I’m looking for my first car, I’m interested in a specific Audi TT 2003 coupe from a local dealer/mechanic shop but I’m new at this so I would like some help or advice if possible.

Vehicle is a 2003 Audi TT automatic transmission with 119,000 km for $10,900. It seems like it’s in good shape but the issue is it overheats (the mechanic said it’s probably the water pump, he didn’t fully check the problems yet since he just got it) and there is a slight bump with scratches on the side by the front right tire (very small).

The dilemma is the seller aka the mechanic is offering to fix the overheat problem, the bump/scratches and include certification and e-test for $10,900 nothing lower. He is also offering to sell the car to me as is (without fixing the problems, the certification, and e-test) for $8,200.

I want to keep my budget at 10k or less so the 8.2k price is tempting but I’m just scared there might be other problems soon after the purchase. Would that make me vulnerable to other problems? What do you think is the best option? What can I do to protect myself?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

If the guy is selling a good car and he has faith in it ask him if you can take it to another shop to check it out even if you have to take it to an Audi dealer . I would rather waste a couple hundred bucks to make shure it is a decent car .There is a lot of crap out there and when your budget is limited I would rather be safe than sorry . My nephew fell in love with a car he was looking at and the guy swore up and down it was a decent car but when he did what I said he found out he was looking at a car that would be nothing but trouble . Remeber German cars are nice to drive but they can cost you large if they need work

 

Hi there,

I have a 2001 Audi 225 that I have just had worked on for this among other things.

So with regards to overheating it can be the water pump as the plastic impeller on the pump cracks or disintegrates. The pieces can then get stuck in the thermostat.

The water pumps that most of the good Vag mechanics install have the metal impeller.

I did the timing belt at the same time so the parts combined were about $445.00 plus labour.

I also did the thermostat at the same time as it could have been stuck causing the overheat problem. the cost of the thermostat was $45.00 plus labour.

The amount of time billed for both the water pump and the timing belt was 6 hours so just over a grand for both items.

In my case the water pump impeller had not cracked or failed but was leaking.

So I think the thermostat was the problem

There is one more documented problem that can cloud the overheating problem.

The instrument cluster has a documented problem where it shows the wrong temperature it usually goes with a fuel gauge problem where it can show full when its not or show it empty when its not.

if it has this problem it will usually show the temperature at slightly higher than the mid point.

A way to tell if you have real overheat problem is your fans will be running to cool things off if there is a problem along with the gauge showing a high temp.

The only other thing you should be aware of unrelated to the overheat problem is the automatic version of the TT has had premature transmission failures

There is fair bit of documentation on this issue on the forums. I would check that part carefully before I bought it. This issue is much more costly and painful to fix.


Randy.

 

Thanks for the response you two!

That's my plan spanky, I plan to bring it to an Audi dealer or bring my own mechanic to double check everything to see if there isn't any major problems.

I'll definitely look into that Randy. Just wondering, so far with your Audi TT, how reliable is it? And when it comes to parts, maintenance, and labour how does it compare to other brands? I heard from many people that Audis aren't reliable and parts, maintenance is very expensive but from my own research on specifically the TT model maintenance, parts isn't that bad and are pretty reliable.

 

Getting it inspected at good shop is key, however keep in mind if you are nearing your budget as it is, its a good idea to have some savings aside for possible issues that may arise with a used vehicle such as this. Audi does run higher on maintenance costs as opposed to the mainstream brands. Find a good mechanic that knows VW/Audi and is fair on pricing. There is a list a shops on the site.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the tips, some good points there I'll consider.

 

Hi there,

In regards to your questions regarding reliability on the TT I have a few comments.

The history of the car factors into to how reliable it will be.

I think mine was well taken care of by all but the last owner.

He lived in an area where there was no Audi service or more importantly a good mechanic that was familiar with Audis and VAG products.

So some of my issues were from neglect.

I think the car has a few quirks (read factory defects) most of them are annoying not critical. Note replacing the timing belt in the correct interval is a critical issue.

Parts are reasonable and available as a lot of them are Volkswagen parts and there are a lot of 3rd party parts and performance parts available.

If maintained regularly by someone that knows the car and stands by their work I think it is pretty reliable.

If worked on by a hack who does not know what they are doing it will turn into a pretty ornamental lump of steel

Randy.