Advice on buying a 2001 TT

[mattyh1986]

Hi Gents,

I am new to this site, so firstly "Hello"

2ndly, and the reason I am here, I am looking at changing my Saab 9-3 for something I can have a bit of fun with over the summer and I am looking at a 2001 Audi TT Quattro 225 with 93,000 on the clock.

I went to see it yesterday, its immaculate. The previous owner has all the history neatly stored in a folder. The only "?" I have is the Cambelt. Apparently it was done, but it was a bit of a cash in hand deal and as such no invoice was produced. I'm pedantic so I called the garaged the previous owner claimed to have used and they confirmed its true.

However, the said that the cambelt actually snapped and the previous owner towned it to their garage and they changed the Cam and the pistons. She went onto run it for another 12 months with no issues, except the engine man light sometimes randomly came on and then went off again. They couldnt find any faults.

I am on a budget, this one is within budget and in good condition. I'd like some advice, is there anything specific I should look for? The engine man light, does that sound like its going to haunt me and cost a fortune or is it common on these older models? If the cambelt actually went, could there be any unforseen future issues. (Note: It was not maintained by an Audi dealer or Audi indi)

Thanks!

Matt

 

[ex911driver]

Are you buying privately or at a dealer?

 

[lgooch]

2001 car with 90k on it. I would say the suspension bushes would need replacing all round if it has not already been done.

Virtually same set up as a mk4 golf and they were like driving blumange when the suspension is shot.

Other than the cam belt which you have addressed it should be okay if you do you usual checks
Ask them if they did the water pump at the same time

 

[dzTT]

pretty much what lgooch said to check the water pump as well.

Also check the temperature and fuel gauges...if they're not reading properly it could be the dashpod that's faulty and that wont be cheap to fix

 

[chris.vincent3]

Where is the car you are looking at buying? Perhaps you could get one of us nice guys that own VCDS and see if any faults do actually come up.

 

[james 91]

Check the usual things you would when buying a car. Also check the dashpod, specifically that the fuel and coolant gauges read correctly. It would be a good idea to get it scanned before buying too if it has an intermittent EML on.