Thoughts or experiences with an Audi TT

Looks OK in pictures, 140,000 miles, low compression in one cylinder. I'm not unfamiliar with rebuilding these, asking $1500.

Quattro.

Seller said:

Audi TT in beautiful condition, body has been redone and many parts underneath have been replaced with new ones. Interior is in very good condition, no rips in the seats or anything. This car handles like nothing before and it is twin turbo so its pretty dang fast too. The reason im selling it is because one of the cylinders lost compression and i do not have the funds to fix it right now. It still drives so it can be moved to a shop nearby if needed. Its a beautiful car and is cheap especially if you fix up cars and resell them. Call me if you are interested or have any more questions.

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/4719496985.html

Hmm... "twin turbo"? Makes me wonder if he really knows what's wrong with it. Sounds like a 1.8T, which is a decent engine (I prefer them to the VR6). Not sure if FWD or AWD (AWD was an option with the 1.8T back then). There looks to be a "quattro" badge on the grill, but I seem to remember quattros back then were 6 spds, and the shifter pattern looks like a 5 spd, but my memory s fuzzy there.

They aren't bad cars, other than being a VAG product from that era. The handling is the best of the MkIV platforms as they made a number of front suspension changes to improve the geometry. Using TT bits is a popular upgrade for other MkIV's, so if you wanted to part it out, the front suspension (spindles and LCA's) has value.

What's your plan? Fix and flip or to own? If the former, you may do ok depending on what is causing the low compression. It's possible it's something simple. It's also possible the TB broke, tweaked one of the valves and they just replaced the belt and hoped for the best. I definitely would NOT drive it any farther than onto a trailer just in case it is the latter.

Crap, I want that.

The six speed vs. five followed the engine output. There was a 180hp five speed and a 220 (iirc) with a six.

I think the Quattro 180hp would be the slowest to 60 of the TT range, but it's probably still a fun car.

I briefly considered these, as they're supposedly flat towable, even with Quattro.

By the way, this isn't exactly the Quattro system you'd find on other Audis. Again IIRC, it's heavily front biased, less clever, and cheaper to produce.

So the "Loaded - Best Buy" sticker on the window doesn't raise any cause for concern?

Body has been redone? I love those in blue, though.

A cause for questions, resolved once meeting the owner.

Buy and flip? Probably not. A friend is looking for something cheaper to DD than his F-250 and I'm not opposed to helping out with a head rebuild etc.

If the car is a wanker right out of the box, then 140k later it's heart burn time, which is basically what I was looking for.

Worst case: Used head, water pump, timing belt, assorted belts, hoses, chatchkas ~ $1500 more?

Best case: Guy forgot to plug in all the spark plugs.....

Dan

petegossett wrote: So the "Loaded - Best Buy" sticker on the window doesn't raise any cause for concern?

Love that interior

If it's a Quattro it would be a great winter beater up here in Michigan. Add some driving lights and I'd be out driving back roads after dark, in the snow.

The more we talk about it the more I want that car

If I had a car trailer and spare time to run up and get it, it would be in my garage.

Mike wrote: The six speed vs. five followed the engine output. There was a 180hp five speed and a 220 (iirc) with a six. I think the Quattro 180hp would be the slowest to 60 of the TT range, but it's probably still a fun car. I briefly considered these, as they're supposedly flat towable, even with Quattro. By the way, this isn't exactly the Quattro system you'd find on other Audis. Again IIRC, it's heavily front biased, less clever, and cheaper to produce.

Looks too late now, posting deleted. But I figured I'd jump in with some more knowledge. Correct there were two trims for the 1.8t the higher HP was 225hp (very close). They only put in the 3.2L V6 in later (I want to say 03 or 04)

And you're correct it is not the traditional Quattro set up. It uses a Haldex electronically controlled rear differential, I can't remember the max bias but may have only maxed 40% to the rear. They used this setup because it was built with a transverse motor instead of longitudinal like other Audi. Shares the platform with the Mk4 VWs

The TT has intrigued me for a little while. Didn't the later ones come with an updated quattro system?

Hey, anyone have front knuckles and lower arms for one of these cheap?
I need to test the VW/Audi Lego theory...