edobson

Good afternoon.

I had the good fortune of picking up a low mile 2008 Roadster. It has 35k on it and the maintenance records appear pretty complete.

I have been advised that the timing belt is as much a "time" issue as a "miles" issue. In that this car, at 10 years of age, might be prudent to get the timing belt changed.

I had not heard this before.

JeffreyTT

Like any belt, it is subject to the ravages of time. I just did mine at the 10-year mark.
If you have it done, do all the other pieces too such as:
front crank/cam seals
water pump/housing
idlers/tensioners

Get the parts from an Audi dealer. There are a lot of fake/knock-off parts out there. Audi Henderson Nevada (order online) offers 25% or more off. Worth it.

Vegas-roadster

Despite what the owner's manual recommendation of 100K replacement, it is now common knowledge to replace the Mk 1 TB and associated parts every 5 years or 60K which is what you may have heard. In almost all cases, the belt never failed but the tensioner did or the water pump failed and froze. These parts of the Mk2 are far better and there have been very few reports on the various TT forums of premature failure. Only the TTS, 2008 base TT, and some 2009 base TTs have a timing belt and if I owned one I would replace it and the associated parts at 10 years if not sooner. A TB failure will cause $5K+ in engine damage and leave you stranded.

veloman08

Just had an indy shop do my TB. 2008 Audi TT roadster. Talked with the guys who did the job. They said the belt looked good and the water pump also looked good. This with 95K on the clock. I bought the Contipro kit with idlers, pump etc. I feel so much more assured to drive the TT for extended trips with the new belt. The heat here in Phoenix is pretty intense and you'd think this would have cooked the belt over 95K miles but these belts are tough.