Having what I think will be my final fling with an internal combustion engine car while I save up for/wait for availability on an electric. Seen a nice looking TT up the road from me, full MOT, full service history, decent price. Just wondering what they’re like as an occasional use car. Is it true you can get a MTB in the boot with the wheels off?

Don’t know about a bike as the space under the hatch isn’t very deep, but from bitter experience any passengers in the back should be less than 5’5” with very very thin legs if they are going to travel any distance.

Very, very, very rarely it would be a 4 year old and/or an 8 year old in the back. Not intending it to be any kind of family workhorse, just something reasonably nice for me & the missus to use when we manage to palm the kids off on some poor unsuspecting soul. She’s got a normal car for shopping, long-distance visiting of relatives, etc.

Aren’t they a little tricky to mount a Saris Bones in the back?

I had one years ago

225 quattro.

Lovely car, interior is fantastic.

4 wheel drifts in the snow = Fun

Understeered like any fwd bias car but you can get on the power really early. Solid bushes, an ARB and haldex controller really transform it into an animal.

different weight balance to a Golf, definitely not a golf or s3 in drag way better

You can get a large 26″ mtb in the back for sure…..

You can get roof bars (i had genuine ones) for bikes.

The oil pressure warning circuit in the clocks failed on mine, what a mare it was replacing with a used set and hacking into the immobiliser coding.

Sold it for a 350z which tried to kill me every time it rained.

If you want to buy an old, nice looking golf, no.

If you want a great driving car, or one with a great engine to see off petrol, yes.

Great car if it’s been well looked after, cheap to up power to a reliable 300hp and the understeer is easily fixed with camber adjustment on front. Mate had one with a stage 2 tune/suspension/geometry and brakes, an absolute hoot to drive.

I had one 20 yrs ago – might be possible to get a frame in the back as the rear seats fold completely flat.

However, I moved onto a mark 5 Golf Gti. Not quite as quick in a straight line, but better engine and superior handling car – really made the TT look dated in that department. But the Audi was just so special. The V6 version was great.

I’m not hearing much bad then. May or may not get a bike in it (I managed in an RX7 before so I’m up for the challenge) but that’s not a deal breaker. I’ll give it a test tomorrow and hopefully it’s not an absolute shed…

basically a golf in a posh frock…if you want some level of practicality go for the equivalent Golf….or Audi….or Seat….or Skoda.

Dad had one…lovely car but he didn’t do mountain biking or need to carry anything but himself in it so was perfect. But not a practical car at all.

I managed in an RX7 before

If you can cope with a Wankel then a rx8 is much better than a TT. If you can deal with the annoying rear cross member then a 350z would make a far better bye bye to ice than either of them.

I’m on my second – an early, non-spoiler 225. Had my large 29er in the back the other week, both wheels off, but it fitted!

Just make sure the cambelt & waterpump have been done on schedule, and that the oil pickup has been replaced…

Buy a Boxter S instead.

Unless you like dull cars with dead suspension and heavy steering that dont handle like a sportscar.

I’ll not get a decent Boxster for £2k though.

Driven an RX8 a few times and was unimpressed after the 7. Felt a lot slower than it actually is. Similar to the BRZ/GT86 in that respect.

I had no idea what it is about Nissan but apart from the R32 Skyline they do absolutely nothing for me, and the brace in the 350z renders the boot almost useless imho.

A Ford Focus Mk1 will be more fun to drive

It’s an old Audi with a bit of power = dull

The naysayers might have a point about handling etc but are missing the fact that from an aesthetic perspective the mk1 was, from an aesthetic perspective a really lovely thing and not at an age that you could call a classic. certainly a design classic. Pretty from the outside and the interior is a special place to sit. Cars are not all about cornering ability at the limit – or they are not for a lot of people. A MK1 TT will be a lovely thing to own, especially for £2K.

For years people bought 1960/70s sports cars as classics for fun. I had an 1973 mgb as my 2nd car in 1991. A mk1 TT now will be old than that was then and way way better to drive, even if it’s not a drivers car.

Check out the road tax on them though – I seem to remember it was a bit spendy.

Possibly different enough to be totally irrelevant, but my sister has had an X reg TT with the 180 bhp engine* for at least 5 years now and it just seems to keep on trucking.

It has a niggle with a wonky connector under the driver’s seat which can trigger an ECU airbag warning and hence dash light (seems common on older VAG, our old 07 Octavia did the same), they just reset it with a code-clearing box prior to the MOT each year.

It serves as the reliable car of the family alongside a couple of rebuilt-from-scratch 1970s era BMWs 😂

* if memory serves: figure might be wrong but I know it’s not the high power one.

Dashpods/displays can fail, but if it hasn’t yet then its probably going to be OK.

There used to be a couple of independent places that replaced them for not insane amounts of money.

Otherwise there isn’t anything too tragic about the MK1 TTs other than the fact its a pushing 20 year old car with all that entails.

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/buyers-guide-audi-tt-mk1

If you can up your budget by about 20k…

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10757392

from an aesthetic perspective the mk1 was, from an aesthetic perspective a really lovely thing

This is subjective. I have always thought the front end was ugly,the rear 3/4 view was lovely so imbalanced visually the later versions were much better resolved

This is subjective. I have always thought the front end was ugly, the later versions were much better resolved

Well yes beauty in the eye etc.. And own a mk3 so I clearly thought that version past muster. But the mk1 was ground breaking and a big step change for audi and arguably cars in general. I’d put the mk1 out there as an iconic addition to the ‘cars for the people’ of history. As in a car that was not cheap but was an attainable luxury for a good many.

but are missing the fact that from an aesthetic perspective the mk1 was, from an aesthetic perspective a really lovely thing and not at an age that you could call a classic

Fair point, but OP wanted one last throw of the dice before cars become very dull boxes. In future there should be scope for some very nice looking cars, just they haven’t managed to an interesting ev yet

That £20k one is nuts, it’s not even the desirable sport quattro..

I think if I wanted a TT of that era it’d have to be the V6. Much more character than the 4 pots

@5lab it shocked me to think they expect that price to be honest.

If I was being generous, I’d say 12-15k max for such a low mileage, great condition example (and that would be to an enthusiast who really wanted a TT).

4 months ago I was needing a cheap runaround and almost bought a boring mini diesel for the mpg but instead got a Z4 BMW but only 2.0
After 3 months I bought a 3.0 Z4 and love it to bits, the torque, that growl off the intake and the roof down when the weather is good
Looks 100% better than any Audi but maybe just my opinion but the leather seats and the handling for not a huge amount more than that tt 225
Road tax is over the £300 but still gets the 30 mpg easy

I’ve had a 1.8t 225 and a 3.2 versions

They were both great!

The 225 is a good car and quick – not the most elegant of driving experiences, but able to safely use most of the go, most of the time

The 3.2 is a much nicer sound and experience – more sophisticated – I remember about 30 mpg too

If you can stretch to a 3.2 i would say its worth it!

After 3 months I bought a 3.0 Z4 and love it to bits, the torque, that growl off the intake and the roof down when the weather is good

Hmm they are ok, I drove a 3.0 one around the Isle of Man TT a couple of weeks ago. The ride was very jittery at normal speeds to the point of making you feel a bit sick. To be fair it sounds nice ish when pushing on, but it’s no MX5 in terms of handling, and not half as good as a Boxter

basically a golf in a posh frock…

Funny, I wasn’t aware they did a 225hp, 4wd Golf.

I had a Roadster, it was a solidly built car and reasonably engaging to drive, but quite hard to kill yourself in.

The binnacle/dot matrix display replacement is spendy, but I think Audi did mine for free – probably not going to go wrong if it hasn’t already.

Oil changes on the 4wd are an additional regular cost.

There was a picture on one of the forums bitd where a fella had all 4 of his winter wheels in the boot. Reckon you’d get a bike in with wheels off as long as it’s not too long.

^^

The original R32 mk4 golf was 4wd and had about 240hp

Not my cup of tea, they look smart and the interior is well screwed together but I think I’d want more than 4 cylinders to see out ICE, there loads out there to choose from with varying braveness levels.

If you like it though why not!

The Z4 may not be anything as good as the boxster but for £4k I don’t think it a great condition Porsche
The Mx5 maybe the newer ones might be better but a 15 year old car used in the UK will probably need major chassis repairs so go on a course and buy a welder
I don’t think the Audi TT is aesthetically pleasing on the eye it’s quite fugly but that’s only my opinion, I love the long raking bonnet and the trim tidy bottom

Mk1 TT is such a classic design, but as a final fling ICE car that 1.8 isn’t exactly an inspiring engine (IMO). The mention earlier on of a RX8, given you’ve had an RX7 in the past, is a belter of an engine as is the 350z. Different priorities with a more interesting engine rather than (subjective) looks obviously.

My final fling with a ICE is in V8 form, mine’s all about the engine with looks very much 2nd (or 3rd) priority.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/why-ive-given-up-fixing-my-soul-destroying-mk1-audi-tt-bam/

Experienced car journo used to fixing and repairing old cars for a job gives up on soul destroying mk1 TT!

There are better cars out there.

It depends on how tall you are. I sat in one years ago and couldn’t see out of the windscreen even with the seat as low as it would go. I’m 6’4”.

I’ve had a 3 of them, a stock 225, modified 225 and until a month ago I had V6 DSG.
I fitted an MTB with the wheels off fairly easily so don’t worry about that.
My kids are 8 and 10 and still fitted in the back fine. The rear seats are designed to be a Cat3 child seat so kids of the right size won’t need a booster seat.

My favourite was the V6, it sounded great and was pretty bloody quick. It was fine to potter about town in auto mode and then switch to manual paddle mode for the A roads. Handling is good but without much feedback. Better than the online reviews would have you believe.
Interior is lovely, heated seats are roasting!

Overall they are an awful lot of car for the money 😁

That’s the key for me: decent car for almost bangernomics money. I was toying with the idea of a Maserati Granturismo as the final hurrah, and while I’m sure I would adore it and don’t think I’d lose any money on one I can’t quite square away either the horrendous environmental impact or the “car ****” image it might bring. I’m happy enough with a sporty little coupe and I’ll put the savings towards a Polestar2 or possibly one of the new VW things if they ever get released.

Yup

Had a 225 quatro for a few years and loved it. The snidey comments about dead handling etc are from folk who have likely never been in one.
They handle brilliantly and are bloody quick as well. They cruise well and feel like a big Audi on the motorways but turn into a scalded cat when the twisties arrive.

Reliable but also cheap and easy to fix. Great build quality and feel nothing like a golf, which is a bonus obviously.

I now have an old Z4 and I miss the TT. I’d have another.

I had a 2001 S3 – assuming the gear box is the same, when test driving watch for any crunching between gear changes, especially first and second. The syncromesh failed on my gear box, it was a well documented known issue that Audi completely ignored and needed a complete gear box rebuild to sort out. Other than that, I loved it to bits.

Any Reason not to?
If you buy a bad one the bills can soon add up. Make sure the clutch is good & the cambelt has been done recently. The oil pick pipe needs cleaning occasionally. There are various common problems most of which are not expensive individually. If you can get the car scanned before you buy it, it would be worth doing for peace of mind. There is a flourishing forum https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=2
And several Facebook sites. I have a TT 225 Roadster which has been reliable in the main & always got me home.

Lovely little things that feel like a LOT more car than they now cost. I was on the verge of buying one recently but in the end, my love of Minis meant I went for a supercharged Cooper S instead.

The original R32 mk4 golf was 4wd and had about 240hp

Didn’t that come out after, so the R32 is a TT in dungarees? 🙂