Mrs was hankering after a BMW 1 but the TT is now topic of conversation.

I know nothing, what do I look for, will be at best 52 53 plate and the lower end of engine spec, she wants to pose not drive fast ?

they do a 1.8 turbo with 225bhp and also 180 a strong engine. I have the same engine in my golf running around 195 and plenty of poke in it. I wouldnt go for anything below 150bhp. Not sure whether they did a diesel model at that kind of age if so advisable as they are both economical and readilly mappable to return decent BHP figures

Our neighbour had one on an 'X' with about 90K miles on it - the suspension bushes were all shot to pieces front and rear.

Not sure if it had had a hard life or not before he had it though.....

Interesting cars. Had a 2002 one, new.. for a while.
Beyond the pill box windows the thing had massive driveline surge. The gear stick could be moved front/rear by throttle use alone. Also the incredibly stupid wheels it was fitted with had their polished Ali spokes placed out beyond the protection of the tyre. So any curb encounters during parking (see: Pillbox windows) seriously chewed the metal. Demanding affectedwheel replacement to sell the thing on.
Plus there was the usual VW slipshod quality.. but that wasn't a surprise 'going in'.

buy a cheap banham x21 metro based kit car and hope she doesn't notice?

instrument clusters prone to playin/packing up,make sure its got good service history so you know the diff have been serviced,look for the bose sound system,have the 225 not the 180 or the 3.2,and some seem to have an liking for high amounts of oil.

Bushes are a bad point but there not that expensive. Front A/R/B bushes wear badly but only 30ish for new ones and easy to swap.

My Fiancee has a 2001 180 Quattro. It was the cheapest in the uk that we could find last year. (budget was tight) Came with full service history but parts were still worn and i still need to do a fair few of the suspension bushes.

I would get vagcom on a laptop and check any car you are planning on buying. We have had a few problems, Lamba (£100) MAF (£100) and its still not right. She still loves the car but i hate it.

Just check it over really well.

Instuments/Dash can have problems and the suspension bushes as already mentioned

Just find a non-abused one with good service history

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?164717-2004-TT-3-2-Coupe-Black-Low-Miles




NTDWM - Looks like a cracker!