Audi TT enquiry

[350 Russ]

im thinking of trading in my zed for a 2001 audi tt and cash my way. im not too sure whether its the 180 or 225 bhp version, just general questions really, what are they like to drive and own? any major problems that i should know about? what are they like to live with?

[Jay]

Hairdresser's car

[Ekona]

At least it's not chavvy like the Zed!

 

 

Not a particularly involving drive, but solidly built and still a good looking car. Power is easy to get out of them if that's your thing.

[Jay]

Loads of neds drive tt's in Scotland

[350 Russ]

i know its a hairdressers car, but im trying to use my loaf for once and do something sensible, im not worried about ripping power out of it, just there relatively cheap and powerful for the money.

 

just trying to see what previous owners think of them to live with

[CaptainSensible]

One exhaust pipe = 180 bhp model

Two exhaust pipes = 225 bhp model

 

Never owned a TT but had the same 225 bhp engine in my old Cupra R and its a great engine. Totally different to a Zed though.

[kevlo]

before my zed i had a 2002 1.8t 225bhp quattro audi tt roadster. i loved it at first because it was my first "fast" car. previously only had a 1.4 civic

 

i had it for 9 months and by the end of it couldnt wait to get rid of it and would never buy another audi again. There are plenty of people who would disagree with me im sure but the following things really bugged me.

 

1. interior qualiity was terrible the leather aged very badly/ all the plastics scratched too easily.

2. about 50% of them have the dreaded "dashpod" failure. mine had it and it drove me mad. the fuel guage didnt work properly. the dials flickered randomly and the display had a mind of it own and wouldnt let you change from milometer(spell?) to fuel consumption etc.

3. about 50% of them again have niggly electrical problems such as the windows dont drop when you open the door. the interior light doesnt come on when you open the door. heated seats either burn your bum or dont work at all. mine had all these issues.

 

last but definately not least probably the worse thing was the handling. although you would think quattro 4wd would make it handle on rails it was pants it handled pretty much like a front wheel drive car just understeering everywhere. only advantage i suppose was that it was relatively surefooted in the wet. this can be remedied but it takes suspension mods and haldex controller (sends more power to rear wheels).

 

as said before other people may tell another story but my experience was terrible and i know there are bad things in all cars but if i had a bad one i was very very unlucky to have all of the above problems. The tt forum was full of these issues aswell so i wasnt on my own.

 

hope this helps and sorry to be negative

 

kev

[350 Russ]

thanks for being honest

[kevlo]

lol, im glad you reacted in that way

 

sorry to put a downer on it. i suppose one thing to note is mine was a roadster which will obviously be a drawback on the handling point. it may be worth you still going and testing it your self as you may love it.

 

if you are serious about buying one feel free to pm me and i'll tell you the tell tale signs of the listed faults that i experienced.

 

another thing aswell the running costs weren't much different. pretty much same mpg, same tax and same insurance and less reliable so maybe more on mot and servicing.

 

i should stop now i sold like a proper doom monger

[JetSet]

My wife had one of these, a 180 model, from 02 to 05, did about 45k in it. Very nice car to drive but there were a few problems. HT leads were forever failing but the worse failure involved a relay that operated the central locking. On two occasions my wife was locked into her car and had to climb out of the window, once on the outside the key failed to open the door. The guy from Audi who came to fix it said he had replaced loads of them.

 

 

Pete

[kevlo]

this was mine. bit liked the missus looks very pretty but is a nightmare to live with

 

[kevlo]

[kevlo]

im not sure how much you know about cars but i dont want to patronise you if you know this already but when i bought mine i didnt check this and it turned out my turbo was knackered.

 

if you let the car idle for a couple of mins then rev it reasonably hard just check that its not producing black smoke(burning oil) white smoke (burning water). mine was black smoke and quite abit of it only realised it after id already bought it and turned out to be a dodgy turbo which cost approx £1000 to replace.

 

now on to the more specific stuff.

 

dashpod error (approx £700 to fix) check that when the engine is turned off that the fuel guage reads zero (empty). when my car was turned on it constantly showed between 3/4 full and full whether it was full or empty or anywhere in between. when you turned the car off the guage did go down but only to 1/4 full. also check that the onboard computer plays ball. have a play around with it flicking through the fuel consumption milometer etc maybe reset the trip etc just to check it works.

 

electric problems

1) when you open the door check that the window drops (usually drop approx inch to allow easier opening and closing) mine worked on the passenger side but not drivers door so check both.

2) this is linked to number 1) but when you open the door check that the interior light comes on. once again check that it happens with both the passenger and drivers door.

3) heated seats just check these are working. leave them on for duration of test drive because if they are working they still may be faulty and overheat. mine melted (sort of) they got that hot. once again this was only on the drivers side but check both.

 

these were very specific faults to my car. the tt-forum could be a good place for you to ask the question aswell because there was other bits of advice regarding other regular faults but if i had checked any of the above then it would have saved me a very expensive lesson as i would never have bought the car in the first place. hope that helps any other questions feel free to ask.

[Zugara]

Ladies car. Bloke at work has one, no end of problems with it, his alternator blew last week. £375 for replacement. Number of failed batterys, earth fault and audi cant fine the problem. Dont do it

[kevlo]

oh bloody hell thats just reminded me there was 2 other issues i'd forgotten about.

 

1) the standard air induction pipe on 2000-2003 models has a tendency to split. this happened to mine and caused a severe lack in performance and an increase in fuel consumption both increased in severity as the split got worse. apparently the pipe was updated in 2003 as the original one couldnt handle the pressure put on it over 5000rpm.

 

2) as mentioned quite a few of them have battery and alternator problems. my alternator needed replacing as my cars idle was all over the place. cant remember now whether that was caused by the battery or the alternator (didnt like the cold).

[bigbramble]

My god they are absolutely horrible things. They are so boring to drive too....

[350 Russ]

Thanks for all your help kev, I'll make sure I check all them bits, sounds like you had right Nightmare!

 

I might have to have a think about getting one now and see what else is available

[kevlo]

before we bought the tt we looked at mr2's and s2000. s2000 is in a different league and is a far better car. the mr2 was in the same league but still a much better car. although probably even more hairdresser it was so light and agile that it felt much quicker and so much more fun to drive. (im on about the newest model the little one)

[Darren-B]

I used to had a 225 TT in 2005 for a short while, Never had any of the above problems, actually thought the interior was excellent. Standard suspension/wheel alignment is set for hairdressers, first thing I did was to get some camber & Toe to suit my driving style. Was a comfortable but unattached car to drive, you dont get any real feeling of where the car is, "point and go!"

 

However I did have some major problems (or which were self inflicted) after a turbo, exhaust, induction, intercooler upgrade + a s**t remap 1200miles & I managed to bend to con-rods, which then ripped off two oil jets @ over 5000rpm resulting in a full engine rebuild, with a re bore & custom pistons not cheap. So anyone looking to modify one tread very carefully

 

[V88 REG]

Mine...

 

Was totally unmarked with no probs what so ever. some good some bad..

Although i am not a fan of servicing or the fact that the quattro was only front wheel drive until things got bit slippy on the road.

[stanski]

Thank goodness someone else has seen how sh** Audi's are

 

For years I've tried to put people off they are worse than Chesterfields Jaguar shenanigans - trust me - DO NOT BUY A TT or any other Audi - its all show and marketing.....

 

Dont get me wrong the Audi's built before the A4, were good solid cars the ones after are just cheaply made rubbish with a price tag and flash marketing.

[was8v]

I used to had a 225 TT in 2005 for a short while, Never had any of the above problems, actually thought the interior was excellent. Standard suspension/wheel alignment is set for hairdressers, first thing I did was to get some camber & Toe to suit my driving style. Was a comfortable but unattached car to drive, you dont get any real feeling of where the car is, "point and go!"

 

 

I'd agree with this. I had a 1999 225 coupe for a year at 100k miles.

 

Interior was better than the Z

Climate control was better than the Z's

 

I fixed my dashpod issues (swapped for a 2nd hand unit and used my laptop VAGTACHO & VAGCOM to code immob/set mileage) for under £50, nowhere near the £700 dealers quote.

 

Was a great car, but it isn't a sports car like the Z is. More like a good all round small GT car I suppose. Practical too as I had roof bars for a bike rack.

[V88 REG]

well its a golf....

but with a nice dress on. they still look good now days so maybe people bought them for looks rather than driving involvment. i much prefer the Z but the turbo whistle and the interior i found were nice to have compared to the Z.

[rtbiscuit]

before we bought the tt we looked at mr2's and s2000. s2000 is in a different league and is a far better car. the mr2 was in the same league but still a much better car. although probably even more hairdresser it was so light and agile that it felt much quicker and so much more fun to drive. (im on about the newest model the little one)

 

the mr2 mk3 roadster was a great car, i had one and loved it, was one of my favourite cars i've ever had. the steering and handling were great the only let down was the power and storage space. storage was more an issue for my wife, but i loved it.

 

and as for power that was easily remedied. you could turbo it for about 2-2.5k if you didn't mind doing the work yourself.

 

as for the S2k well thats what i moved to and i have to say, i'm loving it.

 

some of the more moronic on here will say both are hairdresser/girls cars but unless you've driven them they just don't know.

 

yes both are down on torque compared the the zed, but i'd say the s2k is more involving to drive than the zed. with the less weight in comparison it just feels alot more like a go kart.

 

each to their own people like what they like. i'd definitly say the s2k is worth a look. i saw a nice TT at the garage when i bought mine, and they do look nice in the interior.

[spursmaddave]

some of the more moronic on here will say both are hairdresser/girls cars but unless you've driven them they just don't know.

 

Iv'e driven both and yes they are lovely to drive, as is an MX5.... but if you over 6' tall or over 14 stone (I'm both)