Faults:
Two breakdowns caused by coil pack failures. A common problem obviously as there were two other TT's, an A4 1.8T and an A6 1.8T sitting at the dealership awaiting parts. Mine took 4 weeks the first time and 2 weeks the second. Not acceptable on a car of this price and supposed engineering excellence.
Heater blower died.
Air conditioning condenser sprung a leak.
Lacquer peeling from alloys (not kerb damage). Replaced under warranty.
Power steering fluid needed topping up every couple of months, but no fault could be found.
General Comments:
In a word, disappointing.
Reliability was average at best, and parts backup from Germany was poor. A combined 6 week wait for the coils and the air-con compressor took a week. Dealers were efficient, but I didn't think they tried particularly hard. I had to argue for a courtesy car when my car was immobilised with coil failure the second time and they couldn't give me a delivery date for the parts.
The TT is good to drive with punchy performance from the 225PS engine and excellent traction from the Quattro transmission, but hardly the last word in involvement. Felt more like a (very) fast Golf than a sports car. Easy to drive fast, but little reward for doing so. Takes no skill whatsoever to push to its limits which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.
By all accounts the original "pre-recall" version (the one that was involved in the high profile accidents) was a far more rewarding car. I suppose you cannot blame Audi for playing safe against the insidious spread of the lawsuit culture.
Excellent quality interior and dramatic styling were the two areas where I thought the price was justified (and the two features that sold it to me within about 5 minutes of looking at it), but there are now so many around that even the styling doesn't really stand out any more.
Good used values. Got an excellent trade-in against a Nissan 350Z. To be honest, it doesn't have the same quality of finish inside, but it's a far better sports car.
Looks good, goes well and holds its value. Better pose value than entertainment value though, and don't expect it to be problem free just because of the Audi badge. It seems those days are long gone.
23rd Mar 2008, 14:19
I would like to add that the TT 225 is not in fact a "Twin Turbo" system, but is in fact a 1.8L Inline 4, with a single K04 Turbo charger instead of the smaller, less efficient K03 Turbo on 180 hp 1.8T's, Dual Side mount intercoolers, and stronger rods... this car much like the K03 1.8T's can benefit greatly from a chip which can add up to 40hp and almost 100 torque!