Looking for an Audi TT, thoughts on this one?

dingdangdoo22

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2004-audi-tt/17454144

Could be better ones out there, not quite sure which ones to go for...

colm_mcm

Just keep in mind it isn't actually tested yet. I'd be checking the number of owners on it too.
Looks nice though.

dingdangdoo22

Is it not till 01/19 ? Maybe im missing something! Are alot of these cars clocked? This would be a big concern when looking for one.

colm_mcm

It'll probably be NCTd as part of the sale.


Just on the body, there's a crease on the passenger side sill. Probably nitpicking on a 14 year old car!

dingdangdoo22

Ah get yeah.

listermint

Higher than average mileage on it. Check condition if serviced regularly then it should just keep on going. If not could be money pit

colm_mcm

11000 miles a year isn't bad

Blazer

I'd go for the more powerful one in 225 guise.
Same size engine.

pearcider

Yeah I'd test drive the 225 the 180 is underpowered and less desirable. Nice colour and wheels. You need to check the service history on these things especially haldex service every 20k.

Neilw

They can cost a lot to put right if things go wrong.

Check the haldex has been serviced a few times at that mileage.
Usual 1.8t problems such as coil packs, perished breather hoses, blocked oil pickup if not serviced ontime with good oil.

They give problems with electrics too, alarm modules fail, pixels die on the clocks and also the needles go out of sync, check where the needles settle when ignition is off.
That's an aftermarket radios so the cover over it won't close.
Ballasts and xenon igniters can give problems too.

The wheels on that are more then likely replicas.
Bushings and brakes could be well past their best at that mileage.

Agricola

I wouldn't bother personally OP. Too much money and too much miles. I picked up one recently with FSH and NCT with 79k miles on the clock for €1600. I was lucky to bag it but was planning to buy something in the 120k plus bracket for 2 grand anyway.

I'd hold fire and stay on the lookout for a private sale preferably.

Something like this looks like a better bet to me:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/03-audi-tt-quattro-1-8-turbo-nct-7-2018/17620986

dingdangdoo22

yeah have my eye on that allright, love the colour too :-) Do you reckon its genuine?

George Dalton

Anyone looking at these €2k TTs would want to be budgeting to put another €2k into it to get it up to a decent standard. And that’s if you don’t buy a complete lemon. Most of them are falling apart at this stage.

colm_mcm

pearcider wrote: »

Yeah I'd test drive the 225 the 180 is underpowered and less desirable. Nice colour and wheels. You need to check the service history on these things especially haldex service every 20k.

I wouldn’t really agree with that. The 180 is obviously not as fast as the 225 but still isn’t underpowered.

Agricola

dingdangdoo22 wrote: »

yeah have my eye on that allright, love the colour too :-) Do you reckon its genuine?

Well it looks promising anyway. Dublin car with 100k miles at this stage wouldn't be unusual. Mine is a D reg 1999 with 80k and is obviously just a well minded yoke that wasn't driven much.
6 speed, which is a must I think. Mine is a 5 and you feel like you need another gear on the motorway. Two keys, tested til the summer, says the timing belt is done. Doubt theres much history or it would be in the photo but ask about that anyway.
BRG with the tan interior is very nice combo.

As others have said here, do a bit of research on the common mk1 TT faults, like the dodgy gauges and pixel problems. I have both of those in mine and will probably be sending off the dashpod to be done shortly.

It's worth a spin down to Wexford anyway definitely. If it checks out and drives as well as this ad sounds, I'd be going for this car over the other one, without doubt.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I wouldn’t really agree with that. The 180 is obviously not as fast as the 225 but still isn’t underpowered.

Agree with that. The 180 feels plenty nippy to me. The 225 would obviously be nice but it's not as if the 180 is sluggish. The only thing I feel is missing in mine is the 6 speed.

colm_mcm

Were the later 180s 6 speed? I was driving one from work for a while (long time ago now!) and could have sworn it was 6 speed?

John_Rambo

colm_mcm wrote: »

I wouldn’t really agree with that. The 180 is obviously not as fast as the 225 but still isn’t underpowered.

Agreed. Certainly not underpowered, I never owned one, but had a lend of one for a while. Quick and light, and from what I remember earlier models were quattro? I could be wrong.

Agricola

colm_mcm wrote: »

Were the later 180s 6 speed? I was driving one from work for a while (long time ago now!) and could have sworn it was 6 speed?

I thought originally only the 225 came with 6 gears but had a look around and it appears the 6 speed was an option on the 180 quattros, even the early cars.

I don't think its a case of a different gearbox being put in this car anyway because apparently it's not a like for like swap.

tossy

The difference betweeen the 180 and 225 is not only horses, the 225 is far more capable car, different suspension components, 2 intercoolers, bigger turbo, different engine components - the take the TT from being a very good looking reasonably quick 'posers car' to being a very underated quick (when mapped) 'posers' car.

As was said by a few posters already though, a bad one will break you. Even when buying a good example you are going to have to budget to fix things that will go wrong. To be honest if i was in the market for that kind of car/age/mileage i wouldn't buy one unless i knew the cars history.

pearcider

tossy wrote: »

The difference betweeen the 180 and 225 is not only horses, the 225 is far more capable car, different suspension components, 2 intercoolers, bigger turbo, different engine components - the take the TT from being a very good looking reasonably quick 'posers car' to being a very underated quick (when mapped) 'posers' car.

As was said by a few posters already though, a bad one will break you. Even when buying a good example you are going to have to budget to fix things that will go wrong. To be honest if i was in the market for that kind of car/age/mileage i wouldn't buy one unless i knew the cars history.

The 225 is the one to go for alright. It has the nice twin exhausts too and the 180 definitely feels underwhelming when you drive both. Also it's actually a very heavy car for its size 1500kg. It feels heavy on the road too. The suspension and bushings is another weak point on the car due to this.

Blazer

damn..I used to look at these pondering one due to the cheap tax as an alternative to the Z4...

alastair

Bought one recently - an ‘01 225 6 speed coupe with little in the way of service history, but clean and honest representation. Ex NI car, but that meant xenons, heated seats, and the fancier DIS. Expected to have to remedy the dashpod on whatever I got, and that was the case - bringing it to a refurb outfit next week. It also needs an air leak chased down and sorted - I’ll probably just get all the breather pipes replaced with silicone jobs, the oil level sensor replaced, and a service / examination by a competent independent VAG specialist - including haldex etc. That and a set of decent tyres and it should be good to go - more spent on getting it back into shape than the car cost to buy, but at least it shouldn’t produce any surprises for a while. It’s got an NCT through to the autumn, and has lots of power/speed, air leak just evident on idle after a while.

Lovely looking, well designed car, with more than enough get up and go, for small money. If you can deal with the silly hairdresser stigma, it’s a bargain future classic.

tossy

alastair wrote: »

Bought one recently - an ‘01 225 6 speed coupe with little in the way of service history, but clean and honest representation. Ex NI car, but that meant xenons, heated seats, and the fancier DIS. Expected to have to remedy the dashpod on whatever I got, and that was the case - bringing it to a refurb outfit next week. It also needs an air leak chased down and sorted - I’ll probably just get all the breather pipes replaced with silicone jobs, the oil level sensor replaced, and a service / examination by a competent independent VAG specialist - including haldex etc. That and a set of decent tyres and it should be good to go - more spent on getting it back into shape than the car cost to buy, but at least it shouldn’t produce any surprises for a while. It’s got an NCT through to the autumn, and has lots of power/speed, air leak just evident on idle after a while.

Lovely looking, well designed car, with more than enough get up and go, for small money. If you can deal with the silly hairdresser stigma, it’s a bargain future classic.

Iif it's north of 100k and there is no evidence of a fuel pump being replaced i'd bargain a few hundred quid for one. The 225 (in the TT,S3 and Cupra R) all suffered from fuel pump failure - it fails slowly causing the car to run lean, causing the exhaust manifold to crack - if it's gone that far fixing it is zero craic.

joey1111

A car this age with high mileage is just going to cost you.

Kenny Logins

TBH I would prefer one with halogen headlights. No fuss with the front and rear level sensors, ballasts, washer pump, lines and washer jets/flaps etc. Stuff you don't really want or need on an almost 20 year old car.

tossy

Kenny Logins wrote: »

TBH I would prefer one with halogen headlights. No fuss with the front and rear level sensors, ballasts, washer pump, lines and washer jets/flaps etc. Stuff you don't really want or need on an almost 20 year old car.

Halogens make them look like a 20 year old car too. Xenons all the way, all the things you listed rarely go wrong.

Kenny Logins

tossy wrote: »

Halogens make them look like a 20 year old car too. Xenons all the way, all the things you listed rarely go wrong.

Maybe not, but the whole system does create more possibilities for repairs or an NCT fail on what is now just a weekend car for many. Personally, I also prefer the cleaner look of the bumper without the washer hatches.

Kenny Logins

I mostly drove mine during the day anyway... :pac:

tossy

Kenny Logins wrote: »

I mostly drove mine during the day anyway... :pac:

To and from the hairdressers ?

sorry couldn't resist.

Kenny Logins

tossy wrote: »

To and from the hairdressers ?

sorry couldn't resist.

Too easy.

Agricola

Has anyone done the haldex filter and fluid themselves? Is that special tool essential or could you get by with something else.

tossy

Its a long time since i did it myself but the tool for removing the filter is necessary unless you are in a position to make up something.

That's not even the fun part though the fun part is trying not to loose too much oil while getting the sump bolt in

2hellr2conaght

Look up
Wheeler Dealers episode on TT for Haldex filter change...

Kenny Logins

2hellr2conaght wrote: »

Look up
Wheeler Dealers episode on TT for Haldex filter change...

...and the 50p gearbox fix. :pac:

Agricola

I actually saw that episode with the black TT recently. Ed had the special ring spanner for doing it. It's £11 on ebay. For that price it beats making one.