Latest news with #AudiA2
Daily Mirror
30-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Wheeler Dealers' Mike Brewer says cars are getting 'harder to fix' as one is 'almost impossible' to repair
Mike Brewer, who is best known for hosting Wheeler Dealers, has slammed modern cars and says they are becoming increasingly difficult to repair as he names one vehicle that is 'almost impossible' to fix Wheeler Dealers favourite Mike Brewer has singled out one motor that is "almost impossible to fix" whilst taking aim at today's vehicles. The telly star has built his reputation by snapping up second-hand cars and restoring them for profit. Yet Mike reckons contemporary motors are becoming increasingly tricky to mend. He claims the troubling trend kicked off with the Audi A2, where drivers were unable to lift the bonnet, being limited to just a "service hatch" instead. Mike reckons we're now stuck in a "disposable society" and suggests drivers are more likely to trade in their motor rather than keep it running, reports the Express. He argues people no longer show their cars the "respect" they once did. On the Talkin' Shop podcast, he said: "Back in my day or your dad's day, when you bought your new car, or your nearly new used car, you would wash it every weekend, you would, every three months, change the oil, change the filter, and hoover it out, and clean it. "We sell cars at One Automotive that are six months old, one year old, and they might come back six months later and it's never seen a car wash. Never had an oil filter, never had the screenwashed." However, Mike reckons manufacturers have deliberately made it tougher to service vehicles. He explained: "I think Audi started it with the A2 when they made that car deliberately with no bonnet. "All you could do was put water in it at the front for your screenwash. It was almost impossible to service the car yourself and then other manufacturers followed suit." Mike claims that many modern vehicles have become a "sea of plastic coverings" beneath the bonnet. He continued: "The manufacturers are saying, 'Don't touch it, leave it alone, bring it back to us and we'll charge you' or 'Don't touch it and wait for it to die'." The television specialist maintains that motors can "go on forever" if they are "looked after right". He referenced lorries which routinely clock up higher mileage as proof of longevity. Mike revealed that vintage automobiles can frequently outlast their modern counterparts when restored with contemporary components. He elaborated: "Today we have different gasket compounds, we have different water compounds, we have different rubber and viscosity in rubber, so the chances are, if you're restoring a car today, the chances are it will run much better and much longer and last forever than it would have done when it came out of the factory." The automotive authority launched his broadcasting journey on Channel 4's Driven - created to compete with BBC Top Gear - before transferring to the Discovery Channel with Wheeler Dealers. He presented 18 series of the programme. Mike has also presented programmes including Wrecks to Riches and Auto Trader. He currently presents the British Rally Championship on Sky Sports.
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Used Audi A2 advertised for bargain price of £300 has a nasty surprise lurking inside...
When the Audi A2 arrived in 2000, it was considered a pioneer of the fast-changing automotive landscape. The lightweight car was one of the first true 'crossover' models, combining compact hatchback dimensions with MPV-style features - as well as a number of quirky touches that set it apart from every other motor on the road at the time. As such, it has gone on to earn modern classic status. Back in 2019, we even earmarked it as one of ten motors you could buy for less than £1,000 that would almost certainly rise in value in the future. So, when we stumbled across this 2003 example for sale for just £300, it looked like a real bargain. Despite its relatively high mileage - in excess of 100,000 miles - the Facebook Marketplace main image shows what looks to be a very tidy exterior with very little damage. But wait until you see what's inside.... The Audi, advertised in Stratford upon Avon, has a very nasty interior surprise: mould, and lots of it. In a complete contrast to the photos of the outside, the front section of the cabin is ravaged by fungus. This has likely been triggered by the car standing unused for months and suffering leaks that has left the interior exposed to Britain's mixed weather, including fluctuating temperatures and plenty of moisture. As such, mould spores have gathered and reproduced en masse, especially on the rim of the steering wheel, driver's seat and dashboard. The - extremely short - listing states the car 'doesn't run' and 'doesn't drive'. A quick check of its MOT background shows it was last assessed in January 2018 with the mileage at 102,244. Its history, however, suggests it had been relatively well cared for until then. It had three failed tests spanning a 12-year period, all of which were quickly followed by an MOT pass after repairs had been carried out. In fact, the last MOT seven years ago shows no advisories whatsoever. The Audi A2 is currently declared off the road as SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification), which likely has been the case since early 2019 and why it has fallen into such a state of disrepair. It is listed as having three owners from new and a manual transmission. The advert also says the 'V5 has been misplaced'. This is the registration document that is required to register it to a new owner, suggesting the car will need to be broken down and sold for spares. And the vendor clearly wants it removed as soon as possible, with the ad including the instruction: 'Need gone asap'. The mould inside, which has also affected the rear seating compartment, is so catastrophic that the interior would almost need to be fully stripped and replaced if a new keeper wanted to put it back on the road. And not only will it look and feel disgusting, we imagine the dank, lingering smell will also be incredibly potent - and in the worst cases, could lead to health issues. Long-term exposure can trigger allergies and rashes. It can also be dangerous for asthma sufferers as it typically causes wheezing and coughing. Exposure to toxic black mould can be even more serious and has been linked to headaches, vomiting, bleeding from the nose or lungs, nausea and extended sensations of fatigue. When the Audi A2 arrived in 2000, it considered a pioneer of the automotive landscape It's fair to say the A2 is a car that arrived slightly ahead of its time when it hit the market at the turn of the Century. As a result, it wasn't much of a sales hit when new, with sales ending after just five years in 2005, making it one of the shortest-lived models in UK showrooms of all time. That's made these cars relatively rare by today's standards - and very good condition examples are now collectable motors. DVLA records suggest that just 5,840 remain on the road in Britain today. Its space-age looks and clever engineering has garnered a cult A2 following, especially among fans of Audi cars in particular. The A2 is notable for its extremely aerodynamic body, all-aluminium 'spaceframe' construction and unique 'service hatch' behind the grille, which provides easy access to top up oil and window washer fluid. The downside of the latter is that the bonnet hood has to be removed entirely to reach the engine itself, which can be a fiddly job to say the least. The A2 also debuted this unique 'service hatch' behind the grille, which provides easy access to top up oil and window washer fluid. The downside is that the bonnet hood has to be removed entirely to reach the engine itself The A2 was sold in the UK from 2000 to 2005, making it one of the most short-lived cars in recent history It was available with a range of mega-efficient powertrain. The 1.4 diesel could return up to 70 miles to the gallon. It's now considered a modern classic, though just fewer than 6,000 remain on the road today Speaking of powertrains, these are incredibly efficient. The 1.4 diesel could return up to 70 miles to the gallon. The more powerful 1.6 FSi petrol engine - fitted to the mouldy car listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace - had a claimed fuel economy in the region of 50mpg. In 2011, Audi hinted it might bring the A2 back with the unveiling of an A2 Concept. However, it was never reborn. A good, low-mileage, example today costs around £4,000. Though we fear that this advertised car is more health hazard than collectable classic.
Auto Car
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Matt Prior: I bought an Audi A2 for £500 – and it's brilliant
One of the things people love to say about the Audi A2 is that it was ahead of its time. It's the opinion people seem to hold most about the small Audi. And I get that: if you pulled the wraps from it today, it would still look modern. In October last year, Audi did just that, when it revealed the A2 E-tron concept restomod to celebrate the car's 25th anniversary, and it looked as fresh as a piglet. But if the A2 was 'ahead of its time', it must still be a long, long way ahead of its time, because more than a quarter of a century after it was launched, the world is not oversupplied with compact aluminium four-seaters that weigh less than 900kg and measure 3.8m long. No, instead the family car market is filled with very un-A2ish things: steel, heavy and crossovery. Influentially, and financially, the Audi A2 was a dead end. Audi sold just 176,000 of them globally over five years, at a time when Ford was selling 125,000 Focuses, in the UK alone, every year. The car that has come closest to following it, spiritually, was perhaps the BMW i3. BMW sold fewer than 25,000 of those a year too. And yet, and yet. What we once called Audi's 'nearly successful' A2 must have made a cultural impact because, believe me, people do like to talk about it. I've written about thousands of different cars over the years but my inbox has never known anything like the correspondence I've received since I bought an A2 in February. I've heard from the owners' club, talked with an owner who also has a McLaren F1, and heard from a guy who owns eight A2s. My car's previous owner was grateful I picked it up early, because he didn't want his mum to visit and see it was going. I still don't know enough about the A2, but I'm starting to see how it's adored. And it's easy to understand why.
BBC News
16-03-2025
- BBC News
Two women critical after A82 crash near beauty spot
Two women are in critical condition after a two-car crash on the A82 in Scotland said the collision, between a Ford Mondeo and an Audi A2, happened near the Falls of Falloch at about 13:40 on said a 35-year-old woman was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. A 60-year-old woman was also taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley following the incident, which happened between Ardlui and Crianlarich. PC Ian Marshall said: "Our inquiries are continuing to establish the cause of this crash. I would urge any witnesses or anyone with information to contact us."I would also ask any drivers on the road with dashcam from around the time of the crash to review their footage and please contact us if it holds anything relevant."
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How aerodynamics have moved cars forward in the past 25 years
I've bought an Audi A2. It's a 2003 74bhp 1.4-litre diesel and, because it didn't have an MOT, it cost me £500. So far, I've fitted a new rear wheel bearing (£30), cleaned some mould from its crannies and sent it to be MOT tested. It failed only on headlight alignment and parking brake effectiveness, the latter perhaps because it has recently spent time sitting. By the time you read this, I hope to have sorted both, plus the sole advisory note about headlight cloudiness, meaning I will have a fully roadworthy, clean-MOTed A2 that the tester called 'really tidy' for less than £550. You will hear more about it, of course, in future, and no doubt I will bang on about it at length on the podcast (get it every Wednesday from etc and so on). But it's a photo from the previous owner, showing a return of 75mpg, that has got me thinking about just how efficient the A2 is – and could be. It's aluminium-structured and compact so has a kerb weight of only 960kg in this form. But while running a sponge over it, I reminded myself how the field of aerodynamics has moved on in the past quarter century. The A2 TDI had a drag coefficient of 0.28, which a special low-drag, big-economy edition managed to improve to 0.25. It took things like 145-section tyres and an underbody redesign to do that. Yet today, in cars that somehow don't look anything like so slippery, figures in the low 0.20s are increasingly common. On the face of it, the A2 looks a pretty efficient shape. The front is well rounded and the roof arches in a teardrop profile, which is the most aerodynamic shape there is. Cars could all be incredibly efficient if they were 12 metres long and tapered for a teardrop profile that would retain laminar air flow right along the body. But they're not, so air has to break clear of the body somehow, and to cleave it off quickly is better than prolonging its departure, which is why so many modern cars have boot-lip or rooftop spoilers. A rounded rear end promotes air swirling and creating little eddies, almost clinging to the body and adding drag. That car designers go to the trouble of aerodynamically sculpting rear light clusters shows how it's worth making even small improvements here. Especially with EVs, in which aerodynamics play a bigger part in the overall efficiency than in ICE cars, and because more drag doesn't just add fuel cost but charging time too. It's such little details that the old A2 doesn't have. Its door handles stick out, its windscreen wiper sits above the windscreen edge and there's (very subtle) body cladding. Practicality and regulations played their part too. The A2 has a little lip spoiler on its hatch, which could be more efficient if it were bigger, and could extend vertically down the sides of the car too, like the ones they put on the back of lorries. But that would make rear visibility even worse than it is and could have spoilt the lines of what I think is a very pretty little car. Ditto if the rear lights had been sculpted, rather than shaped to match the body: more efficient, less attractive. There are things Audi didn't do at the time, then, that it would feel almost compelled to do today, especially on a car marketed, as the A2 was, as technically clever and uber-efficient. Still, for a late-1990s design, it's hardly shabby. I haven't done the calculations, but there are estimates that it would take only 10bhp, plus or minus (probably plus) a couple, to propel an A2 on the flat at 60mph. Which sounds like not a lot until you remember that a hire go-kart, much lighter and smaller but much less slippery, will do about the same with similar power. I think making an A2 as slippery as possible would be a fun project: reshaping its spoilers, fairing-in its rear wheels, extending its bonnet and so on. Yes, I know that none of those things would make it as efficient as an EV. And save for fitting skinnier tyres, I'm not going to do any of them anyway. I'm just going to enjoy this little marvel for what it is. ]]>
