very different things. I sell any parts that are not wanted by club members on ebay and sales have been particularly slow at the moment. I generally sell parts on ebay at around half of what the ebay breakers are asking and yet I am still selling very little at the moment. I would guess that although they are driving up prices of items very little is actually selling. A good example of this is the red leather sport interior that has been for sale for about 18 months at £1100.
 
The reality is 99.9% of the car buying public are not 'in' to cars to the extent we are or other marque or model enthusiasts are. At the moment it is easy to buy a small hatch such as a Corsa on PCP for a small deposit and £99/month for a couple of years and only have the cost of fuel/insurance and maybe one service. For most people it is a no-brainer especially when they percieve the A2 as an 11-17 year old car and to most people that means a) banger and b) costly.
 
Hi everyone,

Just keep an eye at crude oil prices. Who needs PHEVs and hybrids at the moment? There is no need for small displacement engines either.
 
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Adrian has hit the nail on the head. A well specced VW Up or Panda 4x4, both potential replacements, can be on my drive for an initial cost of replacing my A2's shock absorbers plus £150 per month. Probably less though Drive The Deal. And no unexpected cots for 3 years.

I'm not biting just yet, though. Having had the car for 10 years, I've no interest in the financial value other than when assessing repair/maintenance costs - that's effectively written down for me now.
 
Yes that will contribute to the drop in value but I am not sure that many people will be looking at deciding whic to go for between an A2 at an average of £3,000 or a VW up at (in the region of £10,000).

The finance on a loan to buy a £3,000 car is around the same (around £150 per month and no deposit) and that is just 24 months and the car is yours. Whereas the new car would be over 3 or 4 years and a lump sum payment at the end of it.

I personally know people who would still say that they would prefer a new car and they don't always consider the true cost. But I am not sure that it plays a huge part in reducing the value of the A2.

Also there is mention of the fact that new car sales are at a high and so the market is flooded with secondhand cars at the moment, but again that impact is real but not huge. It is far more likely to affect the values of 3 to 4 year old cars (they are the most common trade ins for new cars)

All of these factors play a part, but I still think that the fact that most A2s have 100K plus miles and are betwen 11 and 16 years old is a major factor in the reason that "non- enthusiasts" undervalue them.

This is also a huge benefit to our club because the percentage of A2 enthusiasts and A to B owners is turning significantly in our favour as more people discover that the A2 actually is far more than just a small economical car.

Steve B
 
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80% of new cars in the UK are financed - to the vast majority of people a warranty, cheap or free road tax, 60+ mpg and factory toys like Bluetooth, nav, text-to-speak etc. are way more attractive than a 15-year old banger for the same outgoings. Two three years later, just chop it in for another one so the neighbours think you're doing OK.
 
I'll respectfully disagree......:D

Our car was not bought with an enthusiasts hat on. My wife bought it whilst I was away 10 years ago - on a whim because "it does loads to the gallon".

Whilst we love the car deeply and try to care for it mechanically (it's currently at A Certain Establishment in Milton Keynes, a 140 mile round trip from home), we're not what we'd call "enthusiasts" although we're enthusiastic about the car.

Where the new car on a PCP is potentially relevant to me is that most new small cars would give me similar MPG and cost me the same in road tax. Yes, a PCP would cost me £150 PM or less but I reckon that the non-standard items required to keep the A2 on the road will very soon get to that same level of financial commitment. At which point I would have to question whether I would be better with a new car with a warranty and all of the peace-of-mind which that entails.

As they get older, reliability will fall away which will in turn impact on values as non-enthusiasts will move away. And yes, more for the club members! :cool:

Another relevance to the PCP thing is the stat I saw recently. 80% of new cars are bought on finance, 75% of those on PCP. So that 60% of retail sales on PCP. Which explains why everyone around here is driving a RRS. It is Essex, after all! But also underpins the choice available for the same money as keeping an A2 on the road (not a RRS).
 
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