the brief screams AYGO / C1 / 108 .

I’ve had a go in an Aygo. I screamed for ages.

I miss my 225 TT Roadster. It was lovely, silver with baseball leather seats.

Jealous, I always wanted to own the first batch with the baseball interior.

I have another add to the list. ( interesting to hear of a few other “niggles”, thanks for those they will be added to my quarterly check routine )

The hood. If it’s been folded back when wet it will start to create “smooth” patches where it sits folded on the glass rear screen and the front of the hood bar that fits to the front screen. Easy to get rid of, if you very gently rub a kitchen washing sponge (the ones with the scouring pad on) along the grain of the hood (it runs diagonally) you will lift the pile of the cloth. Then once dry clean it with hood cleaner (plenty of brands out there)

For maintenance of the hood I do the above, then wash it, then I go around the seals and scrub in the corners and edges where mould tends to grow. I do this by partially opening the hood. Then leave it to dry, apply black hood dye, and tent waterproofing then leave to dry. I do this every 6mths and it looks great and the water runs off it quickly.

Shiney steering wheel. Urgh. A light scrub with some 1000 grit scotch bright pads and then that “Matt Dash Wipes” stuff from Halfords.

Can’t think of anything else.

Tell is if you buy it (either one)

Is there nothing Subaru that fits the bill?

Forester?

Jaguar X-Type – loads of them about for 2k.

The bit where Ed fixes the gearbox with a washer is TV gold

it was a nut and bolt wasnt it

the selector fork rivet had snapped off the carrier rendering 1st gear inoperable.

I have a Mk1 TT roadster 1.8T 225. It great to drive, it feels very solid for a 16y old car. They have known problems, but so does any other car. It’s important to buy with some care as a bad one can cost you some money in the long run. Service history is important & a car with the regular problems fixed should offer the best value for money. The body work doesn’t generally rust much. If you are buying a roadster check for any damp on the shelf behind the seats which indicates the drain tubes are blocked. This can damage some of the electronics for the roof & central locking. For me they look great as well, but they are not everyone’s cup of tea.

Oh, and there is a very knowledgeable forum for advice etc. In the 18 months I have been on the forum there has only been 1 mention of the manual gearbox selector fork snapping (and that was historic), so I think they are pretty infrequent problems (TTForum).

^^ that’s an easy fix BTW if the carpet is damp.

Partially fold hood, check two drain holes (small tray either side with a rubber drain hole) and get a wire coat hanger and make it a long piece of wire then poke it through the drain hole, then pour hot water down the hole… and repeat a couple of times. You could just pour hot water down and see where is escapes (near rear wheels under the body) if it flows, it’s fine. If blocked do ^^ .

Agree an easy fix, but it’s just something to be aware of as it could have damaged the electronics. I just reread the OP, (And then I see an Audi TT Quattro, FASH, 100K on the clock. All the major services done etc. Would blow the budget in it’s entirety. I suspect it’d be a lot of fun but I also think I’d always be a short distance away from a hefty bill…) depending on the model (3.2 can have stretched chains (can be checked with vagcom) & DSG models the mechatronic unit) I think as long as they are looked after there are few items that would give really big bills. The 1.8 engines & manual gearboxes are generally very reliable. It’s often the turbo, PCV & vacuum hoses that cause a lot of issues as they get old & tired, but they don’t often stop you from getting home.
I have had mine 18 months & had to replace the thermostat (fiddley) & temp sensor (easy), 1 hose to the N75 valve (easy) & a vacuum hose (easy), these are all known issues. Its, needed a new battery & rear shocks & springs (fiddley), but they are consumable items as far as I was concerned. I have treated the roof pretty much as bikebouy has.

Bikebouy, just noticed this (If, I mean If, the wipers are slow the motors knackered and is a proper pig to get at, let’s hope they’re fine (mine are BTW) I had slow wipers on mine, the motor came out quite easily & was just a bad earth connection within the motor, which comes apart easily.

that’s an easy fix BTW if the carpet is damp.

Partially fold hood, check two drain holes (small tray either side with a rubber drain hole) and get a wire coat hanger and make it a long piece of wire then poke it through the drain hole, then pour hot water down the hole… and repeat a couple of times. You could just pour hot water down and see where is escapes (near rear wheels under the body) if it flows, it’s fine. If blocked do ^^

Be very careful doing this, the tubes are pretty weak and could well be about to disintegrate if they haven’t already. I wouldn’t poke anything spikey down the holes at all.

I happen to have an album here from the time we changed the tubes

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7Vgk4mahejvg3zmF8

I think I’ll stick with French cars if this is how reliable German stuff is! 🙂

thems fighting words mick.

Dont you know french cars are the bottom of the charts for failing their first MOT *

* says more about the type of person that buys cheap french cars than the car IME

“I think I’ll stick with French cars if this is how reliable German stuff is! 🙂”
They are all getting pretty old now!

We should keep this thread going for TT Owners 👍

Saves going on the TT Forum..

Just a joke, honest! I know they are old and complicated = a bit of faff, and I’ve worked a few weeks inside Ehra so appreciate how much abuse they should be able to stand up to.

Just the previous page of xyz niggles, all simple fixes at £100-£150 a pop would soon add up to a scary number blowing the op’s budget and marriage 🙂

Off the wall solutions that are more practical than a TT
Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Suzuki SX4?
Mercedes ML270 . old, made by rednecks in Alabama but so many buttons ( to go wrong )
Early BMW X5 , 4.4 V8

The econmomy is almost irrelevant as you do so few miles , so maybe an older luxo barge is not such a bad idea. Volvo XC70 ? only in Geartronic iirc but great when they work

I’ve got a Panda 100hp. I love it. Smile on your face every time you drive it.

Cheap to run and insure and nippy for Round town. Goes ok on the motorway too!

Forgot to mention..

Anyone contemplating a MK1 TT the parts are mostly derived from the Audi A3 and Golf, Golf R3.2. Not all obvz, because it’s a unique design but a lot of parts you can get cheaper my quoting the Part number rather than your reg number in Eurocarparts etc.

Also, brakes and discs (my recent change all round) go to Audi for the front discs and it’s £350per side.. go to ECP and they are £180 per side, go to Mintec and it’s £180 both sides.

You have to shop around. Ebay is a good place to start, there are parts suppliers on there that often have discounted stuff so it’s worth poking around there first.

I wouldn’t go to a scrap yard for anything. Most MK1’s that have met an untimely end have been stripped or crushed by now.

HTHs

“Just the previous page of xyz niggles, all simple fixes at £100-£150 a pop would soon add up to a scary number blowing the op’s budget and marriage 🙂” Your are right, that is why it is important to look for a good one where the “little” issues have been seen to.

“We should keep this thread going for TT Owners 👍

Saves going on the TT Forum..”
It would cut my forum browsing time in half 👍!

I’ve owned quite a few old performance cars, usually in great condition but often driven hard. With that in mind I’d say go for it but spend a bit less than you can afford, in case it needs some mechanical attention down the line. This was particularly true when I bought an Rx7 and the engine let go about 6 weeks into ownership. Still loved that car though!

My ex GF still has an early Audi S3, mechanically identical to the early TT’s (her’s was a 210 not a 225, but has had a stage one remap so is now about 260 anyway). They’re generally pretty solid cars, but there’s a LOT to go wrong on them if they’re going to go wrong. We bought hers as a pampered ex Audi mechanic’s plaything, it had wanted for nothing, it was 15yrs old when we bought it yet still felt like a new car. In the 4yrs she’s had it, it hasn’t been without its faults though. First one being age related and couldn’t have been avoided, the car failed its MOT on emissions cos the CAT had died! A new CAT wasn’t cheap… Can’t remember off the top of my head, but with a couple of suspension bushes at the same time, the bill was well north of £500 to get it through that MOT.

Other than that, hers has had an appetite for engine mounts strangely, 2 of them now inside the 4yrs she’s owned it. Quick, cheap and easy to fix, but quite alarming when one snaps!

Personally, I’d look for an S3 every time over a TT. I actually love the TT body shape, but 2 things usually put me off them… Firstly, there’s lots of weird and wonderful interiors out there, especially a horrendous blue leather option, or the super boring silver body with black leather, not much inbetween super dull or gopping. Secondly, they have mostly, at some point in their life, been owned by middle aged women who know nothing about cars and don’t tend to look after them. In both regards I find the S3 better, most were nicer colours, and they’re far more likely to have been owned by an enthusiast who will have looked after it better than TT’s seem to. Also, nice as the TT’s seats are, the Recaro buckets in an early S3 are possibly the nicest seats fitted to any car that’s ever been in production, they are very supportive but not at the expense of comfort, my ex’s car even has heated seats too!

As for handling… Well stock TT’s do understeer, they’re not as dull as many people make them out to be, but they are setup to push on slightly in a corner. They’re definitely a FWD car that has the benefit of a bit more traction out of corners as the Haldex kicks in. That said, it’s pretty easy to transform the handling. A stiffer front Anti Roll Bar (off an S3 no less!) makes them turn in a bit sharper. Better suspension can make a difference, my ex’s S3 had a proper coilover kit fitted already when she bought it, but set to only about 15-20mm lower than stock so as not to be too harsh, that thing goes round corners on rails, will cock its inner rear wheel before it understeers such is the grip!

If you go down the TT/S3 route, try and find one on 17″ rims. The 18’s may look cool, but the ride is quite crashy on them, and they tend to get damaged much easier. Tyres are the same width on both, so you’re not giving anything up on grip, unlike with the 16″ rimmed 150bhp models.

Other things to note…? Well a lot has already been said in this thread already. But I will add that service history really is key with these, and preferably by a specialist, someone that knows what they are doing as there’s a lot more to go wrong on them than a typical Golf, as though the platform was the same, this has 4wd and a lot more electronics to take into account.

Running costs wise… Well I can’t speak for the V6’s (though I know they’re thirsty), but a 1.8T isn’t too bad. Certainly it’s not cheap compared to the same car with a 1.9tdi engine in, but it’s not ridiculous. My ex’s car never dipped below 30mpg avg even on shorter runs, and I had as much as 40mpg out of it on one particularly steady journey (the day I picked it up, Sheffield to Worcester, motorway was stuck at 50-60 the entire way!), typically returned low to mid 30’s avg consumption which I didn’t think was too bad. A lot of the other running costs are only going to be similar to a Golf, but then you have additional costs due to the 4wd system too.

Personally, if you just need a cheap runabout to get to the station, don’t do it… Not unless you’ve got another £2k sat around to fix it if and when it goes wrong. However… If you want a cheap and relatively reliable/practical sports car, that you don’t mind spending a bit (rather than a lot, like with some cheap sports cars!) on to keep it running well, then give it a go… I know my ex wants to sell her S3 as she needs something more economical for the work miles she is now doing, and it would probably be in budget… Whatever you do though, do your homework and don’t buy a money pit!

I had a MK1 TT 225 and loved it. Not much to add but the rear bench seat in the coupe is a designated Gp3 child car seat so my kids were able to sit in the back without a bulky annoying car seat…

I’ve still got the Thule roof rack and bike rack for mine if anyone needs one…