Next Car for Uruguay -- an Audi?

My apartment's garage here in Uruguay is too narrow to safely park my current car (it won't even fit in the spot with the mirrors extended), a BMW 328i, so I'm planning to replace it with something smaller. Due to the tax situation here, I will be able to sell whatever car I buy at my cost in two years, when I leave here, so it's essentially a free two-year lease.

They have most of the usual car companies here, but with smaller models than are available in the USA. VW, Audi, Suzuki (more so than the other Japanese car companies), Fiat, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes, and Chevrolet seem to be the biggest players, except for some Chinese companies I would not consider. The local VWs are made in Brazil and lower spec'ed than USA ones, but the Audis here are German made. A1s are the smallest model sold here (the A3s are a bit too large for my apartment's garage), competing against Fiat 500s, VW Gols, Peugeots 207s, etc. What do you think of this model? Should I be considering something else?

The A1 is essentially a luxed up, sportier VW Polo.

The VW Gol is an odd comparison - it's a DRASTICALLY cheapened car based on the front end of the previous Polo, and the rear end of the previous Gol (which dates back to the B1 Passat/Dasher and Audi 80/Fox). Like, from what I've heard, it makes the Mk6 Jetta look like a luxury car.

Pug 207 is a great car.

Can you get an A1 Sportback 2.0 TDI? Great combination of low weight and lots of torque. And it's A LOT larger than a Fiat 500. Just saying...

Thanks for the responses. The A1 Sportback photo looks really good. Not all of the engines are available here, unfortunately. Not sure about the TDI....

There are LOTS of Peugeot 207s here and they look good, but I don't know much about the brand other than that it's French. Glad to hear that the Gols aren't equivalent to the current Polos. They look rather Spartan....

It doesn't look like the A1 is available in a TDI in Uruguay.

T.J.K. said:

It doesn't look like the A1 is available in a TDI in Uruguay.

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Not surprising; they don't have many cars available as diesels here for some reason. To make matters worse, the diesel quality varies widely with location. A U.S.-spec TDI won't work well here (too-dirty fuel).

T.J.K. said:

It doesn't look like the A1 is available in a TDI in Uruguay.

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There wouldn't be Grey Market imports of that model?

MrMopar said:

There wouldn't be Grey Market imports of that model?

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Unlikely for a market this small (only three million people in the whole country) and controlled.

Looks like the only engine is the 122 hp 1.4 TFSI. Not a bad engine, but no TDI. Then again, 148 ft-lbs from 1500 to 4000, so it has a quite nice power band and enough torque to move a car that size easily.

I thought I might have to get the 1.4 TFSI. They said I can special order a car if I want, but I need to ensure it's easy to sell when I leave in two years, so I should stick to popular colors/options, etc. They want me to look at a Samoa Orange one they have coming in tomorrow, but my wife doesn't think much of the color....

It looks like I already have several potential buyers for the BMW already, by the way. I should be able to sell it for considerably more than I paid (the locals have to pay 40% or so tax, but I'm exempt) and donate the difference to charity. The money will probably go to a local orphanage.

My wife and I saw the A1 Sportback in Samoa Orange (with the sunroof) last night, but she doesn't like the color. Here are the other options (body color followed by contrasting roof color) that are supposed to arrive in August:

· Glacier White / Grey Daytona
· Silver Grey / Black Bright
· Shiraz Red / Grey Silver

We might also check out the 5-door BMW 1-series hatchback they sell here. The dealer is next to the Audi one and we went there while waiting. The only engine available is a 1.6L gas version. There are three colors currently in stock:

· Black Sapphire
· Alpine White
· Karmensirot

So according to a post on another thread you got the A1 - congratulations! Would you mind posting some pictures, so we can see what an Uruguay-spec A1 looks like?

So, for an update on this old thread, we got the silver/black A1 while in Uruguay, then sold it when we left in 2014, again donating the difference to the orphanage. It was a great car for Uruguay, by the way, and many people there tried to buy it from me.

I'm currently back in the USA, but am supposed to rotate again this summer, so I might have an opportunity to buy another A1/Polo. What does everyone think of the diesel vs. gasoline versions? What about relative emissions? Some of the places I might go (India, for example) have very bad pollution issues, but diesel is about 15% cheaper there....