Steel wheels and hubcaps

John H

John H

Member
Was the A2 ever offered in the UK by Audi with steel wheels and plastic wheel trims?

I ask cos I don't ever recall seeing this before, yet today I saw one for sale with 15" steels and Audi trims. I am suspicious as there is a garage in this area which for years has been bringing in new VW's and Audis from Ireland, and I know I have seen lots of VWs locally with the wrong wheels.

:cool:
 
Short answer - no!

The most basic wheels ever on sale in the UK were the 15" forged and polished wheels.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
Short answer - no!

The most basic wheels ever on sale in the UK were the 15" forged and polished wheels.
Click to expand...

Hmm, thought so ... that means there are a bunch on non-UK cars in my area, I'll need to remember that while I'm looking for one. :mad:

Thanks

JH


PS ... funny that the most basic offering should be forged, in anybody else's catalogue they would be the most expensive option. Can I assume that the forged wheels are very good, if small? Come to think of it, there can't be that many manufacturers of forged wheels ... they're not by Fuchs are they?
 
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Standard in Germany was steel wheels in 5,5J15 (ET 34 I think). (not the winter-steel tyres, which are 5J15 ET28).

The advance-package has the 6J15 Aluminium.

So what you have seen could be the standard winter tyres on 15" steel.
 
I would be surprised if someone is bringing used VAG cars legally from Ireland.

Cars here tend to be alot more expensive than in the UK. Many people try to register a car in the UK and drive it here but the customs call round residential addresses with foreign registered cars outside.

Consider this Golf:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=867888

According to XE.com that's approx £16,200 at wholesale prices. Maybe £16,500 when the bank adds on commission.

Now look at this:

http://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/iad/motors/cars_for_sale/volkswagen/golf/object?emcode=8366761&sid=xz3cbdL87ZZ665507

Looks like a better car, better engine for £8,599.

It is true though that the Irish specced vehicles are of a lower standard than UK ones because the registration tax is so high; manufacturers cut out as much as possible on the standard equipment to make them more affordable.

I know you say that he is importing new cars but there are no new A2s!
 
Allow me to explain.

There is a garage locally, not a fanchise holder, just a place that sells used cars, and over the last few years he has had an arrangement with a particular VW/Audi dealer in Ireland. In essence, this guy has bought up "overstocks" from Eire, cars which were pre-registered to make bonuses, but then sat unsold, with the warranties already ticking. They were whatever were slow to shift at the time, usually low spec Beetles, Polos and a few A2's and A3's. As far as I know this arrangement stopped a few years ago, but it means that a lot of these cars still live locally and pop up in the local trade from time to time. The car I saw was actually in another garage down the road.

Most of the folk who bought them originally neither knew nor cared where they came from, they just snapped them up cos they appeared to be cheap. They are not however UK spec cars, and one of the most obvious give-aways were the steel wheels, and other lower spec details from what was on offer in the UK at the time.

Just another example of caveat emptor.

John H
 
The Society of Irish Motor Industry are calling the government to exempt the registration tax on safety equipment. For a 2l car, VRT is 30% of the Open Market Selling Price (OMSP).

The catch 22 is that the OMSP includes VRT. So you are paying VRT on VRT. It is illegal under EU law but the man responsible for enforcing that EU law used to be the minister for finance (Chancellor of the Excequer) who implemented the tax in the first place.

Cars destined for the Irish market have a much lower spec, including safety equipment, to keep the price of the car down.

The other big issue is road tax. At present a car is taxed based on engine size. My A2 costs €343 per year. A Golf 1.9 would be €539 per year. A 2.5l car €1,067 and 3l and above €1,491 per year.

These rates are to change from the summer based on CO2 emmissions but only on cars registered from July 08 onwards.

A litre of Diesel is €1.20 in my local garage, which is about 90p.

So don't ever complain about the UK's treatment of car drivers!
 
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