Discussion
Glen over on Audi-Sport might be a good chap to ask as he or his ex had one for a while.
I wouldn't be too worried about your S3 unless it's a really dodgy area, mine was fine for pretty much 6 months on a pretty bad road in Plymouth. (that said I think some people were scared because it's yellow
)
I wouldn't be too worried about your S3 unless it's a really dodgy area, mine was fine for pretty much 6 months on a pretty bad road in Plymouth. (that said I think some people were scared because it's yellow
)Very good little car, the A2.
Just mis-understood by most.
We do sell them whenever we have them, but you need to know what is good and bad!
AVOID: base models with the skinny cheapo wheels and no air conditioning, solid paint colours, and any imported auto stuff. Also AVOID any crash damaged cars as the alloy space frame and structure was never designed to be repaired in my view...
DO BUY: 1.4, 1.6 FSi and 1.4 TDi (both 75 and 90ps models are good fun) SE and Sport models, but only if the Sport has climate, and look for mega spec cars with open sky roof, leather, heated seats, BOSE, Sat Nav - specced up cars were extorsionate when new - I sold one once at £26,000!!!
Second hand they make astonishing value...
But here's the thing to remember - the reason they didn't hold their money well was they were very expensive when new... They are a genuine 4 seat family car with a big (if unusual shaped) boot, but where a 1.4SE was £15500, a Fiesta 5 door was £8000 new!!
The public at large didn't realise that the fiesta did 33 mpg and the Audi 44 mpg, or in diesel 64mpg AVERAGE!!!
Or that the 1.6FSi did 130mph!!! I kid you not!!
Just don't buy one to make money on it - you won't!!
Just mis-understood by most.
We do sell them whenever we have them, but you need to know what is good and bad!
AVOID: base models with the skinny cheapo wheels and no air conditioning, solid paint colours, and any imported auto stuff. Also AVOID any crash damaged cars as the alloy space frame and structure was never designed to be repaired in my view...
DO BUY: 1.4, 1.6 FSi and 1.4 TDi (both 75 and 90ps models are good fun) SE and Sport models, but only if the Sport has climate, and look for mega spec cars with open sky roof, leather, heated seats, BOSE, Sat Nav - specced up cars were extorsionate when new - I sold one once at £26,000!!!
Second hand they make astonishing value...
But here's the thing to remember - the reason they didn't hold their money well was they were very expensive when new... They are a genuine 4 seat family car with a big (if unusual shaped) boot, but where a 1.4SE was £15500, a Fiesta 5 door was £8000 new!!
The public at large didn't realise that the fiesta did 33 mpg and the Audi 44 mpg, or in diesel 64mpg AVERAGE!!!
Or that the 1.6FSi did 130mph!!! I kid you not!!
Just don't buy one to make money on it - you won't!!
We have a 1.4tdi SE. Great car, massively underrated - interior space compares favourably with my other Audi - an A8!! They are a bit of a Tardis. Better legroom in the back of the A2 for sure, which is a surprise to most. They have very deep footwells in the rear which makes a surprising difference.
At first they feel like they are tall and thin and liable to topple over, but the CofG is low, and they are pretty chuckable. You soon forget what it looks like. The TDI can be a hoot, but you have to ride the boost; they rev out and run out of puff, but keep them on the boost and they can fly. Good visibility apart from the mega blind spot caused by the thick forward A pillars, which can hide a complete car at roundabouts. Cheap to run, tax is £80 for the year, mileage is impressive - you'll be amazed at how far it goes on a tankful, expecially when you come to fill up and you can't get £30 worth in. You'll either like the ride or not, being short with wheels at each corner it can be very choppy, and it is firm.
Watch out for water marks on the cloth seats; not sure if its just the cloth we have, but and water getting inside (like snow dropping in) will leave horrible marks on the cloth. The ERG valve can be noisy. A tickover just tickle the throttle, and if there is a problem you will hear it booming as you gently press the throttle. It's mounted on the bulkhead and booms throughout the car, and can be VERY irritating; some people modify the mounting of it to reduce the noise transmitted to the cabin. I think ours stuck closed or something as it just stopped doing it one day and hasn't done it since.
We just had to replace the ARB as the bushes had sheared. Early cars had bonded bushes, they were redesigned with metal locator plates and more normal bushes. Cam belt need to be changed at bit often - 60,000 miles. That's not a lot for a cambelt. Ours also has a habit of eating headlight bulbs. You need a Torq driver to get the headlamp unit out to replace, otherwise it's a £30 dealer job.
We've thought about replacing ours (2002 model) but there really isn't anything comparable. Maybe a newer one with Open Sky and leather, but anything else that size would be seriously trading down.
As mentioned these cars were very expensive new. I think Audi also made a loss on them, as they were expensive to manufacture.
One last thing - not all the panels are ally, as we found out recently when ours was keyed; the front wings are ABS.
At first they feel like they are tall and thin and liable to topple over, but the CofG is low, and they are pretty chuckable. You soon forget what it looks like. The TDI can be a hoot, but you have to ride the boost; they rev out and run out of puff, but keep them on the boost and they can fly. Good visibility apart from the mega blind spot caused by the thick forward A pillars, which can hide a complete car at roundabouts. Cheap to run, tax is £80 for the year, mileage is impressive - you'll be amazed at how far it goes on a tankful, expecially when you come to fill up and you can't get £30 worth in. You'll either like the ride or not, being short with wheels at each corner it can be very choppy, and it is firm.
Watch out for water marks on the cloth seats; not sure if its just the cloth we have, but and water getting inside (like snow dropping in) will leave horrible marks on the cloth. The ERG valve can be noisy. A tickover just tickle the throttle, and if there is a problem you will hear it booming as you gently press the throttle. It's mounted on the bulkhead and booms throughout the car, and can be VERY irritating; some people modify the mounting of it to reduce the noise transmitted to the cabin. I think ours stuck closed or something as it just stopped doing it one day and hasn't done it since.
We just had to replace the ARB as the bushes had sheared. Early cars had bonded bushes, they were redesigned with metal locator plates and more normal bushes. Cam belt need to be changed at bit often - 60,000 miles. That's not a lot for a cambelt. Ours also has a habit of eating headlight bulbs. You need a Torq driver to get the headlamp unit out to replace, otherwise it's a £30 dealer job.
We've thought about replacing ours (2002 model) but there really isn't anything comparable. Maybe a newer one with Open Sky and leather, but anything else that size would be seriously trading down.
As mentioned these cars were very expensive new. I think Audi also made a loss on them, as they were expensive to manufacture.
One last thing - not all the panels are ally, as we found out recently when ours was keyed; the front wings are ABS.
I had one as a courtesy car once, two things stick in my mind;
1. My foot got stuck between the brake pedal and car when using the clutch due to the tiny footwell (OK if you've got small feet).
2. It used almost no fuel at all (small Diesel engine - 1.4L?).
Personally it didn't float my boat but probably better than many of the other miniature cars.
1. My foot got stuck between the brake pedal and car when using the clutch due to the tiny footwell (OK if you've got small feet).
2. It used almost no fuel at all (small Diesel engine - 1.4L?).
Personally it didn't float my boat but probably better than many of the other miniature cars.
catso said:
I had one as a courtesy car once, two things stick in my mind;
1. My foot got stuck between the brake pedal and car when using the clutch due to the tiny footwell (OK if you've got small feet).
2. It used almost no fuel at all (small Diesel engine - 1.4L?).
Personally it didn't float my boat but probably better than many of the other miniature cars.
I have size 11's and have no problems with the pedals. Did you miss the footrest? 1. My foot got stuck between the brake pedal and car when using the clutch due to the tiny footwell (OK if you've got small feet).
2. It used almost no fuel at all (small Diesel engine - 1.4L?).
Personally it didn't float my boat but probably better than many of the other miniature cars.
Victor,
You don't need to remove the headlight assembly to change the bulb! At the back there is an access panel held in place with a metal clip, if you slide the clip across the panel should come away and you can change the bulb through that, just make sure as i'm sure you're aware that the prong on the bulb is located in the slot otherwise the deflector at the front doesn't work properly
You don't need to remove the headlight assembly to change the bulb! At the back there is an access panel held in place with a metal clip, if you slide the clip across the panel should come away and you can change the bulb through that, just make sure as i'm sure you're aware that the prong on the bulb is located in the slot otherwise the deflector at the front doesn't work properly
Silent1 said:
Victor,
You don't need to remove the headlight assembly to change the bulb! At the back there is an access panel held in place with a metal clip, if you slide the clip across the panel should come away and you can change the bulb through that, just make sure as i'm sure you're aware that the prong on the bulb is located in the slot otherwise the deflector at the front doesn't work properly
In theory yes, in practice it's much easier to undo the 2 torq screws and pop the unit forward than to mess about trying to unclip and pry off the cover, then fiddle with the bulb location pegs and clips that you can't see, while dislocating your arm in several places ... You don't need to remove the headlight assembly to change the bulb! At the back there is an access panel held in place with a metal clip, if you slide the clip across the panel should come away and you can change the bulb through that, just make sure as i'm sure you're aware that the prong on the bulb is located in the slot otherwise the deflector at the front doesn't work properly
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