Carlton

I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall! My silver 225Q coupe is waiting at my UK dealer in Bristol, having been on order for 18 months and now ready to roll, but I'm getting nervous because of all this fuss about the safety mods, ESP and spoiler.

I have no real fears about the safety of the car (not the way I'll be driving it!) and I can probably live with the ugly spoiler if I have to, but I'm very concerned about the residual value of the car when I come to trade it for my 225Q Roadster next July. You see, I ultimately want the Roadster to keep, not the coupe.

When I originally ordered the coupe, I thought I would be able drive the it for a few months, then trade it in for the Roadster without losing much money. But now I fear the coupe will be considered second-best and the value will fall when ESP models are available next year. I can't really afford to take a big hit on the coupe next year, so it's a gamble.

Incidentally, I spoke to my dealer yesterday and he informed me that the list price will be increasing next year for all models equipped with ESP. It will be standard (not optional as with A3, A4 etc) but basic price will be higher i.e. you will be paying for it. To me, this seems to rub salt into the wounds!

I'm still waiting to see whether my dealer or Audi UK offer those 1006 owners some favourable terms or guaranteed buy-back - whatever. If this happens in Germany (and from what I read here, it seems it IS happening) then I would expect it to happen here too.

Any comments or thoughts on the above? Should I forget the coupe and wait for my Roadster? I really wanted the coupe as my interim car, but maybe it was never destined to happen?

Cheers,
Carlton

Brad Willis

If I were in your shoes, and I really wanted the TT Roadster, I think that I'd pass on the Coupe altogether, and wait until the car that I really wanted was available. It will seem like torture, but your patience will be rewarded, and by then many of the "beta bugs" will probably have been worked out. As I understand it, the price won't change much for the ESP (around $400 USD. I think).

garyc

then switched to another. Take coupe, ignore unrepresentative unproven puff, your coupe will not lose value in 6 months. Take roadster when it comes. One has to be realistic; depreciation is the norm when buying cars. Current coupe values are still £2-4K above list. If that came down to nothing above list, you still have depreciation-free motoring in one great car. I rather not see another in Bristol, so I probably should say wait!

Have you seen Roadster in metal? For me it is not as impressive as coupe hood up or down, losing that trademark roofline. Better not put my foot too far in, but in the grey colour with baseball glove interior, it looked wrong. Each to his own. Roof down in those 14 sunny days we call summer it will be the dogs'.

Don't think twice get it now.

Maz

I'm afraid i've been bumming it around Bristol in mine for a while now... sorry.

a little tip... don't park it in the West End car park at the top of Park Street on a Saturday... 1 pound all day parking on weekends saw mine scratched/door dinged by some careless shopper. It gets packed in there on a Saturday.

Maz.

Ted

Concur with coupe looks better. (nt)

garyc

Yeah, I'm quite precious about where I leave mine.
Fortunatley I have a garage in town. It's a bit of a liabilty leaving such cool attention-grabbing car on the street. My S4 got vandalised 2 weeks old by jolly late night revellers in Clifton. Bless them.

Maz

mines V20 TTS (Silver standard 225), i see V750 JDD almost every day near work (Berkeley Square) also silver 225. I bet those 18" wheels are niiiiiice.

I've also seen another V reg silver 225, a T reg silver 180, a T reg Blue, and a Foreign plated blue 180 near Westbury as well... phew. I never saw nearly as many GTV's when I had one, and no others in Bristol were Blue.... oh well, cannot complain. I've seen a Silver225 for sale in Autocar with an 0117 dialling code, so that'll be one less soon (perhaps)..

Maz.

Carlton

Thanks for the advice. I saw the Roadster at the Geneva motorshow this year, and I agree that it's nowhere near as good to look at as the coupe (nor as practical), but I got so much pressure from the girlfriend to order the Roadster!

I was adamant that I would only have the coupe, but she won in the end! The question is, if I take the coupe now and fall in love with it, will I want the Roadster later?

Are you gonna get the suspension mods and spolier fitted to your TT when they're available? I can't help but think they will produce a better (retractable) spoiler sometime in the future, maybe even by the time the Roadster ships.

Good to hear from a fellow Bristolian - maybe we ahould arrange a Bristol TTOC meet when I get mine?! Oh, and my mate is picking his up next week so there will be 2 more silver TTs in Bristol I'm afraid to say - wish I'd gone for black now ;-)

Cheers,
Carlton

garyc

Hello Carlton

Silver dead common eh? No problem. It still looks the best, is classic Auto Union racing colour, and shows dirt/blemishes least. Also looks most sculptural in my view. Black is ok only when immaculate, blue is worst shade on VAG blues chart. Heard on radio that either 1 in 3 or one in 4 new UK cars registered are now silver (all brands)!

Yes I will have the suspension mods. Not that I expect to notice much difference , being 'average of skills'. I have pushed mine hard (wet roundabouts are great) but not to the edge of sanity through braking mid high speed bend. If mods give an extra margin of safety, then great.
If the car feels 'poor' I sell it ASAP. No Problem.

Spoiler will be booked out and live in my garage. Can be retro fitted by a subsequent owner. A good German colleague was in Ingoldstadt last week. In conversation over beer with Audi staff (our customers), was told, no pop up spolier for model year 00 and 01. It's not on the plan at all for the moment, that does not mean it won't happen, but it is a good indicator. For those taking delivery next year I would say, 'don't hold your breath'. Model gets mid life face lift 02/03. That would be time for pop up.

What is coming is a fitted hard top for roadster. That should be good news, and it is said that it will look better than Boxster/Z3 offerings.

This is all hearsay, but reasonably well-informed.

I'll look out for you. I live on Victoria Square.