Im looking to get a TT as a daily driver year round in Michigan. Are these things really as unreliable and expensive to fix as everyone says they are? Maintenance is one thing, dont mind any of that as I do it all myself. Aside from the cluster failure(what are the stipulations on getting that replaced for free?), are theyre any common problems.

Im currently looking at a 2001 225 coupe with 86k on it for 6500(good deal?). If I go to look at the car is there anything in particular I should look for?

 

The seem to be hit or miss on the reliability. Some people have no problems, others have to drop money into the car from day one, and end up selling it because its just too much.

Expensive to fix? Can be. For starters, its a european luxury/sport vehicle. By that alone, things are gonna cost more, even for simple things.
Repairs... see above. Dealer shop rates are kinda high, independent shops can be decent. If you can do work yourself, great. Makes the car much more affordable.

My car has 162,000 miles on it, I've had it since 108,000, I've replaced the rear differential/Haldex (AWD) unit -$500 used, tie rod ends ($35 new), and a wheel bearing. Did all the work myself. Bunch of other smaller stuff, but those were sort of an opportunity to 'mod' as well, so things got a little more expensive/difficult, harder to compare.

One big thing to ask about would be the timing belt. They've been known to fail as early as 60K miles. Its not the belt itself that fails though, its the tensioner for the belt, and/or the water pump. So, if the timing belt, tensioner AND water pump haven't been replaced yet, I'd make it a condition of the sale, or schedule the work as soon as you buy the car. That failure would be catastrophic, usually racking up a couple thousand dollars in the repair.

If you have a big parking lot you can do circles in, you can do a functional test of the AWD to be sure thats working. Roll in a tight circle at about 15mph and push in the clutch and count how many times you go around before the car stops. Now do it again, but this time also keep the RPM's up (3000-4000RPM) while you coast down. This should engage the Haldex (AWD) and the added friction will stop the car from rolling much sooner.

If it doesn't stop sooner, either the controller is shot, or the haldex wet clutch is shot. Controller issue is usually the case, but as I said, I had to replace the whole unit as my clutch was bad.


Enough info to get you started?

 

Thats exactly the kind of info I wanted to hear. Im aware of the timing belt issue, a buddy of mine has a a4 1.8t.

I do all my own work on my cars, no one touches them except for air conditioning because I just dont have the tools.

1 of the cars im looking at is a 180q with about a 160,000mi on it, looks to be in great shape, the dealer its for sale at just did the timing belt, waterpump, and tensioner, and it has alot of its maintenance records. They want 7000 for it. The other 2 are private sellers(which I havent gotten ahold of yet) and have 60 and 80 thousand miles for about the same price, and both are 225's. Id really feel confident buying a lower mileage one, just not sure if its worth the cost.

Your the first person ive heard of the haldex unit going bad, not common is it? All of the cars im going to look at are quite a ways away and im not at all familiar with the area, is there any other way to check the AWD? I have a cable and vag com as well as some other OBD2 software.

 

Haldex failure isnt very common, but it can be expensive, so its easier to know what youre getting into beforehand. Like I mentioned, the controllers failing (it will throw a code) are more common than the entire unit failing, but either can happen. I never had a code for the whole unit failing, as it was clutch slip. The roll out test is the only way I can think of to test the mechanical parts of the Haldex LSC.

Ive owned both versions of the turbo TT, the 180 and the 225, and unless youre planning to do a ton of modding, the 225 is probably most worth it. A chipped 180 almost makes the power of the 225, and a unitronics 1+ tuned 225 makes somewhere like, 270hp. Not too shabby. I like the 6 speed as well.

 

Well the 225 I was looking at appears to have alot more miles than I had hoped, 169,000. The guy just bought it and has only put about 1000 of those miles on it, just not for him, hes looking for a bigger car. No real maintenance records, and no idea when or if the last timing belt replacement was done.

Which brings me to this question, go for the 160,000 mile 180q all maintenance recs, brand new timing belt, water pump, and tensioner by the dealer the car is for sale at, or go for the 225 with 169,000 knowing I have to do a timing belt(not looking forward to doing) or just keep looking for something with lower miles. The 180 and the 225 are asking the same $, 6500.

Im nervous about buying something with that kind of miles.

 

With the only car im considering having 160,000 should I pass on it and look for something else. Seems like alot of miles.

 

Dealer I bought my first certified pre-owned from had an Audi 5000 on the lot with over 500,000 miles on it. Original engine, somewhere along the line the auto transmission was replaced. Only thing that didn't work in the car at that mileage was the instrument cluster. They used the car as a 'chase car' - when they needed to take a car to another dealership or something, but weren't bringing it back, someone would follow in this car so they could pick up the other driver. Audi engines, taken care of, drive forever.. but you still have the other stuff in the car to deal with.. a point to be considered.

If you're doing the work yourself, you can get everything you need for a timing belt job for under $300, and it'll take a weekend to do. If it were me, I'd get the 225. If you're really uncomfortable about doing that, well, kinda narrows your choice. You have some assurance with the 180.
I just checked NADA pricing for a 225 with around the same mileage as your options, resale would be around $9k (at least for my area), so even if you're paying a shop to do the work, you're still getting a decent deal overall.