looking to buy TT, what goes wrong?

[rhencullen1989]

Hi there, have been thinking of changing my trusty Audi 80 sport for a mk 1 TT. Now i also have an 1.8T A4 and am fairly competent with mechanics (Aircraft Engineer), have changed steering rack, front wheel bearings, all front ally sus.arms,Cam belt on 80, regular oil changes etc, so i know how to turn a spanner! What i need to know are what are the main weaknesses in the early TT's, i am thinking of pre march 2001 to beat the new tax increases. Say a W,X or early Y reg. Needs to have rear seat (for my daughter) so it's the coupe then. I have heard that the quattro system is "hydrex" and uses fluid and an ecu, when front wheels light up it sends power to the rears? is this a reliable system as have heard of £1000 bills to repair!, my budget will be pretty low (i also need another A4) so looking at around the £5000 mark, with no more than 80K on clock. Have seen a few on auto trader that fall into that category, just need some feedback from you guys so i don't end up buying a hound! Are they dear to insure, i have full NCD and am of 1968 vintage, so i don't think it will be too bad. (A4 costs £280 fully comp with the wife on as business use) I look foward to your feedback good or bad.

[kite]

Quattro system is "haldex".
These cars are affected by the usual 1.8T problems...
Oil pump issues due to long life service.
Dashpod failures, Audi will replace FOC
Waterpump, thermostat, MAF, coilpacks.

[rhencullen1989]

Sorry for my incompetence, should have done my homework on the HALDEX system. If i am considering an early TT, i assume the longlife servicing was not around then, so i need to check that the oil has been changed at least every 10K (preferably every 5K) with a good quality fully synthetic. Ideally i would find a car with less than 70K on clock, one carefull enthusiast owner oil change every 5K, engine nice and warm before being revved too high etc but i bet they are hard to find! I will have a good look after xmas. On the subject, what do you think is the best colour? i like the denim blue but hate the blue leather most of the blue ones are fitted with. Silver looks good and lots to choose from. I am not too concerned about power (180 or 225) unless you can tell me that the 180 is cr*p or underpowered. Cheers.

[kite]

Longlife has been around a while.
Have a look on the TT forum for cars for sale.
The wife has denim blue but with black leather.
One thing to look out for is the drivers seat bolster wears

[MadMacStew]

On the subject, what do you think is the best colour? i like the denim blue but hate the blue leather most of the blue ones are fitted with. Silver looks good and lots to choose from. I am not too concerned about power (180 or 225) unless you can tell me that the 180 is cr*p or underpowered. Cheers.

My wife had a beauty in a very unusual combination of Dolomite grey paint with Aniseed (creamy yellow) leather. Sales staff all sniggered when she ordered it, but when she went to collect the car, Leicester Audi had it in the middle of the showroom for a week as a 'show' car and everyone said it looked really great! Engine wise, I actually prefer the 180 as it has virtually no lag and never suffers the overheating problems you sometimes hear about with the 225.

[kammyTT]

your better going for a 225, it has all the extras like xenons,allu gear knob etc.

as kite said, the most common problems are coildpacks, dashpod,arbs wearing out and make sure you check if the cambelt service has been carried out, car should be no older than 5 years and 60k miles.

hope this helps

kam

[MadMacStew]

your better going for a 225, it has all the extras like xenons,allu gear knob etc.

kam
Not a sensible statement, as we're talking about an older car here, so the 'extras' on any given car will depend both on the build year and on the original buyer's specification. Also note that for some odd reason, it seems to be only 225s that suffer from dashpod failure. For example, my wife's 2003 180 Quattro Coupe had Xenons, 18" 9-spoke wheels, Bose, full leather, ally gearknob (not a good thing in winter!), and 6-CD changer, some standard and some options at that time.

[kite]

the Mk1 face lift was aroung Sept02.
this is when most "options" became std.....