Audi TT 225 Convertible?

[TeamBigfoot]

Hi all,

A relatively clean one of these with FSH has just popped up near me for good money and I fancy it - no hairdresser comments please . The only things that put me off a little are:
- Mileage - Its done 137k, Its 2001 so the mileage is expected. Are these cars known to be reliable if regularly serviced? Would you be worried about the mileage?
- MOT - The MOT expires in Jan 2019. Its history has shown a good trend of passing MOTs.

I'm thinking it will be a good bit of fun over winter while I await delivery of a new Octavia. The car has Quattro and the ad mentions that its had a haldex service done recently. I suppose 4wd will be good for snow (as I live on the bottom of a hill).

Thoughts and opinions on these? I plan to sell early summer next year and recoup as much as possible, however if the car needs lots of maintenance that just ads to losses.

[steve-5snwi]

ABS warning light, ESP light, MAF, air leaks, front arm bushes, dash pods fail or the DIS pixilates, average 30mpg, steering is heavy, scuttle shake is present, reasonably comfortable,

We have had ours 8 years and i keep meaning to actually sell the dam thing as the wife has an F57 Mini and prefers it. Ours has only covered 56k, a remap helps and we put a Milltek on. Personally i'd look for a 4 motion Golf or Passat 4motion.

[Haddock82]

steve-5snwi said:

ABS warning light, ESP light, MAF, air leaks, front arm bushes, dash pods fail or the DIS pixilates, average 30mpg, steering is heavy, scuttle shake is present, reasonably comfortable,

We have had ours 8 years and i keep meaning to actually sell the dam thing as the wife has an F57 Mini and prefers it. Ours has only covered 56k, a remap helps and we put a Milltek on. Personally i'd look for a 4 motion Golf or Passat 4motion.

Pretty much all of this

I'll add leaky alloys (air going down), random electrical gremlins, Door microswitches failing, alarm is run off a lithium battery that'll be shot by now (alarm will flash the lights and go off randomly but wont make any noise), water pump impellors made of plastic and disintergrating, cooling fans packing up due to resistor failure (resistor is built into the motor so can't be easily replaced)....

on the other hand....

Reasonably reliable if looked after, 30+ mpg from something that'll do a sub 7 sec 0-60, comfortable enough to use as a daily, get a miltek exhaust, get a remap (As long as the clutch is fine, a remap will quickly show otherwise), get the Haldex serviced!, as they all say "surely these have hit bottom for prices"! but alas they still keep getting cheaper.... Did I say get a remap?... Oh and get a remap....!

[keith2.2]

I bought one as I missed having a convertible second car and for the money I was happy to leave it parked on the side of the road in N. London. I paid about 3400 errrmmm 3 years ago?

Opinion scattergun incoming;

It wasn't as fast in a straight line as my 4.6L Chimaera (surprise surprise) and the handling wasn't as sparkly as my S2000 (surprise surprise).

However- It always works. Any day any weather. The quattro means (unlike the other two) it feels surefooted when it isn't perfect weather, and to my eye it still looks great.

The paintwork is starting to look tatty (mine is red - and while it hasn't gone pink yet, the lacquer is lifting in several places).

It has had a couple of the issues mentioned above - one of the roof seals is a bit leaky if driving in the rain (fine when parked) - the dash display is only semi-readable.I had to replace the stereo - I bought a new audi concert that isn't supposed to work but I managed to rewire it (don't ask me to remember how).

I had it remapped, and added a Forge BOV and a K&N filter. The turbo whistles, the BOV wooshes and the butt dyno says it pulls bloody well. It's not as fast as fast as my dads mk3 TTS, but my friends MKIV GTi Golf didn't know which way it went in a straight line or around corners. So I'd guess 270bhp.

I think the most telling - I didn't sell it when I moved to HK. Instead, I put it in my parents' garage to use whenever I'm back rather than get a hire car. I really like it a lot and frankly can't see myself getting rid of it.

To sum up - for less than 3.5k, its a plenty fast enough convertible that you can drive happily in any weather, always works and looks nice. Just remember it's an aging car now so there WILL be things to tinker with.

I really keep meaning to get a miltek..

[TeamBigfoot]

Thanks for the replies guys. I went to see the one locally, it wasn't as nice (body work and mechanical) as was made out on the advert. It also made clunking noises when being driven over bumps, so I gave it a miss.

Will keep my eye out for another though

[keith2.2]

There are loads about as you'll see.

Do get the 225, don't be tempted by a cheaper 185.

Another one that hasn't been mentioned - check it's getting up to temperature. The thermostat is an absolute pain to access. I mean like - I put a H22 prelude engine into a Honda Civic but I left swapping the thermostat to a garage

When I bought mine 'it's always been like that mate' - it ran a lot better when it was fixed!

I also discovered the first time I used a rotary polisher, that it had been rear ended at some point - that would explain the trim piece from the 3.2

And I bought it at night
In the rain

Yet after having a couple of bushes swapped, plus the previously mentioned tweeks - it's been great.