Audi Mk1 TT 225 Roadster - A 'modern classic'?
Discussion
Too many times recently I've looked at buying a car, put it off, only for the prices of those cars to escalate quickly and be out of reach!
So this weekend I decided to buy a potential 'modern classic' before the prices get silly - after having a mk1 TT 225 Coupe a few years ago and loving the fun it provided, I decided that this time I really needed a convertible.
With a self imposed tight budget I started looking at the usual locations - FB Marketplace, Gumtree, Carandclassic etc - and found a lot of rubbish and many cars with very high mileage and a lot with little to no service history.
I looked at a couple of 150 models and why they drove well, I didn't find anything I was happy to spend money on.
Was getting twitchy with money burning a hole in my pocket that i started looking at Z3's and MGF's! and then last week, what appeared to be a perfect TT Roadster was posted on FB Marketplace that wasn't a million miles away from me!
I exchanged a couple of messages with the seller and a price was agreed in principle before travelling down to see it on Saturday. The car was actually better than described and drove really well with no warning lights or signs of damage. The roof worked well and it had a decent service history.
The deal was done, the money exchanged and I was on my way as a very happy boy
So what can you get at the bottom of the TT market? for me it was a 2001 Audi TT 1.8T 225 with MOT until June 23, 118k and a folder full of history including cambelts. From what i can tell, completely original with Grey leather, electric roof (no nicks or wear), electric glass wind deflector, heated seats, 6 speed manual gearbox, original Audi Concert headunit and 6 CD changer with BOSE.
Grey leather wouldn't have been my first choice, but its in pretty good condition and is actually a nice contrast to the Raven Black exterior and appears to have stood up to its 21 years quite well.
It needed a bit of a scrub to remove some marks as the car had stood for a while after failing an MOT before the seller recommissioned it and got it back on the road.
The LCD cluster is readable - there are a few lines out, but you can read each section still so i won't be racing to get that fixed just yet.
The centre console and radio cover are in great condition, a lot better than my previous coupe - the climate control switches aren't broken and the cover hides the original Concert radio/cassette player to stop jealous people trying to steal it
It appears to have the majority of its tool kit still in place and the space saver spare doesn't look its ever been used - not that i can imagine it being much cop after 21 years!
The 17 inch wheels are in quite good condition but would benefit from a refurb to make perfect - it has some brand new Sumitoto(?) tyres on the back and Bridgestones on the front, but also benefits from new pads and discs on the rear.
In the history file i also found a receipt for £1,500 to have a new turbo fitted about 4,000 miles ago, so something else i don't have to worry about
This car has the best service history i've seen for a long time - as well as a fully stamped service book with the last service 2 months ago, there are receipt's for everything including cambelt changes, haldex oil changes, all the original owners manuals, the brochures and price lists from 2001 and the original sales invoice showing it cost the first owner £28,000
So far I'm very happy with my purchase - it does need a decent polish and application of Poorboys Blackhole Glaze as it has a few stone chips.
Of course there are a couple of things i didn't spot when i first looked at the car - the Air con doesn't blow cold but thats not a huge issue when the roof drops in seconds and there are a couple of scratches on the boot lid and passenger door mirror that have been touched in not very well - nothing major and something i can fiddle with over time.
This will be a fun car for the rest of the summer and something to fiddle with at the weekends - will it ever be classed as a classic? unlikely as it has too many miles on it, but its a blooming fun way of spending not a lot of cash
So this weekend I decided to buy a potential 'modern classic' before the prices get silly - after having a mk1 TT 225 Coupe a few years ago and loving the fun it provided, I decided that this time I really needed a convertible.
With a self imposed tight budget I started looking at the usual locations - FB Marketplace, Gumtree, Carandclassic etc - and found a lot of rubbish and many cars with very high mileage and a lot with little to no service history.
I looked at a couple of 150 models and why they drove well, I didn't find anything I was happy to spend money on.
Was getting twitchy with money burning a hole in my pocket that i started looking at Z3's and MGF's! and then last week, what appeared to be a perfect TT Roadster was posted on FB Marketplace that wasn't a million miles away from me!
I exchanged a couple of messages with the seller and a price was agreed in principle before travelling down to see it on Saturday. The car was actually better than described and drove really well with no warning lights or signs of damage. The roof worked well and it had a decent service history.
The deal was done, the money exchanged and I was on my way as a very happy boy
So what can you get at the bottom of the TT market? for me it was a 2001 Audi TT 1.8T 225 with MOT until June 23, 118k and a folder full of history including cambelts. From what i can tell, completely original with Grey leather, electric roof (no nicks or wear), electric glass wind deflector, heated seats, 6 speed manual gearbox, original Audi Concert headunit and 6 CD changer with BOSE.
Grey leather wouldn't have been my first choice, but its in pretty good condition and is actually a nice contrast to the Raven Black exterior and appears to have stood up to its 21 years quite well.
It needed a bit of a scrub to remove some marks as the car had stood for a while after failing an MOT before the seller recommissioned it and got it back on the road.
The LCD cluster is readable - there are a few lines out, but you can read each section still so i won't be racing to get that fixed just yet.
The centre console and radio cover are in great condition, a lot better than my previous coupe - the climate control switches aren't broken and the cover hides the original Concert radio/cassette player to stop jealous people trying to steal it
It appears to have the majority of its tool kit still in place and the space saver spare doesn't look its ever been used - not that i can imagine it being much cop after 21 years!
The 17 inch wheels are in quite good condition but would benefit from a refurb to make perfect - it has some brand new Sumitoto(?) tyres on the back and Bridgestones on the front, but also benefits from new pads and discs on the rear.
In the history file i also found a receipt for £1,500 to have a new turbo fitted about 4,000 miles ago, so something else i don't have to worry about
This car has the best service history i've seen for a long time - as well as a fully stamped service book with the last service 2 months ago, there are receipt's for everything including cambelt changes, haldex oil changes, all the original owners manuals, the brochures and price lists from 2001 and the original sales invoice showing it cost the first owner £28,000
So far I'm very happy with my purchase - it does need a decent polish and application of Poorboys Blackhole Glaze as it has a few stone chips.
Of course there are a couple of things i didn't spot when i first looked at the car - the Air con doesn't blow cold but thats not a huge issue when the roof drops in seconds and there are a couple of scratches on the boot lid and passenger door mirror that have been touched in not very well - nothing major and something i can fiddle with over time.
This will be a fun car for the rest of the summer and something to fiddle with at the weekends - will it ever be classed as a classic? unlikely as it has too many miles on it, but its a blooming fun way of spending not a lot of cash
Buy it more for how it makes you feel as the cost of running any car like this can easy eat into any price appreciation that can occur.
I have an early mk2 3.2 Roadster with less than 30000 miles on the clock and it is worth very little but is a brilliant car. Just enjoy what you have bought!
I have an early mk2 3.2 Roadster with less than 30000 miles on the clock and it is worth very little but is a brilliant car. Just enjoy what you have bought!
While digging around in the car, I have found this toggle switch fitted next to the air bag switch
Absolutely no idea what is does - flicking it either way doesn't seem to do anything - unfortunately not an ejector seat or smoke screen.
Not a haldex switch either
Will have to take it out and trace the wires - or just leave it alone and let it nag at the back of my head
Answers on a postcard please
Absolutely no idea what is does - flicking it either way doesn't seem to do anything - unfortunately not an ejector seat or smoke screen.
Not a haldex switch either
Will have to take it out and trace the wires - or just leave it alone and let it nag at the back of my head
Answers on a postcard please
A problem! On returning to the car last night I unlocked and noticed the passenger side front indicator wasn’t working. I was winking at people!
Surely a simple fix, off I trotted to Halfords for a new bulb. Dislocated my wrist trying to get the old bulb out of a gap big enough for a baby’s hand only to find I had the wrong version of the bulb - a HY21W rather than a H21W - feksticks!
back to Halfords for the right bulb, put it in, put all the plastic covers back on and….. nothing. Double feksticks!
that’s when I noticed I appear to have led indicators - the bulb I just put in was working, you just couldn’t see the light from it as a previous owner had ‘upgraded’ to LEDs.
take it all apart again, still can’t find the problem, Googling it to figure out how to remove the headlight so I can get a proper look which tells me you need to remove the bumper, inner arch etc etc - fukky de fuk.
as a last resort I sprayed the bulb holder with contact cleaner and hey presto - it worked! - once
removed the battery to try and get a better look and found a wire from the back of the bulb holder to what I assume is the led unit in the headlight. Hidden under the headlight unit is a bullet connection - no idea why, but after a wiggle, one side is clearly loose. So cut it off, joined the 2 end backs together and now the damn thing works!
ed China and Ant Anstead eat your hearts out - I am the master mechanic!!
ok, I spent £4.49 on a bulb I didn’t actually need, but it works and I didn’t have to take the front of the car off.
Surely a simple fix, off I trotted to Halfords for a new bulb. Dislocated my wrist trying to get the old bulb out of a gap big enough for a baby’s hand only to find I had the wrong version of the bulb - a HY21W rather than a H21W - feksticks!
back to Halfords for the right bulb, put it in, put all the plastic covers back on and….. nothing. Double feksticks!
that’s when I noticed I appear to have led indicators - the bulb I just put in was working, you just couldn’t see the light from it as a previous owner had ‘upgraded’ to LEDs.
take it all apart again, still can’t find the problem, Googling it to figure out how to remove the headlight so I can get a proper look which tells me you need to remove the bumper, inner arch etc etc - fukky de fuk.
as a last resort I sprayed the bulb holder with contact cleaner and hey presto - it worked! - once
removed the battery to try and get a better look and found a wire from the back of the bulb holder to what I assume is the led unit in the headlight. Hidden under the headlight unit is a bullet connection - no idea why, but after a wiggle, one side is clearly loose. So cut it off, joined the 2 end backs together and now the damn thing works!
ed China and Ant Anstead eat your hearts out - I am the master mechanic!!
ok, I spent £4.49 on a bulb I didn’t actually need, but it works and I didn’t have to take the front of the car off.
First thought on the glovebox switch is that it might be a radiator fan manual override. If the car had a habit of getting hot in traffic, it would be a wise idea (although not as wise as fitting an uprated radiator)
Probably worth checking out sooner rather than later, in case it's for something you really need to know....
Probably worth checking out sooner rather than later, in case it's for something you really need to know....
Nigel_O said:
First thought on the glovebox switch is that it might be a radiator fan manual override. If the car had a habit of getting hot in traffic, it would be a wise idea (although not as wise as fitting an uprated radiator)
Probably worth checking out sooner rather than later, in case it's for something you really need to know....
Spot on! Found it tonight after being stuck in traffic - remembered your post and flicked the switch - instantly dropped the temp gauge Probably worth checking out sooner rather than later, in case it's for something you really need to know....
mwstewart said:
vulture1 said:
God I miss those heated seats. Proper nuclear heat from them
They are great. The same elements in the Mk4 Golf. The 209 CLK has the same degree of heating.Don't make 'em like they used to
mattman said:
Spot on! Found it tonight after being stuck in traffic - remembered your post and flicked the switch - instantly dropped the temp gauge
Check the fan works in normal operation. They have a habit of failing and this may just be the override. Happened in my mk4 Golf. If I remember all the fuses and relays are above the battery. The smugness of fixing the indicators was wiped out last night during a drive. Not even going fast and started stuttering with a flashing EML.
Limped home and the wonderful world of Google made me pretty confident a coil pack had failed.
Plugged in my OBD reader to confirm a misfire code on cylinder 3 - one of the awkward ones to get to.
Coil packs 3 and 4 are buried under this little lot and a metal bracket that holds it all in place. Once removed, access to the failed pack is quite easy…
Found a guide on the TTForum so it was actually quite painless - 20 mins and all swapped
And this is the little bugger that caused it - £37 for a new a Bosch part from ECP
Limped home and the wonderful world of Google made me pretty confident a coil pack had failed.
Plugged in my OBD reader to confirm a misfire code on cylinder 3 - one of the awkward ones to get to.
Coil packs 3 and 4 are buried under this little lot and a metal bracket that holds it all in place. Once removed, access to the failed pack is quite easy…
Found a guide on the TTForum so it was actually quite painless - 20 mins and all swapped
And this is the little bugger that caused it - £37 for a new a Bosch part from ECP
My wife had a Quattro roadster with the 225bhp BAM engine and it was awesome. Sadly the diff started to make some funky noises so it was part chopped against something else before it went really wrong.
Great cars and still look great, which can't be said for that many 20 year old production cars.
Great cars and still look great, which can't be said for that many 20 year old production cars.
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