Purchase help needed

[seemehow]

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 I might have no other choice – I am not interested in a project car – no funds or 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.

Mike

[Magnet]

Hello Michal,

You raise some good points, and I’m sure you will have a number of replies. 

Mine for what it’s worth would be £2000 budget buys you into problem territory, and your quest for an 80k mileage limit will be restrictive. If you are realistically talking 2007/2010 then the car will be 9 to 12 years old, and 80k will represent low mileage. Low mileage may sound attractive, but small mileage trips leads to increased wear, when compared with an average to high mileage example, where the car has been regularly running at optimum conditions. 

Another consideration is that at around your 80k miles, components will need changing, whereas on a higher mileage one, the previous owner will have already spent the money to replace such parts. We have a 2006 family A3 1.6 which has just turned 155k, and ........ no I’m not tempting fate! .....but we are hanging on to it! 

Mercedes vs. Audi - sorry can’t help. 

What I would say Michal is to broaden your mind’s search’s and assess the condition of a particular car of interest, and don’t just look at the mileage reading. OK, £2000 is a lot of money, but not in terms of buying a car. Another consideration would be to buy a cheap car and run it until it stops. 

Anticipated expenditure around your 80K limit? Cambelt and associated assembly, and far more. Beware , even if already changed, there are a fair % of substandard aftermarket parts which might have been used, and this is as worrying/potentially more expensive as it not having been done. 

Enjoy your search. If you are fully competent with assessing cars then I’d say it’s essential to take someone along who is. 

Good luck in finding something. 

Kind regards, 

Gareth. 

[seemehow]

39 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Many thanks for your response Gareth. You raised a fair point with mileage. It looks like the better choice would be a higher mileage with parts replaced or going into below 60k but here is where I cannot justify the asking price and probably move to a different model all together like yours A3 instead of A2 ( I just like the smaller  5 door car better).