Prospective A2 buyer

[Closecall81]

Hallo!

 

I am new to Germany and need a car. My friend told me about the A2 which I have researched and found to be very nice. What can i expect from these little cars? In the USA I grew up thinking Audi where expensive cars so I never had one. Anyhow my friend said if I asked real nicely here that you guys could point me in the right direction of a nice A2. The top of my price range is 5000E but I am not opposed less. I really just need something reliable and cheap on fuel. I've been told that old cars are heavily taxed and that is why you don't see them on the road here. How long before that is a factor for the A2? So far I've found this:

 

Audi A2 1.4 TDI *Klima*Tüv-Z-Riemen-Reifen Neu* als Kleinwagen in Solingen

 

 

Thanks in advance for any help and or information!

[bret]

hello.

 

€5k ain't much. What's important in terms of equipment? anything? I'd also look at petrols rather than diesel (magic word "KFZ-Steuer" and the yellow Umweltplaketten).

 

How many kms per year will you be driving?

 

Bret

[herr_tichy]

Welcome to the A2 Forum, nice to see you've found your way here TBH, for that price, there's probably something fishy about the car you've linked. It should be worth about 6k. For 5k you should attempt to find (as bret said) a basic petrol model without the OSS (OpenSky system, the glass roof). Apart from the performance which is said to be slightly sluggish (although I find myself limited by speed limits and traffic, not my engine) it is the easiest (and therefore cheapest) to repair of all the engines. It also was sold in the highest numbers, so there are plenty available for lower prices than the diesel.

 

EDIT: Für unsere nicht englischsprachigen Leser: Ich hab den guten Mann hierher geschickt, weil er einen A2 sucht. Für max 5000€. Hab ihm unser Forum empfohlen wegen der hervorragenden Kaufberatung und weil vielleicht sogar mal jemand mitfährt und einen A2 anschaut. Als non-native speaker wird er sonst vielleicht doch eher übers Ohr gehauen, siehe der verdächtig günstige Diesel, den er da verlinkt.

Bearbeitet 20. Juli 2011 von herr_tichy

[Closecall81]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

Bret: I'm not sure how much I'll be driving it is only 20km to work but being in German is my grand adventure so I want to explore the country as well as the rest of Europe (probably by train). Just a solid reliable car not so worried about other options though.... but suddenly im curious about what the other equipment would be? I know I have to buy a nice GPS system for any car I get. I have more then 5k but was hoping for something around that but I could possibly afford up to 7k. I'm living pretty cheap right now with a friend and in a couple few months I could have even more.

 

herr tichy: Thanks for the warm welcome and the translation! I was thinking that about the car as well and I tried to look up Audi A2 in "Kelley blue book" so I could have a base value of what it is worth. So I'm shooting from the hip about how much A2's are worth. A little sluggish is fine, in the past my lead foot has been a problem with fast cars. Gas seems like a good option then besides the fact as I understand they are cheaper on taxes.

[bret]

weeeeellllll...

 

Petrol: mine's averaging 5.8l/100 right now (that's around 17km/l or 10.7 miles per litre - you can do the gallon conversion as I use the real ones) - so it's pretty economical even if you do do the big trips. You should convince Harald to join you in the Convoy up north in February to drive on the ice...

 

Anyway: the equipment thing isn't really an issue, as there's nothing that can't be retrofitted without some hassle, OSS being an exception, and even that has been done. So I'd strongly recommend taking a look over time, working out whether you're prepared to go for a silver one, and checking the insurance rates for different cars. I'd look for a petrol with 100-150000kms with a decent service history and climate control. Brown and silver are cheap. black, white, yellow, orange, more expensive. The insipid pale green is also OK price-wise AFAIC.

 

Bret

[bret]

This kind of thing looks reasonable: Audi A2 1.4 Angebot der Woche als Kleinwagen in Unna

[Gompie]

The insipid pale green

Thanks a lot Bret! I'm quite happy with my Islandgrün metallic car,

I bought it because of the colour.... You just can't please some people!

(insipid = geschmacklos)

@Closecall, I'd definitely search for one with climacontrol, retrofit is a pain in some donkey and valuewise cars with it do better when sold.

Cheers, Gompie

[bret]

Thanks a lot Bret! I'm quite happy with my Islandgrün metallic car,

I bought it because of the colour.... You just can't please some people!

(insipid = geschmacklos)

@Closecall, I'd definitely search for one with climacontrol, retrofit is a pain in some donkey and valuewise cars with it do better when sold.

Cheers, Gompie

Definitely - that's one of the other retrofits which probably is impossible.

 

Re: insipid: in this context, "tasteless" is a correct translation of "fad" which is widely considered a synonym of insipid. However, that wasn't quite the intended meaning, it being more aimed at the fact that the colour isn't a bold one. "fad" can be used to describe the taste of food which hasn't been seasoned correctly or completely.

 

Bret

Bearbeitet 20. Juli 2011 von bret

[Gompie]

Thanks for the explanation, as a non native English speaker not all

nuances of this beautiful and potent language are known to me.

Blame it on google translate which came up with geschmaklos.

Still it may not be a bold colour, I think it is beautiful; The not so bold and the beautiful A2 with black accents and blue seats....

Wonderful forum this is! Ich schrieb gerade ^^ " Wieder was gelernt!"

ForrestGompie

[Pater B]

I'd too recommend looking for one with climate control. As this was part of the style/advantage package cars with climate control usually come with remote locking, front electric windows+mirrors, basic alloys and painted doorhandles+mirrors - stuff thats quite hard and/or expensive to retrofit.

[herr_tichy]

How about this one?

 

Sportlicher A2 tdi aus 2003 mit sehr vielen Extras!!! - A2 Forum

 

Apparently the price has just been lowered to 5000. The cam belt would have to be changed soon though, so calculate another 500 for that.

[A2-D2]

Naaaja, so hab ich das jetzt aber nicht gemeint

[herr_tichy]

A2-D2, schau mal in den Link rein. Hab hier keine Insiderinfos weitergegeben

[A2-D2]

Roger that. Ich hab nix gesagt

[herr_tichy]

Personally, I'd take a well taken care of car with higher mileage over a "low mileage" with dubious history (driven by someones mom to school every day...) any time. The TDI will cost you 232€ tax per year, compared to about 120€ for the petrol engine.

 

Let's say you drive 20km to work and back, you work around 220 days a year, this means about 8800km / year. The petrol engine will use about 572l for that, the TDI will use 422l. Let's calculate 1.5€/l, then the TDI saves you 225€ per year on your way to work alone. If taken care of well (warm up and cool down with care, change oil now and then), this engine will reach 300.000km and beyond. I'd say, the TDI is the engine for you. Check the offer above, the rest of the car looks fairly good too.

Bearbeitet 21. Juli 2011 von herr_tichy

[Nagah]

I'd say it's a very fair deal for the money.

[Closecall81]

Wow all the replies thanks guys ! Im happy you all are speaking in english I know it is difficult but I must say that most people i speak to in Germany think their English is bad but in fact most of it is pretty good and even if its not I really respect them for trying.

I'm trying to allocate all my money at the moment.

I have never had a car with climate control but have always wanted one so I agree !

 

Where would i get the Cam belt fixed ? Can any mechanic do it or should i take it to a dealer?

[herr_tichy]

Any (good) mechanic can do that. Shop around for quotes, reasonable ones should be around 500 (including the parts!). Always have the mechanic buy the parts. If something goes b0rk afterwards, he's fully responsible for the warranty (there's always warranty on work you have done and on the replaced parts, in addition they would be liable for damage that would result from a wrongly mounted belt e.g.). Usually the coolant pump is changed too (cheap part that is difficult to reach though with the cam belt on). I wouldn't have it done at Audi because you'll end up paying for their glass palace. Maybe someone from your region can recommend a workshop? On the other hand, shio writes something about that he could arrange for the belt to be changed. He has a quote for 450 for that, ask him about that if you're interested. Oh, and it's Gernsheim

Bearbeitet 21. Juli 2011 von herr_tichy

[A2-D2]

most people i speak to in Germany think their English is bad but in fact most of it is pretty good and even if its not I really respect them for trying

 

Because we germans are perfectionist or want to be perfectionist