theonlykingarthur

About to purchase an impeccable 2009 TTS with 54,000 miles, clean Carfax, all service records from Audi dealership. Beautiful car, very well taken care of, looks practically brand new.

The warranty offered is $4,000 and covers any and all repairs (no maintenance) for 4 years or 100,000 additional miles (whichever is first).

What do you all think? Is it worth the price or should I just put the extra money from lower monthly payments into a savings account and create my own "warranty" reserve?

Do these cars run into a lot of problems between 50k and 100k miles? Or are they pretty solid with proper maintenance?

Thoughts?

PoCoMotion

Yes! Get the warranty.
See my post under what have you done for your TT this year.

Vegas-roadster

There are exceptions to every rule and it looks like Poco is one. I've had 2 warranty repairs on my 2011 in the 3 years I have owned it. A coil pack failed which is very rare for the Mk 2 TT, and I had a loose bolt inside a door that caused a rattle. Insurance is like going to Vegas and placing a large bet. It might pay off for you but the house wins in the long run. Warranty companies are in business to make money and obviously their experience is that they will spend less than $4000.

My Mk 1 2001 TT was a bit more problematic so I bought an extended warranty when the factory warranty expired. I shopped around and started by asking the service folks their experience filing claims for their customers. First, no warranty covers everything. They exclude wear items like brakes pads, rotors, windshield wipers, etc. Every company has a different list of wear items. Then there is the issue of reasonable expenses and who the company will pay to do the repairs. Most pay dealers and ASE-certified shops. After shopping on line and talking to my service folks, I went with Warranty Direct which was half the cost of the dealer's warranty. One thing I knew going in was that Warranty Direct considered the entire headlight assembly, including the levelers, a wear item whereas the dealer warranty did not. If my leveler failed I would be out $1000. Warranty Direct did not cover fluids replaced during a repair, like brake fluid during a caliper repair. Also, the dealer I was using at that time (not anymore) often charged a rip-off $100 "diagnostic fee" that Warranty Direct would not pay while the dealer warranty specifically stated that a dealer could not charge the insurance company or me a diagnostic fee. Bottom line, over 4 years Warranty Direct's initial fee plus the extras I had to pay was about the same price as the dealer warranty and the total outlay was slightly more than the cost of repairs covered. That is, Warranty Direct made money off of me.

Shop and do your homework. Warranties that list what is not included are better than those the list what is included. My 2011 is still under a CPO warranty that expires this fall and I have no plane to buy an extended warranty.

theonlykingarthur

Thanks for the tips guys. I ended up buying the warranty. The house always wins in the end of course, but that is the larger statistical picture which doesn't take into account any particular individual case. I guess the chance of convenience for me is worth the extra money. My previous car, a 2002 BMW M3, was a repair *****. German parts/labor is fun.

The warranty doesn't cover maintenance wear items, but it supposedly covers everything else with no deductible. I guess I'll find out in four years how well I rolled the dice...

Vegas-roadster

My son recently bought a 2011 128 convertible from CarMax and he is not the most fastidious when it comes to taking care of cars. I looked at the complex top mechanism and it looked like a repair nightmare if it ever got out of wack, CarMax offered at 5 year/50K warranty with $100 deductible for $2K and I thought that was a no-brainer to buy. The warranty already paid $750 in his first year of ownership.

Dhynes

even though the TT may be looking good on CarFAX, etc... I'd recommend a warranty. Costs escalate quickly when something does go wrong. I had a 2008 TT coupe that had me at the dealership every few weeks. I traded that car in after one year. The last couple of visits with that car totaled over $3000. I literally left the dealer repair shop and picked out another TT in the lot on that last visit for repair. Good luck with purchase.


Oh, and the car I bought.... a 2009 TTs coupe. Dude, you are going to love that car!

SwissJetPilot

I would strongly recommend you know how to close the top should it fail. Because it's not a matter of "if" so much as "when". TT roadsters are notorious for roof failures.


One way to avoid problems is do not open it while driving. While the owners manual says you can, if you hit a pot hole or serious bump or a gust of wind catches it just right, the sensors can get triggered and it will fail. Knowledge is knowing you can, wisdom is not doing it just because the manual says so. :-)


Fortunately closing it manually and cycling it isn't difficult if you know what you're going. But you have to do it right or you can really screw things up and end up creating an unnecessary and expensive repair. I've put some instructions together on our UK Forum so you may want to read up as the information is very useful.

casualalfredo

2009 Audi

F*ck Yes get a warranty