They seem like decent little cars for the money if you can get over the looks.
Easy enough to find in manual, AWD available, craigslist cheap, two doors w/ available roof, I'm assuming the motor is the same turbo 4 in every other VW/Audi that was used for forever and would be easy/cheap to replace and find parts for???
Correct me if I'm wrong here!
http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/4092715712.html
This one had me thinking...
There have been a couple of threads on them. There are some very good reasons people don't covet them and it has nothing to do with their looks. They are early 2000's VW products with all of the horror that comes with that.
Edit to add that I owned a 2000 TT non quatro so I actually have personal experience with them. I wouldn't take another one if it was free.
I don't have much to add, but my parents have one. I've never really liked it. It just feels kind of piggish to me. I will admit that it can hold the road, it just doesn't feel like it should when you're sitting in it.
Oil changes involve removing the plastic pan under the engine, of course. You could always cut a hole, but I'm not in for that sort of thing. The air injection system seems to be a disaster -- we're constantly fighting a CEL due to some mysterious failure of that system. The hoses are prone to heat damage and the pump itself is prone to getting itself full of carbon. Without a VAG-COM, you're really not going to be troubleshooting the system.
I'm 6'3" and after a trip to Lexington (about 1.5 hours, maybe?) I actually had a hard time trying to climb out of the car due to the way it had me kind of curled up in the cockpit. Every time I try to back the thing up, I wind up whacking my elbow against some storage panel that is between the two seatbacks which opens that panel up.
They apparently had some sort of problem with something in gauge cluster that required nearly complete dis-assembly of the dash. My parents were able to find someone to squeak it in under warranty somehow, but without that it would have been measured in thousands of dollars to have the dealer fix it. Or that's what I remember of the story, anyway.
Joshua wrote: They seem like decent little cars for the money if you can get over the looks. Easy enough to find in manual, AWD available, craigslist cheap, two doors w/ available roof, I'm assuming the motor is the same turbo 4 in every other VW/Audi that was used for forever and would be easy/cheap to replace and find parts for??? Correct me if I'm wrong here! http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/4092715712.html This one had me thinking...
Ha. I've always thought the only reason to own these is because of the looks. If you love their styling, you'll put up with the early 2000's VW build quality, plastic water pumps, etc. They were never known as stellar handling cars.
That said, they're an interesting value proposition today if you're comfortable with VW wrenching in general, but if you don't even like the looks to begin with, I can't imagine you'd end up loving the car.
I'm personally in the camp that really likes these cars and think they can look really neat. What other AWD 2-seat coupes are out there in this range? Plus you can get some decent Audi creature comforts, solid mpg's, heated seats, etc. If you're resourceful, there's plenty of mk4 era VW's in junkyards for mechanical bits.
I don't get why people bitch about the VW belly pan... it's a minute with a cordless screw gun... BFD...
Otherwise... yeah.. it's a VAG car... there are good ones and bad ones... with little way of knowing which is which. Of course, this reputation is reflected in the depreciated prices, so either you accept you're buying a relatively new ~$40K car for pennies on the dollar and the risks that entails, or you don't...
Compared to other Mk IV platform cars, the AWD versions (TT and R32) have better front suspension geometry. FWIW, the TT has been "the car" for D-Stock autocross for a couple of years at the National level, a status that's unlikely to change with the move to Street tires where the AWD grip will be of even greater benefit.
Looks are a personal matter, but I remember reading an interview with a highly placed car designer who called the original TT one of the best designs he'd ever seen and destined to be a future classic. Personally, I'd love a roadster with the baseball-glove leather seats (or those seats swapped into a coupe).
Get one that's been maintained properly and has the service records to prove it!
Get one that's been maintained properly and has the service records to prove it!
Get one that's....
These are NOT Honda's! You can NOT ignore maintenance on these! If you take care of them, they'll take care of you! I've put 100's of thousands of miles on Audi Quattros with just maintenance. Get a good one and you'll be fine. Get one that's been ignored and you'll pay for it!
FWIW I really liked the looks of the TT concept car. It lost a little in its final execution, but the looks are the only reason to buy one IMHO.
I asked about these a while back.
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/going-down-the-audi-tt-roadwhat-to-expect/59328/page1/
Long story short: you don't want one unless you absolutely love the styling...which I do, and I still hesitate.
Short of an R8, it is the only Audi I like the looks of. VAG still scares me.
Are the newer TTs better than the original ones? I know the current Golf seems to be a fairly well built car based on the reviews.
People like the looks of the Audi TT? I always thought the originals were ugly cars for women who spend most of their time shopping.
petegossett wrote: Are the newer TTs better than the original ones? I know the current Golf seems to be a fairly well built car based on the reviews.
As far as the first gen cars, it is said that build quality improved by an order of magnitude every subsequent model year. The second gen cars are just supposed to be better in every possible way...and this is where people think I'm psycho, but I much prefer the styling of the first gen.
I think it’s an amazing looking car, especially for the money.
Once past the VAG reliability I love the way they drive too. I’ve spent lots of time in an R32 Golf and I just don’t understand the hate for the Haldex system. It works great wet or dry, sun or 6” of snow. Couple that with the TT look’s and it’s a winner too me.
Reliability is an issue though, but it’s not a Boxster IMS Bearing like issue.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Reliability is an issue though, but it’s not a Boxster IMS Bearing like issue.
That is true. The fire-starting master cylinder recall is the only thing like that; but the electronically actuated door latches break, the gauge cluster will go nuts, bulbs will blow all over, secondary air injection will cause no end of CEL issues, and so forth. A pain in the ass, but a lot easier to deal with as a $6k used car than a $40k new car.
In many ways the TT is like a spiritual successor to the VW Corrado, the more I think about it. There is a beautiful and really fun car in there if you can put up with all the failing doodads and VAG crap.
Just how bad is it getting to the stuff on the motor, I still have nightmares about doing repairs to the new beetles of the same era.
Remember the old adage about GM cars. 'A Chevy will run badly longer than other cars will run' Maybe we need to substitute VAG for Chevy.
My neighbors R32 that I love so much has the gauge cluster issue. He just lives with no fuel gage rather than spring the $1k to fix it.
Joshua wrote: I'm assuming the motor is the same turbo 4 in every other VW/Audi that was used for forever
It is.
and would be easy/cheap to replace and find parts for???
Easy, yes. Cheap depends on your definition of cheap.
Audi TTs are just squashed New Beetles that are more cramped to work on underhood. The AWD models suck hardcore for certain tasks.
They really aren't any more problematic than any other A4 chassis VWAG product, and in some ways cheaper. I've never seen an ABS module fail in a TT but I've replaced tons in Jettas, for instance.
Come to think of it, of all of my Audi TT customers (most are FWD/auto but there are a couple quattro) besides oil change/brakes/tires/timing belt, the only thing that ever seems to go wrong on a regular basis is the infernal front sway bar bushing problem - the sway bar is coated with plastic and the plastic breaks free of the bar. You break it all off and put new smaller-diameter bushings on. Not too bad on a FWD but a sucky job on AWD.
Air pump issues are always due to broken plastic hoses and/or bad check valves, bad check valve allows water into the pump and heat from exhaust gases makes the plastic hoses fail, which also gets water into the pump. No big deal, just a matter of actually fixing problems before they eat the air pump. Usually, if the air pump is bad, you find that someone taped up the broken plastic hoses... which is kinda like fixing a loud clunk by turning the radio up.
My experience with them was looking over a charred carcas after my friends burnt to the ground.
My wife's also had a fun trick where it wouldn't let you out. The inside door handles are some sort of wizardry attached to the electrical system somehow. There were times they refused to work and you had to roll down the drivers side window and use the outside handle to get out. Then the windows started getting moody....... I always did think it was a beautiful car and it was a joy to drive. It was simultaneously one of my best and worst car ownership experiences.
docwyte wrote: Get one that's been maintained properly and has the service records to prove it! Get one that's been maintained properly and has the service records to prove it! Get one that's.... These are NOT Honda's! You can NOT ignore maintenance on these! If you take care of them, they'll take care of you! I've put 100's of thousands of miles on Audi Quattros with just maintenance. Get a good one and you'll be fine. Get one that's been ignored and you'll pay for it!
It seems like the dash failure isn't something that proper maintenance would prevent. Same with the air system failure, that's not a scheduled maintenance item so why would maintenance prevent it?
I want one of these but I've been scared off by the stories of people that have owned them. I would prefer more people having your experience. Maintenance doesn't scare me but stupid crap that breaks often does.
In reply to dculberson:
yeah... but that arguement can be taken to the extreme:
"I'll never buy an M3 because the subframes rip out and interiors fall apart if you look at them wrong..."
"Miatas suck because they burn through coil packs and only chicks drive them..."
If I had listened to that sort of talk, I never would have bought my TDI, but I did anyway... and the TDI has turned out to be far more reliable and trouble-free than my Honda (Acura Integra) ever was with 100K fewer miles.
The reality is many people own the cars and never have a problem.
dculberson wrote: It seems like the dash failure isn't something that proper maintenance would prevent. Same with the air system failure, that's not a scheduled maintenance item so why would maintenance prevent it?
Never jump start a VWAG product. The instrument clusters aren't too thrilled about the voltage surges. Replace the battery before it's bad. Yes, a Group 41 is expensive. Be happy you don't have an A8 with its $500 battery the size of a small microwave.
Air system issues - look at the plastic hoses when you're under the hood doing an oil change. They're not scheduled maintenance but cracked hoses are a clue that the diverter valve has failed. Fix it before you eat the air pump.
"Maintenance" is more than following a checklist in the owner's manual.
I had a friend that owned an Audi A4. It had so many problems that in the end he would have paid someone just to take it. Thankfully it was put to rest in an accident.
No one has mentioned the oil leaks yet? But as was stated. A more cramped golf wrenching wise. I like the looks of the hardtops for some reason.
I really like the way they look but my M I Ls experience with the last 4 VWs she has had pretty much guarantees I will never own one.
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