225 TT Advice Please

Ardennes1944

Well its big day for me, i got quoted on a 225 tt today for the first time. Its a car Ive always wanted to own but never thought id be able to so soon. I know there are lots of threads on TTs but there doesnt seem to be too many common issues that i know of.
I had my heart set almost on a 325 but always wanted a turbo'd car, especially after driving EPM's old vrs!
So any advice on buying a 225 or 180 TT mk1 would be much appreciated.
Also any information on remaps and real world mpg (not that it matter much) would also be helpful.
There seems to be some discrepency among some 225s on donedeal as some are down as just s-lines and others are 225s in the ad but comes up in liberty insuracne as 180s.
is the only difference between the 180 and 225 that theyre on different maps?

Thank you.

tossy

the 225 is the one to go for it has a bigger turbo,the 180 will remap to around 210/220 where as the 225 will remap to around 250/260 and with a good Turbo intake pipe/panel filter you should see 260 easily.

Not sure if all 180's were quattro or not but if you do go 180 and i strongly advise you not too then avoid FWD ones.

Things to look for are service history esp on engine oil changes and haldex clutch (4wd control system) oil changes.

The instrument cluster was also a common fault on TT's and was covered under a recall so make sure that's been done.

When you are test driving listen to noises from the rear axle area especially when you let off the accelerator - if you here excessive whining or knocking then walk away as the diff is probably on the way out.

If you find a good one and look after it the are a great set up/engine combo - i have an S3 basically the very same car (wearing trousers instead of a skirt lol - sorry )and i love it.

Ardennes1944

it seems i cant get insured now on a straight 225. only the odd one which is down as a 180 for some reason, which im sure would void my insurance? so it seems a 180 is the way ill be going, i do liek the twin exhausts of the 225 though. id also definitely going for a quattro if at all possible.
a remap on the 180 to 210 ish would do me fine otherwise i imagine. thanks tossy

tossy

I'd say that's why a lot of 225's are listed as 180's to avoid the insurance premium (which is silly )

Just to add if you are viewing any within reasonable distance of me and you want a VCDS scan done on them before buying give me a shout.

Ardennes1944

very much appreciated tossy. most nice ones seem to be in the Dublin area anyway.

Would it be wise to stay well away from the 225s that are down as 180s so?

how well do the engines cope with the high miles? most seem well over 100k miles

tossy

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

very much appreciated tossy. most nice ones seem to be in the Dublin area anyway.

Would it be wise to stay well away from the 225s that are down as 180s so?

Well your insurance company will probably find out and also who knows what other fibs might be told in the advert.

Probably best educate yourself on the ways to spot a 225 from a 180,i wouldn't use exhaust tips alone as a guide.

180 engine bay,the throttle body points to the left and has a single front mount inter cooler on the drivers side.



225 engine bay throttle body points to the right and you can see the big turbo outlet pipe on the left going down to the drivers side intercooler - this passes along the bottom of the radiator to the passenger side intercooler and then back up into the throttle body.



Like any engine the cope with high miles fine if well looked after,the 1.8T is prone to oil sludge blocking the oil return pipe so a good service history is important,also try get one with big jobs like clutch/timing belt etc done recently,service and parts aren't particularly expensive on them apart from the clutch change which is slightly more expensive than your average car .My S3 is coming up on 150k and there isn't a bother on it.

George Dalton

These cars are all around 10 years old at this stage so the simple answer to your question is that you need to look out for everything.

History is very important. And by history I don't mean stamps in the service book showing a main dealer service was done in 2006. That is pretty much irrelevant at this stage. Lots of these cars can have a good history on the face of it where easy stuff like oil and filter, air filter, spark plugs etc have been changed but the rest of the car can be hanging together. If you want to avoid buying a money pit then try to find a car with good recent history (last couple of years) which should show evidence of work carried out over and above regular servicing. If the car is 10 years old it is more than likely pushing on towards 100k miles and if you don't see any evidence of the following jobs having been done then you need to assume that they will need doing in the near future:

Clutch
Rear shocks
Wishbone bushes
Brake discs and pads
Thermostat
Breather hoses on engine
Air flow meter
Coolant temperature sensor

If you are really unlucky and end up with a total lemon you could add engine/turbo/gearbox/rear diff to that list.

So be careful and do your homework before parting with any money.

Mar4ix

its great , there is nice few advices on those engines, as in my minds far corner small idea of getting 1.8T car living a while now. was thinking about audi a3

Idbatterim

if you want a turbo car, why not got for a 335? 378bhp after a remap!

http://www.dmsautomotive.com/models.asp?upid=1

MetzgerMeister

Idbatterim wrote: »

if you want a turbo car, why not got for a 335? 378bhp after a remap!

http://www.dmsautomotive.com/models.asp?upid=1

The chap can't get insured on an actual 225 bhp Audi TT and you want him to become one of those BMW drivers and by getting a bloody 335i??

Are you mad? :pac:

Idbatterim

I wouldnt be surprised if they hear TT and think performance car, the 335 might be more under the radar. I read another thread here about a week ago, the guy couldnt get insured on a imprezza i think it was, even though it was only 90bhp!

MetzgerMeister

There isn't a hope of a 335i being any more under the radar than a TT. If anything, the TT would be under it more. Also, the TT the OP is looking at has been available since (I'm open to correction here) the early 00's whereas the 335i has only been on sale here since 2007. This would mean there's a lot more cheap TTs out there compared to 335s which would reduce the insurance premium.

tossy

Idbatterim wrote: »

if you want a turbo car, why not got for a 335? 378bhp after a remap!

http://www.dmsautomotive.com/models.asp?upid=1

Award for most useless contribution today ? the chap is looking at 10 year old TT's and is finding it hard to get insured on one,so how is a 4/5 year old 3.0 BMW going to help ? also if you are breaking cars down in simple group of "turbo cars" then you would have to go Jap for real speed.

Also i think the TT can be classed as a performance car - 4wd - 260 bhp after a map ???

Ardennes1944

Thanks all for advice. I would be getting any possible checks done on the car before buying anyway after checking recent maintenance. I am in no rush anyway so I will be able to find the right one especially as my car will be tough to sell when I do put it up for sale. I certainly won't be rushing into anything on this one.

Big Nasty

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

Thanks all for advice. I would be getting any possible checks done on the car before buying anyway after checking recent maintenance. I am in no rush anyway so I will be able to find the right one especially as my car will be tough to sell when I do put it up for sale. I certainly won't be rushing into anything on this one.

Weren't you offered good money for it last week!?! :eek:

Ardennes1944

Yes but he needed a car in 2-3days and I wasn't prepared to sell that fast with no preparation. He bought a 06 1.4 golf yesterday. I could very well hold onto the Astra for another few months but will constantly be on the lookout. I could always buy a tt if I see one and throw the Astra up for sale then.

Idbatterim

the chap is looking at 10 year old TT's and is finding it hard to get insured on one,so how is a 4/5 year old 3.0 BMW going to help ?

these cars are about to go 7 years old...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/335-i-SE/201238210150579/advert?channel=CARS

tossy

Idbatterim wrote: »

these cars are about to go 7 years old...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/335-i-SE/201238210150579/advert?channel=CARS

SO you would be getting the oldest ones with the highest mileage..... and it's still a 3.0 litre BMW so not what the OP is looking for really,you would buy 3 hafl decent TT's for that money or at least 2 good ones.

MetzgerMeister

tossy wrote: »

Also i think the TT can be classed as a performance car - 4wd - 260 bhp after a map ???

If that's the case then it's a no-brainer - Mazda6 MPS all the way. Much easier to get insured on compared to a TT

Also, with regard to the 335i suggestions, the OP is a student and would not be able to afford the tax and fuel for such a car right now IMO.

tossy

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

If that's the case then it's a no-brainer - Mazda6 MPS all the way. Much easier to get insured on compared to a TT

A...maz.......daaaa?

Ardennes1944

this is the one id like anyway http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4162030

L-M

I had the pleasure of being able to drive my mothers one for a year and a half.

Real world mpg on 180 Quattro was 25-28mpg around time (Remembering that she never brings a car over 2.5k rpm) and 32mpg on a run (sometimes up as close as 40 tipping along at 60 mpg in 6th).

The back seats are useless for anyone but kids but you would fit four in if you were stuck, the boot is also pretty useless.

They're a fun car to drive, although I wasn't mad on the four wheel drive system in it.

Trouble she had was the hazard switch (Known to give trouble)
All the air pipes were cracked and kept throwing up an airflow problem, so they were all taped up and it was perfect.
Abs sensor.

After that, the only reason she sold it because it was drinking petrol!

MuppetCheck

Wheels are replicas so I would make sure they are decent quality - few hundred plus tyres for a repalcement set if they were awful - just my observation on it. Don't do anything for the looks either in my opinion.