Faults:

Water Pump: £36 total in parts, but £450 in Audi labour!

Temperature Sender: Common problem across the entire range of Audi's. The water temperature gauge on the dashboard will not regulate at 90 degrees. Replacement electrical temperature sender unit is less than £30 (plus labour - approx half hour).

Brake Disks: Now on third set of front brake disks in 3 months. Covered under service warranty (not costing me) but Audi unable to trace the reason why the disks keep warping.

General Comments:

Previously owned an Audi A4 1.8T Quattro Sport, but it was costing a fair bit to run (petrol consumption/insurance).

With the A2 TDi I have halfed my running costs. Fuel bill is exactly half, insurance is less than halved, road fund duty is exactly half and it's on the Audi variable service programme which means it can go up to approx 19,000 miles between servicing!!

The only expensive part of owning/running the A2 TDi SE is the cost of tyres. The particular size of tyres on my model are made exclusively for this car. Consequently there is little choice in the way of tyres and they are darned expensive!

Faults:

White fluff from ventilation system appeared on dashboard.

Dipstick broke (a common problem it seems)

Oil leak resulting in £800 repair bill.

Burning oil.

Seat belt pre-tensioner failed on drivers side.

Two tyres have been damaged beyond repair (and one wheel also) hitting potholes.

ABS warning light intermittently comes on, and then goes off when ignition is turned off.

Engine management light intermittently came on, then went off again after a few days. This was fixed by Audi. It was due to a faulty exhaust sensor.

General Comments:

Fuel consumption recently has been averaging 36mpg (daily drive of 35 miles, 4 of which are urban, the rest are B roads at a steady speed of 50 - 60mph). I don't think this matches up to the stated figures.

Performance and handling are both good and the car is fun to drive, though the ride is harsh, especially round town on rough urban roads.

Spacious in front and rear, though it's annoying that it only has 4 seats (though a rear bench seat is optional).

It only came with a radio cassette which I think is ridiculous for a car of this price. An optional CD player was at huge cost, so instead I bought a new Sony CD player for £60 and put that in. Sounds great too!

Reliability is appalling and I would not buy another Audi. Customer service is bad too.

Faults:

In the winter, when snow and ice were around, the car handled poorly, and seemed too light on the road; often skidding on rather than gripping the road!

Heavy winds also caused a lot of concern where the car felt it was being pushed to the side of the road.

Brake handle cover keeps on coming off, too!

Wheel hubs rust... need to be painted!

General Comments:

Good economy, and extremely quick on pick-up.

Pity the quality of the interior is not more luxurious for the money paid. Plastic is a bore& cheap looking!

Could have been better with more leg room for the driver; a little poky!

Seats comfortable, and grip you!