Dailying an S2 Avant... possible? Sensible?

[roohunt27]

Hi there, i'm new to the forum and a prospective S2 owner ... I've viewed and driven an S2 Avant a couple of times now with a view to dailying it, I love the car but my main concern is not being able to resolve issues due to poor parts availability? Is this one of those situations that has been overblown by the internet or is it really difficult to get bits for the S2?

By daily it would still be doing less than 8k miles a year (I work from home)... but it would be in very regular use and not tucked up in a garage for shows and sunny days. I've got a lot of experience of old cars with varying levels of parts support (A 1972 Lancia Fulvia Coupe being the worst) but if it's going to be off the road for several months whilst I scour the globe for a part that's going to be tough to enjoy.

What is dailying an S2 like in 2025? Am I going to get annoyed very quickly that I can't get the parts I need?

Thanks in advance for all info, it's greatly appreciated and will help inform my decision as to if I go ahead with the purchase.

[Ian Simmonds]

I daily mine. Have done since 2002. It’s not really been an issue to be fair.

[Tractor Dave]

These cars actually thrive on regular use. Its the winter lay ups that cause issues. General service item availability is fine. Its trim and odds and sods that are getting more difficult.

[K Simmonds]

Yeah, as long as you change the oil every 5K miles if using 10W40 semi synthetic which is what VAG recommends for these engines, they will go on forever. If you want to go longer between changes then something like Fuch's Titan 10W50 fully synthetic will be fine for a year and 10K.

The bodies don't tend to corrode unless they've been bumped or have lived by the sea for a long time but do make sure everything else underneath has had a covering of wax-oil, especially the jacking points and in the case of Coupe's the rear sub-frame.

And get an OBD2 conversion lead as well as a hacked copy of VAG-COM, it can save you hours of head scratching.

[newsh]

I got my coupe about 23 years ago and it was my daily for ages, I've also had Avant's which I've used daily and a B5 RS4, none of these have ever been kept in a garage. The coupe is still on the driveway but get less use since I got my T6 transporter. The Avants are gone now but all great cars, one went to the alps a few times, one went round the Ring, two had towbars and took my bikes to trackdays, the coupe has been round a few tracks too. You can generally find the bits you need and anyway they're actually much more simple and better built than a more modern car..

[curlyks2]

Hey RooHunt, was it you that messaged me (same username) over on PH with effectively the same questions?

Like others have said, these cars are at their best with (relatively) frequent use, and mine was my daily drive for years.

I think reliability is generally good, with the caveat that as with most things automotive, older/high-mileage parts are more likely to fail/perish/wearout/etc. I just had to replace the camshaft position sensor on mine, for the first time at c. 150k miles and 30 years old - I'm not regarding that as unreliable, just the sensor reached the end of its life. Another example: a rear brake caliper was found to be leaking at the last MOT so needed replacing - could be the case for any car of this age and mileage.

It is true that parts availability from Audi can be patchy now, but I've found that alternative suppliers (e.g. Quattro Corner*) or equivalent parts (e.g. NGK/Denso/etc. sparkplugs rather than OEM Bosch, or the camshaft position sensor from Ultra Performance Engineering*) are generally available for critical/mechanical parts, albeit sometimes a little hunting might be required - or keeping an eye out for the latest Audi Tradition Group Buy on here.

As Dave says above, trim parts and odds and sods can be more challenging, for example the long trim that goes across the the top of the internal boot lip - prone to breaking in the middle by the lock (mine's broken like this), long since unavailable from Audi, but because I only see it when I open the boot and it's entirely cosmetic serving no mechanical/sealing/waterproofing function... I just live with it.

In my experience these old Audi's are better built and in many ways simpler to work on than other more recent cars I've had/got, so treat it right, keep your eyes open and hands dirty, and enjoy.

*no affiliation and not an advert - just examples.

[Antsa]

I agree with the above. I drove my S2 daily for 5 years or so before starting a full rebuild. These cars deserve to be driven and long standing times generally don't do any good.

[roohunt27]

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate all the responses, lot of pluses here, i've always found older cars to have far better build quality for the most part and that seems to be backed up by these comments.

Appreciate the mentions of notable parts suppliers too, very handy indeed. I'm very keen, I do really love these cars.

[Ian Simmonds]

I put over 1000 miles on mine between the 16th and 26th March, taking it to West Wales and the Cotswolds in separate visits. it loved it almost as much as I did. Hustling an S2 down a Welsh B road is something for the bucket list if you’ve not done it.

[sal_s2]

I put over 1000 miles on mine between the 16th and 26th March, taking it to West Wales and the Cotswolds in separate visits. it loved it almost as much as I did. Hustling an S2 down a Welsh B road is something for the bucket list if you’ve not done it.

Did it handle like it was on rails
Pardon the pun, if anyone can compare, its you