Richard Yarrow’s opinion for www.startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Breakdown Assistance cover
As a member of Her Majesty’s Motoring Press, I’m in a privileged position. I can phone a manufacturer, ask to borrow a new car and it will turn up at my house on the appointed day. These vehicles generally bear the newest possible registration plate; factory-fresh, ready for appraisal and unlikely to have any problems that will require my breakdown cover operator.
But what’s on my drive this week is not your average press fleet runabout. It’s seven years old yet it still belongs to Audi. The reason is this – the firm is getting a good few requests to borrow one for used car articles, because it makes more sense now than it did at launch in 2000. It’s the A2, and I’m so impressed I might just put my money where my mouth is and buy one.
When Audi’s smallest ever model debuted the average price was about £14k. You could pay £16k+ for top spec ones. A decade ago – when you pick up a Fiesta for not much more than half that – it was a lot of money. The cost was… a) in part because of the expensive weight-saving aluminium bodywork, and b) the reason it was only on sale until 2005. People weren’t willing to fork out that much money.
Today you can pick them up for under £3k, and you’re getting a reliable little motor with high standard spec. The 1.4-litre diesel is particularly desirable, not least for its 66mpg fuel economy. It’s not the quietest engine, and shows how far sound-deadening technology has progressed in the last decade, but it’s a solid performer. If you’re in the market for a small car it’s definitely worth considering. There’s 160 on the Auto Trader website at the moment and all but a handful are under £6k.
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