Thinking of buying a Mk1 Audi TT

[Mark (smokey mow)]

WBT #2

As I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many cars I'm thinking of buying another.

My neighbour is off travelling the world in under two weeks time and has been trying to sell his Mk1 TT 1.8 Quattro for the last couple of months without sucess and so to cut a long story short I'm thinking of buying it.

Condition wise it's immaculate inside and out, has a decent history file of receipts and been regularly serviced however what's what's been putting off the buyers is the high mileage 160K which is reflected in a now exceptionally cheep price (basically rock bottom).

I've owned two mk4 golfs in the past so feel that I know the chassis and mechanicals but from those that have owned one is the anything I need to be checking when having a closer look at it and take it for a test drive?

Worst case scenario I wont be loosing a lot of money if it all goes wrong and on the plus side SHMBO is keen to have something she can drive comfortably too. What could possibly go wrong?

[S7EVE_MAC]

You've not got a lot to lose - do it. I've been looking at these recently, there are some bargains out there. All the better if you know the car as its a neighbours. Grab it!

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

My BiL had one as a company car for a couple of years, was well built and utterly reliable. Always looked great too, he had the sort of steel grey coloured one with the optional "stitched" interior that looked a bit like the concept cars.

Must confess, he never really clicked with it, he used to complain that it had all the poorer issues of a sports car, visibility wise, space wise etc but non of the pay off's (gorgeous looks aside) of feeling like a sporty car to drive. In certain ways, I think he just wanted something it was never going to deliver - he switched to Z4's and is on his third, he wanted that sharp rear drive feel.

Have only tried the 220(?) model myself, (round Oulton) which was fun to drive, though I'd have said more hot hatch the sports car, but that's fine. I had less of an issue with the "visibility" - he used to moan about driving along looking through a letterbox! But then I don't mind driving a Westfield with the roof up, either!

One of the most trouble free cars he's had though.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

My son had a 'W' plate 225 and it was a money pit. The first thing to go was the dashpod, a well documented weakness. Then a gear selector fork broke followed closely by a cam belt failure well within the service schedule mileage. Another ridiculous failure was a broken clutch pedal of all things. I have forgotten a lot of niggling things and possibly a couple of bigger ones, but between buying it in 2005 and 2009 it showed itself as a disastrous purchase He said that it had the most beautiful interior in which to sit and wait for the RAC recovery - AGAIN! Luckily for him he had a warranty which picked up most of the cost. 

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

I owned a 225 for years and know them pretty well. If it were me, I'd make sure that it's either had our I'd carry out, a cambelt replacement and very importantly include the hydraulic cambelt tensioner (this is not normally part of the service kit). The dashpod should have been fixed if the previous owner was on the ball with Audi. If not, they can be repaired at around £100 (they're ready to remove from the car). As with any VAG engine especially the uber reliable 1.8T, as long as they get a regular oil and filter change, they should last well into 200k miles!

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

My lad's one was well below the mileage for the first cambelt change in its life and it actually stripped teeth rather than broke. The car had to be maintained to spec to fulfil the warranty requirements. The dashpod was fixed by Audi in a recall but not before the car stranded him in deepest Surrey when the pod failed. The broken clutch pedal is unforgivable as is the selector fork. Vorsprung broke technik would be more accurate.

 

This cross section is simply not man enough...

 

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

The problem with the cambelt change interval is that the mileage is based on normal annual mileage. I've always also considered the age of the car into this ie I would still change the cambelt on a 10 year old car with only 20k miles on the clock because of the age of the belt and not the miles that it's covered.

It's more likely that the hydraulic tensioner seized causing the belt to shed its teeth. I'm surprised that the dashpod left your son stranded because I've driven mine workout the dashpod fitted!! Likely that the fuel gauge was reading incorrectly as is one of the common dashpod failures.

Mine had 155k on the clock and no issues re the clutch pedal although I do agree that it's quite common and isn't acceptable for a car of its general build quality.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I agree about age related cambelt changes if the car were old at the time but the dashpod stranding was a mystery. He was commuting from SW17 to Frimley Park (Surrey) and the car would not start one evening when the dashpod had died the same morning. All he got was a few clicks and a generally dead car. I drove him to the car very early the following day to supervise its collection and amazingly it started again with a functioning dashpod - for a while. No it wasn't the battery either. After the dashpod was replaced the fault(s) never recurred.

 

Don't know what caused the cambelt to strip but there was a misunderstanding in official VAG service schedules - the classic km versus miles error -  but even allowing for that it was inside the recommended mileage for the OEM belt. All in all it was a disappointing car with a lot of enjoyment to give when it ran properly. There was a moment when a hose split on the turbo but that made the car faster and thirstier until it was replaced. We did work out why that was but I cannot recall the details now. A pair of ARB bushes failed too I recall. It was being serviced by an Audi Indie so it ought to have had all the necessary attention.

 

For myself, I now avoid all cars with cam belts in favour of chain driven cams - Pinto powered Westfield notwithstanding! 

[SootySport]

Check out the Quattro system with a dumped clutch start on a wet road, should operate the Haldex coupling and engage 4wd. almost instantly and correct any wheelspin.    Check the service book shows a Haldex oil and filter service every 40k. miles. If it has DSG box, check oil and filter has also been changed at each 30 or 40K miles.

1.8T is pretty much reliable especially if it hasn't been mapped although they are quite a juicy motor.  The turbo shouldn't show any signs of white or blue smoke, although due to the high mileage it may need a new one in the foreseeable future due to the high mileage.   Sure you are quite cabable to change it if need be.

 

Have a read on Honest John website for other common traits of the car.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep you posted if I buy it

[KugaWestie]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep you posted if I buy it

Are you taking hairdressing lessons just in case?

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Are you taking hairdressing lessons just in case?

i wasn't eligible for the classes, apparently I need more hair

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

[thread drift] ironically enough, way before owning the TT, my BiL actually trained as a hairdresser, even had his own shop for a while! He had an old Fiat 500 then I seem to remember.

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Just to update this thread, I bought it

I can't resist a bargain and with my neighbour off to Australia for a year tomorrow a deal was done at £1500.

Overall for a 15 year old car it's in excellent condition but there is a few jobs that need sorting. The first two are easy fixes as the radio doesn't work (I already have an old one in the garage) and the remote on the spare key won't respond (either flat battery or needs reprogramming again). The biggest job to do is on the Quattro system as the Haldex controller is failing, so I need to source a replacement and get it fitted. For now though I've just pulled the fuse.

[Rab (bombero) Reid]

Key remote is usually the battery - easy to replace and reprogramme via the door lock. Haldex might just require an oil and filter change as they're usually overlooked of not dealer serviced ;-)