Hey guys,
Summary: I posted yesterday for the first time..I'm the one almost purchasing an '01 225hp with 38K miles with the premium package for $20K with $5K down for $299/month (but financing $17K instead of $15K because of tax and shipping).

I found out the optional warranty for 4years/48,000 totals $2880 and would be an extra $60 month for that period (yesterday I accidently thought it would be $60 extra for 72 months!!). Still not sure if I want the warranty, and there are plenty of folks on here telling me to buy something newer...I know a 5 year old car is old, but the miles are low and I'm not the type of person to switch cars every few years, plus it seems immaculate... Was wondering what the experience of those who have owned one (used?) for a few years has been? TIMING BELT FAILURES??? Is this more common with a certain year/mileage?

I've checked out edmunds.com forums where people who had cluster problems or other mechanical issues with this car were bashing it and saying it's a "hunk of junk" cheaply made in hungary, but just looks good...Of course no one is going to be happy with every car and people who post on forums are a particular margin of those who own cars in terms of how they view things or their mechanical expectations (ie if they are car enthusiasts they might have higher standards). But those comments really scared me...But I know everyone has their own experience. I know it's an expensive car to maintain, but I would imagine it's reliable and will last me another 5 years at least!

Again, the dealer is my uncle. I think he bought this one at the auto auction. It's super super clean inside and out, probably someone's 2nd car since it's in the midwest and a roadster! hehe
Not sure if I should do carfax? To see how many owners or if it matters...

PS (the pic is the actual car I'm thinking about)...
PS#2: Now that I know the warranty is $2880 total, should I seriously consider it?

 

It had 40K, and was beautiful.

Today, my QC has 96K miles, and still looks and performs beautifully!

Enjoy!

 

you can pretty much write ANY car off.....you won't find many people who write topics about when their car DOESN'T go wrong.

I haven't got a TT yet, but from my experience of these sites, people absolutely love their TT and find it difficult to let go of it once purchased.

There can be problems such as gauge clusters going, but again it's pretty much a luck of the draw situation - some people I know haven't had ANY problems with their gauge clusters. This is a German car and the build quality is second to none compared to "other" cars in it's league.

So as for it being a 5 year old car you're buying, pah....so what. I'll be looking for about a 4-5 year old TT in about September....off course, if I can get a younger one then hey, I'll buy it - who wouldn't ?

Your car's only got 38,000 miles which in comparison is about a 3.5 years old in engine years.

IMO.....I'd buy it - especially if you can trust your Uncle. ;-)

 

for my temperature gauge always going up and showing that my car is running hot, when in reality is not. Other than that my car has been great (knock on wood).

 

I have had mine for 2.5 years and plan on keeping it for a while longer. I love the car and how it performs. I've had very few failures: MAF(twice) and fuel sender. I've also had some other minor stuff all of which was caused by improper service by the dealer most of which came from me being to picky resulting in dealer servicing the tranny and stipping some bolts during re-install. Dealer also misdiagnosed a dying battery and replaced my cluster as a result (not that I complained). Anyhow...I take care of this car and so far it has been very good to me. Its also modified (as you can see in the sig). There are lots of people who modded their cars on this board to the same extent as me or more and I don't hear 2 many problems from anyone appart from occasional boost leaks which is to be expected when we push close to double the pressure. If the car is in good shape and has been reliable, it should continue into your ownership.

 

Guys, what about this timing belt issue that pops up from time to time (people who talk about spending $7K on redoing the whole engine etc)...Does anyone know if this issue occurs more often with certain quattros?

 

sheesh!!!

 

Two years ago, I bought it for 16k with roughly 45k miles on it. Since then the car has been OK to me, with few issues early on. A week after I bought it, I got an Error Light. I brought it in to an Audi dealership and it turned out that I had a vaccuum leak...I think they charged me $200-$250 to fix it. Last year, my water pump went, and I had that replaced along with my timing belt at a NYC Audi dealership for $1200-$1300 (in retrospect I could have saved a lot on that job had I gotten the job done outside of the dealership...others have had the same work done for $800, although they prob weren't in nyc). And finally, my cluster started giving me problems a few months back. The gas gauge never gets to empty, so I now use the built-in trip computer to let me know how many miles I have till empty. Eventually, I'll either buy a used replacement cluster, have it repaired by a TT cluster shop, or try and repair it myself via the instructions that were posted here by Jeff Bipes (I think) a little while back. All in all, about 1.5k in repairs in 2 years, not including my cluster... I don't know how you want to take that. I've spent more on other cars in less time, but I also know people who've spent less. Also, I probably could have saved quite a bit if I didn't get things done at $116/hr NY dealerships.

 

I found a 2001 180 quattro coupe, 2 yrs old but with only 8,500 miles on the clock. Looked pristine and still had 2 yrs on the AoA warranty so I jumped on it.

I've had a few problems sorted out under warranty (brake light switch, coil pack recall, replaced the cluster once) but other than that, it's been a good car.

I passed on getting an extended warranty, though. I saw quotes from $2000-2400, and it seemed to make more sense to me to bank the money for later repairs, if needed. I have the Bentley CD, a Palm-based ProDiag and a bunch of tools. <b>Don't be afraid of these cars</b>; although some parts are cheap (see Jeff's post yesterday about door switches), overall the build quality is good and there is a lot of expertise on this board.

 

your timing belt, waterpump and tensioner pulley along with the accessory belt prior to Audi's recommended interval. Some people have had failures as early as 60K miles. I changed mine at 75K miles and it looked like it could have lasted another 20K. However, the only reason I waited is because I am protected by Audi warranty. If you don't do the service and the belt snaps, you are almost guaranteed an expensive repair bill so it is pretty much everyone's advice to change it at 60K. btw, its really not the belt that causes the problem, its the crappy water pump that fails and snaps the belt.