Audi TT mk1 - my findings whilst looking for a good one...
Discussion
Hi,
I was looking for a decent TT for my other half to use as a daily over winter and I thought I'd be able to get a decent TT for circa £2k or maybe £2.5k.
Alas, having looked every day for about 6 weeks at Facebook, Autotrader, Gumtree and Ebay etc I've not found one, and have bought another car that should do the job instead.
Viewed x4 cars, mainly a combination of crass modifications, long-overdue cambelt and water pump situations, one key, damp and leaky cars, coolant leaking all over the floor, poor accident repairs etc meant it was a no from me.
Main source of no thanks for me either when viewing or after 'chatting' were the following;
Full service history in adverts but owner(s) couldn't/wouldn't tell me when cambelt was last replaced. Or cars advertised as cambelt and water pump replaced at (for example) 80k miles. Looking at MOT history on some cars meant that was 11 years ago...
Only x1 key - my hang up but can't believe how easily people lose keys. They are not cheap to replace...same with cambelts - guess there is my answer.
Gauges not working, or erratic.
Pixelated dash
Cars that were advertised as 225's but were 150's or occasionally 180's, and in some cases 180's that also were 150's. Actual data in advert stated either 180 or 225 but were often 150 and therefore not Quattro's. Or 2wd Quattro's...I know it is obvious if car has headlight washers but not always an indicator as spec' can differ. Twin exhausts retro-fitted etc can easily mislead/dupe.
Headlamps that were badly yellowed and/or full of condensation, basically no good at night, a primary job of a headlamp.
Crass Barry Boy 'modifications' like air boxes, boot speakers, wires from previous gone-wrong jobs etc.
Thermostats not working, heater fan not working, window regulators meaning windows half open, or not dropping when door closing...
Heated seats not working, seats not tipping or adjusting, door cards broken, handles missing.
3.2 TT's seem to corrode worse than 225's and again the mythical "full service history" but no idea about Timing Chain, Tensioners etc
Only about 5% of sellers knew anything about Haldex or Haldex Service.
"Short MOT but will pass with flying colours"
Washer jets for headlamps held* together by wood screws. *until being operated.
In one case I was told by a large dealer (not large as in overweight) that heated seats take 20-30 minutes to heat up...this was 5 minutes after they were switched on...I could almost cook a chicken quicker. This was the same dealer that had window jammed half open (or closed!) and coolant leaking all over the floor as car warmed-up, plus heater fan not working, gauges full of condensation...never got to the 20-30 minute cooking time so will never know if those heated seats worked...
I know there must be decent cars out there but didn't see one I wanted to buy or even buy for the right price - they looked like a total money pit.
I think my basic advice is to clarify (with a photo) what car is on V5 as in 150, 180 or 225 if unsure, assuming it states that on V5, and check everything works even if seller says it does...
My conclusion is I needed to spend more money to get a decent TT, but I thought there would be a bargain somewhere, and there wasn't. Even speaking to owners of cars that were £3k and above they had gauges not working, pixelated dash problems, one key etc..
x2 of the x4 cars I discounted after viewing are up for sale again by 'new' owners, which says a lot, given that is within 6 weeks of them owning the cars.
Maybe next time we are due a second car I'll look again, but that is what I found, basically cars that had fallen into the hands of people who couldn't afford the upkeep of these cars, hence why I'd say 90% of adverts I replied to and all the cars I viewed were overdue cambelt and water pump.
Even though I'd set aside £500 for it, the rest of the cars viewed were money-pits.
Sorry if this paints a negative picture of mk1 TT's but I looked at probably 500 cars on the internet under £3.5k, and physically looking at x4 cars that were all duds. This was in a massive region covering Birmingham, North London, Cambridge and anywhere in between.
Hope this helps!
I was looking for a decent TT for my other half to use as a daily over winter and I thought I'd be able to get a decent TT for circa £2k or maybe £2.5k.
Alas, having looked every day for about 6 weeks at Facebook, Autotrader, Gumtree and Ebay etc I've not found one, and have bought another car that should do the job instead.
Viewed x4 cars, mainly a combination of crass modifications, long-overdue cambelt and water pump situations, one key, damp and leaky cars, coolant leaking all over the floor, poor accident repairs etc meant it was a no from me.
Main source of no thanks for me either when viewing or after 'chatting' were the following;
Full service history in adverts but owner(s) couldn't/wouldn't tell me when cambelt was last replaced. Or cars advertised as cambelt and water pump replaced at (for example) 80k miles. Looking at MOT history on some cars meant that was 11 years ago...
Only x1 key - my hang up but can't believe how easily people lose keys. They are not cheap to replace...same with cambelts - guess there is my answer.
Gauges not working, or erratic.
Pixelated dash
Cars that were advertised as 225's but were 150's or occasionally 180's, and in some cases 180's that also were 150's. Actual data in advert stated either 180 or 225 but were often 150 and therefore not Quattro's. Or 2wd Quattro's...I know it is obvious if car has headlight washers but not always an indicator as spec' can differ. Twin exhausts retro-fitted etc can easily mislead/dupe.
Headlamps that were badly yellowed and/or full of condensation, basically no good at night, a primary job of a headlamp.
Crass Barry Boy 'modifications' like air boxes, boot speakers, wires from previous gone-wrong jobs etc.
Thermostats not working, heater fan not working, window regulators meaning windows half open, or not dropping when door closing...
Heated seats not working, seats not tipping or adjusting, door cards broken, handles missing.
3.2 TT's seem to corrode worse than 225's and again the mythical "full service history" but no idea about Timing Chain, Tensioners etc
Only about 5% of sellers knew anything about Haldex or Haldex Service.
"Short MOT but will pass with flying colours"
Washer jets for headlamps held* together by wood screws. *until being operated.
In one case I was told by a large dealer (not large as in overweight) that heated seats take 20-30 minutes to heat up...this was 5 minutes after they were switched on...I could almost cook a chicken quicker. This was the same dealer that had window jammed half open (or closed!) and coolant leaking all over the floor as car warmed-up, plus heater fan not working, gauges full of condensation...never got to the 20-30 minute cooking time so will never know if those heated seats worked...
I know there must be decent cars out there but didn't see one I wanted to buy or even buy for the right price - they looked like a total money pit.
I think my basic advice is to clarify (with a photo) what car is on V5 as in 150, 180 or 225 if unsure, assuming it states that on V5, and check everything works even if seller says it does...
My conclusion is I needed to spend more money to get a decent TT, but I thought there would be a bargain somewhere, and there wasn't. Even speaking to owners of cars that were £3k and above they had gauges not working, pixelated dash problems, one key etc..
x2 of the x4 cars I discounted after viewing are up for sale again by 'new' owners, which says a lot, given that is within 6 weeks of them owning the cars.
Maybe next time we are due a second car I'll look again, but that is what I found, basically cars that had fallen into the hands of people who couldn't afford the upkeep of these cars, hence why I'd say 90% of adverts I replied to and all the cars I viewed were overdue cambelt and water pump.
Even though I'd set aside £500 for it, the rest of the cars viewed were money-pits.
Sorry if this paints a negative picture of mk1 TT's but I looked at probably 500 cars on the internet under £3.5k, and physically looking at x4 cars that were all duds. This was in a massive region covering Birmingham, North London, Cambridge and anywhere in between.
Hope this helps!
"for circa £2k or maybe £2.5k"
There is your problem. Most of these will be a bag of crud, for reasons you have already discussed. There may be the odd hidden gem if you are hunting in that price bracket, but you will have to look at possibly dozens of them to find.
My other half found a surprisingly good early example of 225 roadster with only 65k miles, looked after, FSH, garaged, elderly driver, never modified etc. and even that has needed a bomb spent on brakes, cambelt, clutch, some suspension bits, tyres, full servicing inc haldex, and DIY hood refurbishment.
These can cost not that much short of a Boxster to maintain properly, but are often bought by people on a shoestring budget and maintained on an equally shoestring budget. Ours is now more or less up to scratch, but it has probably had the purchase price doubled.
So you'd be better off spending more to find a good one than polishing a turd. How much more is debatable. Would never let ours go for less than £5-6k currently, which is still a bargain for what you get. These are a certain future classic, but there is so much supply on the market that it will take a few years to either scrap, restore or otherwise filter out the garbage until a greater proportion of the remaining cars are in good order and the overall numbers on the road are lower.
I can then see prices climbing a fair bit over where they are now.
TBH you can apply a lot of this logic to other popular cars of the early 2000s, Boxsters, Mini Cooper S and so on. Future classics that are currently cheap because they built so many of them, and many not as looked after as they should be.
There is your problem. Most of these will be a bag of crud, for reasons you have already discussed. There may be the odd hidden gem if you are hunting in that price bracket, but you will have to look at possibly dozens of them to find.
My other half found a surprisingly good early example of 225 roadster with only 65k miles, looked after, FSH, garaged, elderly driver, never modified etc. and even that has needed a bomb spent on brakes, cambelt, clutch, some suspension bits, tyres, full servicing inc haldex, and DIY hood refurbishment.
These can cost not that much short of a Boxster to maintain properly, but are often bought by people on a shoestring budget and maintained on an equally shoestring budget. Ours is now more or less up to scratch, but it has probably had the purchase price doubled.
So you'd be better off spending more to find a good one than polishing a turd. How much more is debatable. Would never let ours go for less than £5-6k currently, which is still a bargain for what you get. These are a certain future classic, but there is so much supply on the market that it will take a few years to either scrap, restore or otherwise filter out the garbage until a greater proportion of the remaining cars are in good order and the overall numbers on the road are lower.
I can then see prices climbing a fair bit over where they are now.
TBH you can apply a lot of this logic to other popular cars of the early 2000s, Boxsters, Mini Cooper S and so on. Future classics that are currently cheap because they built so many of them, and many not as looked after as they should be.
Dr G said:
Hoofy said:
Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post. I suspect this goes for any car of that era!
Fixed that for you. Most 15 year old cars at that money are at or near end of life.Hoofy said:
Dr G said:
Hoofy said:
Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post. I suspect this goes for any car of that era!
Fixed that for you. Most 15 year old cars at that money are at or near end of life.I was nearly caught out with a 180 convertible, agreed a price subject to car being as described etc. I then worked out it was actually a 150, but seller insisted it was a 180 but was 'only' front wheel drive. He said it felt like a 180 and compared it to a 180bhp turbo diesel he once owned. This guy was a home dealer, whatever that is.
I asked what it said model was on V5 and he said it didn't say...
That would have been another 3 hour round-trip (plus tedious viewing allowance) and I just grew tired of the lack of transparency/dishonesty with literally every car's owner.
Another guy had a 180 (apparently a 180 anyway) for sale, recent (WW2 is recent) cambelt change. Advertised with 12 months MOT too, full service history...I emailed him initially and politely asked how many keys does his car have and could he tell me when cambelt was last changed...
Got a reply of "1" and another reply a few seconds later saying "Keys ?? Rather no if history or works"....I then put reg in MOT history and found it expires in 6 weeks, advert only a week old. That isn't 12 months.
He told me he must've got confused with another car (even though he wasn't selling another car) and told me to "F*ck Off" which I was happy to do.
Another car (still for sale a month later) was up for £2500, new MOT, via a 'prestigious' dealer, full service history, new tyres etc. Sold As Seen PX job.
I had a look from outside as it was out of hours (was working in that area) on a Friday evening. Car not perfect but good enough to hopefully have a drive and look at that infamous 'full service history'...
Dealer wouldn't entertain anything until the Monday and was insistent the car would sell for £2500 and I didn't (at that stage) think it was worth that (to me).
1 week later car is reduced to £2000 and 3 weeks on from there is still for sale.
It had one key, had sat for a year prior to MOT, cracked front bumper, peeling paint but good enough if service history showed recent cambelt...
With me potentially funding cambelt (if it has been done it normally says in advert, especially when the advert lists other work carried out and they deal in 'sports cars so know how it works) and needing a spare key (easy to lock in boot) I'd have been talking £3200 for a peeling paint car with cloudy headlights...and didn't know if dash was rubbish etc, or needed something else...
Hope this helps! It isn't exclusive to TT's as had high hopes of another 'sports' car this week. Checked the engine (which was still hot when I turned up) and found no coolant in expansion tank. And no oil on dipstick. And no V5, though that wasn't going to be found in engine bay.
Now I have a car to sell...so anticipate the legendary questions like "best price" and/or "I come tonight with cash £400" and "swap for Corsa mate" or "swap for iPhone 29 bruv" so variety is indeed the spice of life.
Just got to lose the V5, totally misdescribe what I'm selling and I'll be ready for action.
"Recent Camembert, 12 keys, full MOT history service, will pass with flying colours, pride and joy, just testing the waters, reluctant sale first to see will cry £5000.00 may part ex for swapz new keeper V5 timewarp condition apply for logbook quadbike barn find bloke from time team serious offers only"
BlimeyCharlie said:
... I thought I'd be able to get a decent TT for circa £2k or maybe £2.5k.
There's your problem! 
At best any 15-20yr old car is either going to be a upteen owner basket case that needs a load of work and has stuff missing, or has been cherished and had everything replaced or upgraded. Hint - the cherished cars will either not be for sale, or certainly not at the bargain basement end of the used car market.My car is mostly in the cherished camp, but yeah is missing a few pixels but is perfectly legible enough for me - if it gets bad enough i'll spend the couple hundred quid it takes to repair.
BlimeyCharlie said:
Totally agree, and by my own admission I needed to either outlay considerably more money initially or have money set aside to get cambelt etc done, both of which were options I had, but just wasn't seeing a good car out there to begin with.
I was nearly caught out with a 180 convertible, agreed a price subject to car being as described etc. I then worked out it was actually a 150, but seller insisted it was a 180 but was 'only' front wheel drive. He said it felt like a 180 and compared it to a 180bhp turbo diesel he once owned. This guy was a home dealer, whatever that is.
I asked what it said model was on V5 and he said it didn't say...
That would have been another 3 hour round-trip (plus tedious viewing allowance) and I just grew tired of the lack of transparency/dishonesty with literally every car's owner.
Another guy had a 180 (apparently a 180 anyway) for sale, recent (WW2 is recent) cambelt change. Advertised with 12 months MOT too, full service history...I emailed him initially and politely asked how many keys does his car have and could he tell me when cambelt was last changed...
Got a reply of "1" and another reply a few seconds later saying "Keys ?? Rather no if history or works"....I then put reg in MOT history and found it expires in 6 weeks, advert only a week old. That isn't 12 months.
He told me he must've got confused with another car (even though he wasn't selling another car) and told me to "F*ck Off" which I was happy to do.
Another car (still for sale a month later) was up for £2500, new MOT, via a 'prestigious' dealer, full service history, new tyres etc. Sold As Seen PX job.
I had a look from outside as it was out of hours (was working in that area) on a Friday evening. Car not perfect but good enough to hopefully have a drive and look at that infamous 'full service history'...
Dealer wouldn't entertain anything until the Monday and was insistent the car would sell for £2500 and I didn't (at that stage) think it was worth that (to me).
1 week later car is reduced to £2000 and 3 weeks on from there is still for sale.
It had one key, had sat for a year prior to MOT, cracked front bumper, peeling paint but good enough if service history showed recent cambelt...
With me potentially funding cambelt (if it has been done it normally says in advert, especially when the advert lists other work carried out and they deal in 'sports cars so know how it works) and needing a spare key (easy to lock in boot) I'd have been talking £3200 for a peeling paint car with cloudy headlights...and didn't know if dash was rubbish etc, or needed something else...
Hope this helps! It isn't exclusive to TT's as had high hopes of another 'sports' car this week. Checked the engine (which was still hot when I turned up) and found no coolant in expansion tank. And no oil on dipstick. And no V5, though that wasn't going to be found in engine bay.
Now I have a car to sell...so anticipate the legendary questions like "best price" and/or "I come tonight with cash £400" and "swap for Corsa mate" or "swap for iPhone 29 bruv" so variety is indeed the spice of life.
Just got to lose the V5, totally misdescribe what I'm selling and I'll be ready for action.
"Recent Camembert, 12 keys, full MOT history service, will pass with flying colours, pride and joy, just testing the waters, reluctant sale first to see will cry £5000.00 may part ex for swapz new keeper V5 timewarp condition apply for logbook quadbike barn find bloke from time team serious offers only"
I was nearly caught out with a 180 convertible, agreed a price subject to car being as described etc. I then worked out it was actually a 150, but seller insisted it was a 180 but was 'only' front wheel drive. He said it felt like a 180 and compared it to a 180bhp turbo diesel he once owned. This guy was a home dealer, whatever that is.
I asked what it said model was on V5 and he said it didn't say...
That would have been another 3 hour round-trip (plus tedious viewing allowance) and I just grew tired of the lack of transparency/dishonesty with literally every car's owner.
Another guy had a 180 (apparently a 180 anyway) for sale, recent (WW2 is recent) cambelt change. Advertised with 12 months MOT too, full service history...I emailed him initially and politely asked how many keys does his car have and could he tell me when cambelt was last changed...
Got a reply of "1" and another reply a few seconds later saying "Keys ?? Rather no if history or works"....I then put reg in MOT history and found it expires in 6 weeks, advert only a week old. That isn't 12 months.
He told me he must've got confused with another car (even though he wasn't selling another car) and told me to "F*ck Off" which I was happy to do.
Another car (still for sale a month later) was up for £2500, new MOT, via a 'prestigious' dealer, full service history, new tyres etc. Sold As Seen PX job.
I had a look from outside as it was out of hours (was working in that area) on a Friday evening. Car not perfect but good enough to hopefully have a drive and look at that infamous 'full service history'...
Dealer wouldn't entertain anything until the Monday and was insistent the car would sell for £2500 and I didn't (at that stage) think it was worth that (to me).
1 week later car is reduced to £2000 and 3 weeks on from there is still for sale.
It had one key, had sat for a year prior to MOT, cracked front bumper, peeling paint but good enough if service history showed recent cambelt...
With me potentially funding cambelt (if it has been done it normally says in advert, especially when the advert lists other work carried out and they deal in 'sports cars so know how it works) and needing a spare key (easy to lock in boot) I'd have been talking £3200 for a peeling paint car with cloudy headlights...and didn't know if dash was rubbish etc, or needed something else...
Hope this helps! It isn't exclusive to TT's as had high hopes of another 'sports' car this week. Checked the engine (which was still hot when I turned up) and found no coolant in expansion tank. And no oil on dipstick. And no V5, though that wasn't going to be found in engine bay.
Now I have a car to sell...so anticipate the legendary questions like "best price" and/or "I come tonight with cash £400" and "swap for Corsa mate" or "swap for iPhone 29 bruv" so variety is indeed the spice of life.
Just got to lose the V5, totally misdescribe what I'm selling and I'll be ready for action.
"Recent Camembert, 12 keys, full MOT history service, will pass with flying colours, pride and joy, just testing the waters, reluctant sale first to see will cry £5000.00 may part ex for swapz new keeper V5 timewarp condition apply for logbook quadbike barn find bloke from time team serious offers only"
There's a reason why I search for cars within 15 miles of my home and don't bother looking further afield. Guess it depends on how desperate you are.
Very much sounds like the usual snag list on old TTs!
Their age, low cost and decent performance have made them an easy choice for people to run into the ground.
Mine was this sort of calibre of car - dodgy gauges, no history, cambelt needed, Haldex service needed, thermostat, suspension refresh, sump cleanup, no heated rear window, this list goes on.
I bought it knowing these would need addressing, and paid appropriately. It’s a great car, now. Not cheap to run though. Waiting for the other classics failures - steering rack, PCV, clutch….
Their age, low cost and decent performance have made them an easy choice for people to run into the ground.
Mine was this sort of calibre of car - dodgy gauges, no history, cambelt needed, Haldex service needed, thermostat, suspension refresh, sump cleanup, no heated rear window, this list goes on.
I bought it knowing these would need addressing, and paid appropriately. It’s a great car, now. Not cheap to run though. Waiting for the other classics failures - steering rack, PCV, clutch….
My experience, is that at that price point, MOST cars are a load of crud. No one cares, not when its the sort of car you own for a while, then CBA.
I think your only hope is that market is buy from an owner's forum, where you can at least have a little confidence that the seller "may" have been a little bothered to at least cover the basics....
I think your only hope is that market is buy from an owner's forum, where you can at least have a little confidence that the seller "may" have been a little bothered to at least cover the basics....
MattyD803 said:
My experience, is that at that price point, MOST cars are a load of crud. No one cares, not when its the sort of car you own for a while, then CBA.
I think your only hope is that market is buy from an owner's forum, where you can at least have a little confidence that the seller "may" have been a little bothered to at least cover the basics....
Reading a post on car clubs, this may not be any better an idea.I think your only hope is that market is buy from an owner's forum, where you can at least have a little confidence that the seller "may" have been a little bothered to at least cover the basics....
I’ve dropped quite a bit of money on mine in the time I’ve had it and a cam belt and water pump isn’t massively expensive. A clutch and flywheel though will set you back a bit for instance.
It seems to be rare to find a non pixelated dash that’s not been subject to a refurb mind you.
What I would say is that if you’re handy, there are parts aplenty out there though through a number of breakers.
There are some nice ones out there, but clearly there is a real chance of a £2k car being bought to rag about in without much consideration around simple oil services leave alone Haldex servicing and the like.
It seems to be rare to find a non pixelated dash that’s not been subject to a refurb mind you.
What I would say is that if you’re handy, there are parts aplenty out there though through a number of breakers.
There are some nice ones out there, but clearly there is a real chance of a £2k car being bought to rag about in without much consideration around simple oil services leave alone Haldex servicing and the like.
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