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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mjsbrabus said:
Reading the thread - I would be surprised if he did.

A lot of 'yes but ....' responses to suggestions.

Be delighted to be proved wrong though.......
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That would be quite something to be fair: run up a five page thread on merits, details and pitfalls of A2's and then ends up buying a Ford Ranger ?

As you say, be nice if he did get an A2 but then even nicer to report back and tell all about it, regardless of outcome.

I have to say, one of the many excellent things about A2OC is that threads almost always get resolved.

Nothing worse than Googling an issue, finding a four page thread that starts off describing exactly the same problem you've got. 'At last' you think, 'the answer is within my grasp'. You read the back and forth of ideas, the possible culprits, suggested solutions. You get to the last page 'I'll try that and report back, thanks' the OP says.

And then nothing other than a distant church bell, crickets, tumbleweed. :rolleyes:
 
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seems a shame to my mind but there we are, I recently brought one was very lucky to get a lowish mileage example 72k 1.6 fsi in really good condition for £200 fsh every 6k 2 previous owners last owner since 2005, they are out there just got look, In my case I wasn't looking just saved it from scrap yard as it sat on the chaps drive for 18 months as he no longer used it as he converted to a push bike, I gave it a check over and all it needed was disc and pads all round cambelt still had the original one on o_O and a full service for good measure , its currently stripped out again as iv taken this time to clean the inlet manifold out as heard that's a problem, but shame he didn't report back any further
 
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I don't think he would have bought one, I was in communication with him and he was expecting an immaculate, Low milage one for in the region of £1200, he wasn't in the position to do any mechanical work. I think he liked the idea of an A2 but could not except that you may pay a little more for an 2003 Reg A2 than a 2003 Fiesta.
 
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Audisean89. That sounds like a very good £200 worth!!

We are in that stage now where some owners would virtually pay someone to take the car away if there is a problem with it and a repair bill of several hundred £ is mentioned. Would expect a lot more of that when the financial implications of this lock-down become more a reality in a few months time.

Who knows? It might soon become possible for our man to find an immaculate low mileage A2 for £1200 :).
 
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mjsbrabus said:
We are in that stage now where some owners would virtually pay someone to take the car away if there is a problem with it and a repair bill of several hundred £ is mentioned. Would expect a lot more of that when the financial implications of this lock-down become more a reality in a few months time.
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Please let me know if you come across these because I sure haven't found them yet :)
 
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its a shame people do just get rid of them though, because let be honest if you get over the teething problems or what every the faults may be, your still going to have to buy another car and lets face it they all break at some point or need a service just keep what you've got and carry on unless its obviously ridicules amount, I'm happy with the a2 and if it did have something major go wrong with it id just foot the bill be like ok no worries tick it of the list so to speak, last time I checked you don't sell you house because it needs decorating do you ☺
 
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audisean89 said:
its a shame people do just get rid of them though, because let be honest if you get over the teething problems or what every the faults may be, your still going to have to buy another car and lets face it they all break at some point or need a service just keep what you've got and carry on unless its obviously ridicules amount, I'm happy with the a2 and if it did have something major go wrong with it id just foot the bill be like ok no worries tick it of the list so to speak, last time I checked you don't sell you house because it needs decorating do you ☺
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I totally agree, if you get rid and buy another car for £2-3k it will still need work on it, so in my book better the devil you know, enjoy and love.
 
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Funny. Just been having a discussion with wife and son about the 'new car / finance' merry-go-round. (Yes we have exciting conversations in our house)!

If too many people took the 'better the devil you know' attitude the whole new car manufacturing / retailing / financing industry would collapse.
 
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mjsbrabus said:
Funny. Just been having a discussion with wife and son about the 'new car / finance' merry-go-round. (Yes we have exciting conversations in our house)!

If too many people took the 'better the devil you know' attitude the whole new car manufacturing / retailing / financing industry would collapse.
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Given the system is totally nonsensical in the first place and the impending economic apocalypse I think that is a very real possibility.

The most dangerous phrase in business ever uttered? “But we’ve always done it like that?”
 
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Yes and Tesla is one of the few manufacturers still selling cars in the midst of this crisis with their more direct distribution channels. Other manufacturers will be taking note.
 
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Just think. We have seen the demise of the car sales brochure. There is talk about the big annual Car Shows being 'history'. And now maybe the end of the traditional 'dealership' (over the next few years).

Can't see an end to the PCP 'game' though.
 
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With less people having to travel for work will the desire be there to have the latest shiny car in the office carpark, I would hope not. Even if I had the money to go out and buy a new £30k car I certainly wouldn't be doing so, because the way we travel will probably be changing from now on.
 
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It will be interesting to see.

There is much talk about a massive shift towards home working but when it all settles down I personally doubt whether employers will go that way. And of course for many people it is just not an option.
 
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Team - I can speak from experience: I ALMOST pulled the trigger on a new factory order for a Skoda Fabia Estate.

I wanted a reliable, refined small estate-like car (i.e. big load-lugging capacity). It has to be small (I will be shortly moving to rural Devon with its narrow lanes and parking outside of where I live will be tight); It has to have isofix as I have a young family; it has to be economical as I'll be commuting weekly to either Slough or Ealing; it has to be reliable as I will also use it for work travel (and also because I don't want to break down!). I had considered used cars but found nothing I liked.

Now I am a firm believer in only buying something you can afford - PCP to me is an alien concept therefore, as it goes against my nature to run up a debt on something like a car - A house, OK fine; A (new) car is a luxury however.

Right at the point I was going to place an order and be prepared to wait 5/6 months (pre-Covid19), I called a Skoda dealer and I could clearly hear the salesman's disinterest when I said I was paying cash and had a quote I was looking for them to match from Carwow. He literally got me off the phone as quickly as possible and that was that; due to, I assume, him sensing he wouldn't be able to make any money out of me - Car sales now is all about selling finance and silly extras such as paint / upholstery protection at a massive mark-up, selling the cars themselves are are no longer the thing that generates the primary income source.

Luckily at that point I discovered the A2 (even in top condition) is under a third of what I was thinking of spending, ticks all my boxes AND both satisfies my desire to tinker / improve my cars myself if possible, plus will not depreciate to anything like the degree the Fabia would.

I am now glad that salesman cut the conversation when he did: he did me a massive favour - but my opinion remains that the new / nearly new car sales industry is WELL overdue a massive shake-up.
 
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mjsbrabus said:
It will be interesting to see.

There is much talk about a massive shift towards home working but when it all settles down I personally doubt whether employers will go that way. And of course for many people it is just not an option.
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I've today been given a new works laptop and will be working from home 4 out of the 5 days I normally would. That won't change going forward and they have already said we won't go back to the 'old' way of doing things. I'm all for it.
 
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A2Steve said:
I've today been given a new works laptop and will be working from home 4 out of the 5 days I normally would. That won't change going forward and they have already said we won't go back to the 'old' way of doing things. I'm all for it.
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It is what works best for the individual. I bought my A2 for its economy and the fact (before lockdown) I was spending between 3-4 hours on the daily commute. I have the most to gain from working from home but I just don't like it. I am honest to admit that I am not as productive when at home so am happy to be the opposite and spend 1 day at home and 4 at work, currently supporting another 184 people working from home.
Plus, at the moment, driving on the roads is great and a lot cheaper!
 
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