Purchase advice needed

seemehow

seemehow

New Member
Good Morning Everyone!
I am here for a piece of advice. I fell in love with the A2 model and looking to purchase one. Being in London and due to ULEZ charge I am left with but one option - 1.4 petrol – These are going up slightly as I think sellers have realised Diesel is less desirable due to pollution charges in big cities. For my budget (up to £2000) it is very hard to find something with less than 80k and nice condition. With this price range I could get an 2007-2010 – Mercedes a150 – a160 which has similar size and economy but half the mileage. This would not be my first choice but given the scarcity of A2’s available at the moment I might have no other choice – I am not interested in a project car – no funds nor time for this. I would like a good, reliable car which is cost effective to keep. What are the things I should be aware of when buying 1.4 petrol A2 with approx.. 80k on the clock? What are the service costs? And maybe not the most popular question but is Merc a viable option? – I am talking the second gen as the first one was a disaster. I will be using it for short trips outside the city with my wife and probably will not exceed 6k miles in a year. Many thanks for all the advice and my apologies if I rub some the wrong way.
Mike
 
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We are all car enthusiasts, we have a preference of A2's but never feel worried about mentioning other models :)

The FSI is also ULEZ compliant, but please check the registration number of the car you are looking at on the database.

The A2 hides its mileage very well so I would buy based on condition rather than mileage, thereby making your search less restrictive.

How far are you willing to travel, there are plenty of nice looking A2's available outside of London.
 
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An example of one came available last night

www.ebay.co.uk

Audi A2 1.4 Petrol | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Audi A2 1.4 Petrol at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
www.ebay.co.uk

The interior seems to have taken a hammering, but a complete replacement interior is cheap enough if you are happy to fit cloth seats rather than leather.

At £950 or offers, it would leave a lot left over in your budget to do a bit of tidying up.
 
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A2Steve said:
An example of one came available last night

www.ebay.co.uk

Audi A2 1.4 Petrol | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Audi A2 1.4 Petrol at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
www.ebay.co.uk

The interior seems to have taken a hammering, but a complete replacement interior is cheap enough if you are happy to fit cloth seats rather than leather.

At £950 or offers, it would leave a lot left over in your budget to do a bit of tidying up.
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Yes I was looking at this one - but its a bit far away for me - probably looking with in 125m radius - plus if the owner did not take care about the inside it I am a bit hesitant to buy from him - I am not a fan of light interior either as it will be a bit hard to keep clean and getting a clean set of matching seats might be tricky as well.
 
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I'd be seriously tempted by this one, just north of Birmingham. One owner plus Audi from new, not so much as a single advisory on the MOT since 2006. In visibly better condition than the great majority of them, and with the sort of mileage you're looking for.

www.ebay.co.uk

Audi A2 1.4SE Petrol 2002 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Audi A2 1.4SE Petrol 2002 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
www.ebay.co.uk

Registered in November 2002, it should also have the earlier and better cast suspension arms rather than the later pressed ones that rust (my November 2002 one does). Only thing I can see is the battery still appears to be the original (shows the Audi part number) but even at the asking price there's room in your budget to get a new one.
 
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Proghound said:
I'd be seriously tempted by this one, just north of Birmingham. One owner plus Audi from new, not so much as a single advisory on the MOT since 2006. In visibly better condition than the great majority of them, and with the sort of mileage you're looking for.

www.ebay.co.uk

Audi A2 1.4SE Petrol 2002 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Audi A2 1.4SE Petrol 2002 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
www.ebay.co.uk

Registered in November 2002, it should also have the earlier and better cast suspension arms rather than the later pressed ones that rust (my November 2002 one does). Only thing I can see is the battery still appears to be the original (shows the Audi part number) but even at the asking price there's room in your budget to get a new one.
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Yes I was temted to get it but again - 8hours ride both ways so a bit far ( being a biker for many years I am a new driver and its my 1st car afterall) - it does seem to have recent services done at home so there is a potential for some costly parts due to be replaced - the owner is not keen to drop the price either... Good tip about the suspension I will keep it in mind.
 
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That's your call at the end of the day, but at a minimum of 14 years old there's potential for costly parts on all A2's nowadays. Also to an extent on the Mercs you're looking at - and I have heard that Merc parts are ridiculously expensive :oops:

With the recyclers we have on this forum, good secondhand parts for A2's are not hard to find. @A2Steve would be a very good place to start. There are garages in the London area that would be recommended by members on here.

Hopefully something decent will come up within a reasonable radius soon, but with all the uncertainty going on it does seem to be rather slow of late. I think that probably has a lot to do with why that Burntwood one is still on the market - even a year ago I'm sure that would have been snapped up.
 
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Proghound said:
That's your call at the end of the day, but at a minimum of 14 years old there's potential for costly parts on all A2's nowadays. Also to an extent on the Mercs you're looking at - and I have heard that Merc parts are ridiculously expensive :oops:

With the recyclers we have on this forum, good secondhand parts for A2's are not hard to find. @A2Steve would be a very good place to start. There are garages in the London area that would be recommended by members on here.

Hopefully something decent will come up within a reasonable radius soon, but with all the uncertainty going on it does seem to be rather slow of late. I think that probably has a lot to do with why that Burntwood one is still on the market - even a year ago I'm sure that would have been snapped up.
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I agree... I guess there is no way around it - I might just wait to get lucky - learned the hard way many times that poor cannot afford to buy cheap. I would be interested to learn about good garage to do works around london area though.
 
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80k / 14years = 5700 miles / year.
You wont find many of those.
But don't panic, condition and level of maintenance is far more important.
For me 80-100k is typically the most expensive period to own a car, suspension / brakes / clutch / cam-belt etc... all seem to warrant some attention then, so a 110K car with lots of history and some expensive recent large (once in a car's life) jobs is normally a better buy.
So don't restrict yourself so much open the search out to a little higher mileage but have a good read of the service history and the MOT history.
Best of luck!
PS in 30 years of motoring and over 25 car's I have only ever bought 5 cars under 100k miles, 1 of those was a real pig and went back to the dealer after 3mths.
 
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Robthebank said:
80k / 14years = 5700 miles / year.
You wont find many of those.
But don't panic, condition and level of maintenance is far more important.
For me 80-100k is typically the most expensive period to own a car, suspension / brakes / clutch / cam-belt etc... all seem to warrant some attention then, so a 110K car with lots of history and some expensive recent large (once in a car's life) jobs is normally a better buy.
So don't restrict yourself so much open the search out to a little higher mileage but have a good read of the service history and the MOT history.
Best of luck!
PS in 30 years of motoring and over 25 car's I have only ever bought 5 cars under 100k miles, 1 of those was a real pig and went back to the dealer after 3mths.
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Thanks alot - I will expand my search scope - I have a feeling it will not be easy but I hope it will be worth it.
 
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Robthebank said:
@seemehow PS did you pay the £2 so that you can see the marketplace here? You will find some great examples on there, you can also list a wanted add, its well worth it, as many owners who have loved and cared for their cars over many years will only sell them within the club, its like a family here!
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Second that, although at the present time there seem to be no 1.4 petrols for sale on the market :oops: Well, there are two, but with no answer to (now old) enquiries about availability, so assume they're gone.
 
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I
Robthebank said:
@seemehow PS did you pay the £2 so that you can see the marketplace here? You will find some great examples on there, you can also list a wanted add, its well worth it, as many owners who have loved and cared for their cars over many years will only sell them within the club, its like a family here!
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Did no know it's an option. Will do it now. Thanks!
 
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Welcome aboard Mike.

Plenty of good advice from members - condition vice mileage etc. There is one here, just over budget and with 64k on the clock.

No affiliation to the seller and I've not checked out the MOT history, but might be of interest. Good luck with your search.

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seemehow said:
Thanks alot - I will expand my search scope - I have a feeling it will not be easy but I hope it will be worth it.
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The biggest mistake your making is limiting your distance to view ...some of the best buys I’ve made are miles away from home ..one was a flight up to Dundee if the spec price and service history is all good ...you can glean a lot from the buyer with right questions asked ..I always bought return train ticket just in case and a return is not much more than a single ..i always treat it as a day out and if the car is as described wonderful ..good luck
 
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greywolfhound said:
The biggest mistake your making is limiting your distance to view ...some of the best buys I’ve made are miles away from home ..one was a flight up to Dundee if the spec price and service history is all good ...you can glean a lot from the buyer with right questions asked ..I always bought return train ticket just in case and a return is not much more than a single ..i always treat it as a day out and if the car is as described wonderful ..good luck
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Hello I'll take your advice on board. Thank you for suggestion. I did find this car and contacted the seller asking some simple questions why he's pricing it at this level (the engine was swapped so not really sure what is the actual mileage) but his rude response just put me off. Really unpleasant man it seems. The distance puts me off because I'm a new driver and do not feel comfortable to take such a long journey as a first trip. A bit of disadvantage I guess but better safe than sorry is my motto. I'll keep searching.
 
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Sorry to hear that ? there is always one plonker ..don’t Let it put you off majority of a2 owners are nice people (on the whole?) it’s your right to ask lots of questions any genuine seller will realise this and if you are travelling a distance of 15 minute conversation on the telephone is not asking too much .. stick with it .. what I have found in life when you’re looking for something in particular it never seems to turn up when you’re not looking it does I hope that’s not always the case for your sake good luck again ..
 
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seemehow said:
- it does seem to have recent services done at home so there is a potential for some costly parts due to be replaced - the owner is not keen to drop the price either... Good tip about the suspension I will keep it in mind.
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I’m getting the impression you think home maintenance is a bad thing? I’m not sure I agree with that. My sons A2 wants for nothing and is better maintained than any garage would offer, we do everything in the driveway. If you find a decent owner then I wouldn’t be concerned about home maintenance as long as he has a file full of receipts to log the work done.
Also that is very good advice regarding the suspension arms, if you get a later car with pressed steel arms that have not been replaced then they will definitely be shot and will cost a few hundred to change due to the labour involved.
 
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