I was an audi dealer tech for 5 years and never once saw one of these that wasn't ruined. I honestly despise the brand and am embarrassed to say I still own one. If you want an older German car, just buy a bmw
Depends on what you mean by older - if you want a German car in the age bracket of this Audi, then there is nothing that will not be a risk - everything from Germany this century is built to expire.
TT's specifically are just a golf on steroids so parts are mostly cheap. Not a difficult car to work on either, a far cry from most modern cars of any make.
@@johnathancommodore9642 yup thats possible........I like his videos but he always thinks cars need to be in perfect condition. Most people drive these cars for 3-5 years. Just put in a secondhand rack and hope for those years, some cheap shocks. Also don’t think even a dealer charges that much for a belt and pump...........I mean these are good videos for people who know nothing about cars but 7K is also al the complete opposite
@@Mark-vn7et yes I think so also 7k is just to much but still it's up to the customers to just pay him for his diagnostics and do what's best for their pockets but wizard is an honest mechanic and I appreciate he shares all what he knows about vehicle maintenance but audi cars is just one of those brands to avoid well if you are not financially able☺
Yea seems like he's at what 400 an hour rofl..fking ridiculous..but hey that's how he can buy collectors Ferraris and a huge ass shop...work yes I appreciate hard work..but this is over the top highway robbery
As a car guy I'm 100% cool with paying for what needs to be done. Coils being replaced just because they're Audi doesn't fall in the need category. It's one of those lets get your car safe and reliable first. When you're ready to give it a well deserved tune up, let's do coils, plugs and address the exhaust starting to fail. One other thing you never hear is changing power steering fluid. If done every 3yrs along with brake and radiator fluid. You'd be surprised how long your steering rack will last.
I did my timing belt on my tt in my driveway. Only set me back like $150. Ive owned my tt for 5 years and can firmly say, it dosent cost that much to maintain if you do it yourself.
That's is the case with most 10+ year old luxury cars. If you are buying a 'cheap' one then you better been a decent shade tree mechanic and have a garage to work on, otherwise you better have a fat wallet because maintenance will eat you alive.
Like Wizard says, "" ohh I didn't think I have to pay for the mechanic!! """. He is right, you should factor labour cost! I wouldn't tackle this job, because if you get it wrong, you will need a whole new engine!! $150 will soon become $5000+. Leave it to the experts (unless you are trained by the Wizard!), and get a warranty with the job too. Believe me, as I had a TT Mark1 & now TT Mark 2 and soon the Mark3. By the way, prices in Great Britain are equally high!
Have you taken your car to any mechanic after the pandemic? Mosts techs lost their jobs and moved on to other careers because people were not driving during the lockdowns and working from home era. There is a severe shortage of trained auto mechanics. My local shop raised labor from $120/hr to $185/hr working on a Ford. My local Ford dealer is now charging $200+/hr. Parts are also universally up more than 30% bc of supply chain issues. Add to those issues the lack of new cars and inflated used car prices and you understand why mechanics are in short supply and repair costs are so high. A friend of mine on his 2011 Audi A6 3.0T paid over $1000 just for the parts to replace the thermostat & housing. He is mechanically inclined and did the labor himself. I believe the dealer quoted him close to $2200 for the work.
If you want cheap mechanics you got to find a smaller time shop that's owned/operated by only a couple guys. There's a place I took my car to that's staffed by only 3 guys, all of whom are the mechanics. It's a small building on a small lot, but because they're good at their job and don't have lots of overhead they can get you in an out same day at a reasonable price, even drive ins. Bigger shops need more money to keep going.
From all those "customer states" videos and mechanic shops stories on the Internet, US is an absolute hellhole. I'm in Europe and a whole air\oil filter change, oil and Valvoline change, timing belts, suspension and battery change cost about 400€. From I've seen on US, it would have cost me like $4000 at least.
@@flyingspaghetti Where are you in Europe? The only comparable places in the EU pricewise are Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and UK (I know they aren't in EU anymore) Also what do you mean by suspension change? Those prices don't include parts, right?
This is definitely a Mr. Dink from Doug episode: "Very Expensive!" My dad has always referred to people who ask for advice and then do the complete opposite as "ask-holes." The example he always likes to reminisce about is when he was a fleet mechanic for the local telephone company during the late 90s/early 2000s. One of the secretaries asked him what kind of car she should buy since she didn't have a lot of money and needed something dependable to haul her and her two kids around in. He told her to find a used Geo Prizm/Toyota Corolla in decent condition, pay cash and drive it for a couple years until she could afford something nicer. What did she do? She went out and financed a used Dodge Intrepid with no money down at some crazy interest rate at one of the local used car lots, and a few months later had catastrophic engine failure.
Ahh yes the infamous Chrysler 2.7....I got a great deal on 99 years ago it was in great shape ran great....the day I bought it I decided to Google any know issues for said car....I immediately dumped the car onto someone else😇
1.8T is rock solid if proper maintained. I have worked on a couple dozens so let me know if you need any advice. Check MAF sensor, lambda sensor, n75 wastegate valve, spark plugs and ignition coils, vacuum and boost leaks. Another common issue is the dual mass flywheel (Sachs is the brand to use always) Spark plugs go with NGK iridium ones Ignition coils go with OEM code from the Audi dealer (made by Eldor) and use the Touareg plastic spacer (2bucks each) Sensors go with ORM (Bosch all most of them)
Hey man I found an Audi TT 1.8T roadster listing that I am seriously interested in, would you take a look at the listing for me and lmk what you think? The current owner has done some work on it.
HI, there i have a problem with the car not recognizing the key fob it won't lock doors, it starts the car no problem, shop said it's the car, what part. can i reset the ECU would it help. The console buttons not working , where should i start. thank you any advice would be helpfull...
I can't stand that and it happens in a lot of businesses. People call an expert for advice. However it really isn't for advice, it is to try to justify their bad decision which they already have made. When the expert doesn't do that, they get upset and don't listen.
@@moderncoaches That’s certainly true, but the general economy of buying cars is not based on most people working on them in their driveway… Otherwise we’d all drive European cars and Japan would not rule the industry. European cars are more fun to drive!
I love it when I go to someone’s house for an AC not cooling enough and it turns out the evaporator coil is covered with years of dog hair from the 5 dogs they insist on keeping inside. I tell them that I will not bother with cleaning because it will never get it all and the corrosion is going to destroy it anyway. Of course they get angry and act like I’m trying to upswell them. A year later after the other guy cleans it they call me and sure enough it has a leak. People don’t understand that they are not only paying us to fix something they are paying us for our experience.
I work in tech support, and I get this all the time. When I explain what the problem is and the solution, I get "Oh, it can't be that..." I don't understand. If you're the expert and know all the answers, tell me again why you are calling ME?
@Mike Quote them a price on a service manual and a set of tools. Be sure to tell them that your expertise isn't included in this DIY discount. Wish them luck on their new DIY auto repair hobby.
I remember when the original Audi TT (this model) launched way back in 1998 it truly did look like a concept car on the road. In fact very little got changed between the concept design to the road going version. We've all got used to it now, but it really did look like something from the future back then.
I love the TT. I bought a 2003 225 hp roadster for $1900 two years ago. It needed a clutch. Everything else was already done. The clutch took me nearly 30 hours on my back in my driveway to get done bit it was worth it. I drove it for a couple of years and sold it. It had 180k miles.
@@webfreakz driveway... Non professional... Learning as you go... Not rushing... I can understand it. I did a few RWD clutches in my driveway and they were partial day jobs, but my first simple civic clutch took 2 days taking my time. I know it would be more on a more complicated car like this.
@@webfreakz It is a big job. You have to pull the front of the car apart and pull the engine and transmission out the front. Its not for the faint of heart.
I work on these a lot. I own and rebuild them. That is a 150bhp model but it is rare as the colour is Papaya and were originally early release or press cars. In uk I would charge £1800-2k for everything inc parts and Labour but we pay far less for the parts. The steering rack does book at 5 hours but takes half that on the front wheel drive. What you will find is when you do the secondary pump, I bet the breather pipes are broken. Rip them all out and put in a catch can. Cheaper and much easier to do. That car would make a premium in UK just for the colour. Great content wizard…
It's about that in the USA. The wizard just rips people off by not price shopping and he quotes numbers for dealer parts or something. A new rack is 265$ with a 1yr warranty here if you look around and then a new k&n air filter is 50$ and he wants that just to clean it. An oil change at the dealership is 50 to 60$ tops with a free wash. He's charging double what most shops here charge because he's famous now.
@@cppctek I agree, the bill seems very over inflated, kind of reminds me of Storage Wars, they value their items way higher than they will actually resell them for.
This is why it's best to do a little bit of work at a time so that it doesn't turn into a massive lump sum. If you start by doing a regular maintenance program around 80-90k miles then you can spread the cost out over more time and miles. For instance service your transmission, service your cooling system, change the spark plugs and possibly the coils too if you know that's an issue. If you just do one or two maintenance items per year starting around 80k miles then it's a lot more manageable than waiting until 110k + miles and getting dragged through the coals.
If the cam belt has never been changed since 2002 then it's a neglected car. You can't really blame the car when all the neglect adds up to a big bill. I often found with Alfas that the well maintained ones were reliable and the badly maintained ones weren't. Well surprise surprise. This Audi deserves some kind of award for lasting as long as it has.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 yes, taking advantage of people's ignorance. Sure being expensive is one thing. But asking more then 4 times an Audi dealership charges is just ridiculous.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 take for example the timing belt and waterpump. That's at the most 200$ for parts, and because he is a shop, probably more like 150$. And it takes at about 2 to 3 hours to do the job. That's about 500$ a hour. If you want to defend that, be my guest. This guy is a con man, plain and simple. And as a mechanic it pisses me off. And I have nothing to gain to give this guy criticism. I don't even live on the same continent. But if you want to belief this guy, knock yourself out.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 if I search on American auto part stores a timing belt kit is 230$. A shop doesn't pay that. Also, even if the parts were 500$ it's still 750$ for a 2 hour job on labor alone. Seriously, are you trying to be stupid?
Perfect car for a DIY enthusiast such as myself. I totally understand why the Wizard charges what he does, but that's all DIY'able for a fraction of the cost. The trick is knowing the exact state before purchase, and getting at a cost that condones the repairs.
Exactly, plus he's changing a number of items that aren't faulty, entire front struts when they are fine and coil packs when they haven't failed. Plus as a mechanic he should know the tricks for replacing front strut mounts, that saves him time and the client money. And some of those prices seem extremely expensive. Here in the UK I can't see how that's a bill anymore than £1500 at a good independent VAG specialist. Turn that into USD, maybe $2500.
I love how the videos are just as honest as the Wizard himself, no crazy edits or anything needed. Just straight to the point, bullet-proof sincerity. The best car mechanic channel on TH-cam. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wizard!
Aleelxza SAy@@jamesrocks9733 HYE GET OUT OF HERE YETROLL. WEAL KNOW 1970 MECHAICK WAS THE BST IN DAY GOBLSS BBC- Sent from 4bbl smart nike walker - Vietnam Turkey Shooter 1965-1975, Certified Forklift Omperator 1975-1976, Barb took the kids
He's got a good point, for an owner or buyer who doesn't know much about cars and is completely dependant on someone else to do the work. However, if you know how to turn a wrench and can shop for the best part prices, some of these cars are a good deal. I own one of these TT's, I did buy it new, 20 years ago, however it still has cost me very little in maintenance.
Non car folks often don't grasp, you're gonna pay now, or you're gonna pay later. It's up to them whether they want to space it out, as it should be, or get hit with a huge bill which is probably larger than the sum of its parts b/c things could have been prevented if they hadn't been neglected.
Out of curiosity, I checked the prices of parts for the base Audi TT here in Europe. Oil: $30 (Motul 5w40 5l) Timing (complete kit with water pump): $130 (Continental, Ina) Valve Cover Gasket: $10- $20 Spark Plugs (Set of 4): $40 (Denso, NGK) Ignition Coil (Set of 4): $125 (NGK, Beru) Filter Set (Air, Fuel, Oil, Cabin): $30 (Mann Filter) Rear Shock Absorber (Set of 2): $85 (KYB, TRW) / $220 (Bilstein B6) Front Shock Absorber (Set of 2): $135 (Monroe) / $350 (Bilstein B6) Tie Rod (Left & Right, Complete Kit): $130 (TRW) Auxiliary water pump: $45 (Bosch) Prices are approximate, but final. We don't have that funny "tax thing" that is in the US.
Apples and oranges difference. Parts cost aren't the same as mechanic's shop doing the work for the owner. You are quoting tie rods on either side of the rack, which will not solve a leaking steering rack. That rack is the quick ratio version in the TT and R32, which is more than the normal one found in a mk4 Golf. And, all the parts in N. America for a TT are more expensive shipping it across an ocean, than in a country nearly adjacent to where the parts (like the steering rack) are built.
@@chrstphrr The steering rack costs $125-600 (depending on the manufacturer). I understand what the price differences are due to. Parts for old American cars that can be found at every junkyard in the USA cost a fortune in Europe ;)
@@ZabrakloLoginow But you would turn far more heads driving something like a Trans-Am than an Audi here in the U.K. A builder up the road has an R8 so even those aren't that unusual.
@markjames3044 didn't you know about capitalism? And exactly what USA stands for? United Scam Artists!! I've lived here my entire life and realize this more and more every day.Yeah, I got 2 rear struts from 1A- Auto with free shipping and lifetime guarantee for $125 bucks and put one in my mom's 2016 Subaru legacy. I'm no pro mechanic. It took me an hour of relaxing, easy work. The dealer and the local garage both wanted $800 bucks. That's totally legal CRIME!! A total SCAM . The lousy garages and dealers don't even give a lifetime guarantee. They are definitely not out to save us a single penny. They are out to get as absolute much of our money as possible. Check out Scotty Kilmer on TH-cam. He really seems like a genuine human being doing excellent work at fair prices.
So from what I see is this, owning multiple Audi TT 8n Quattros (and having a mechanic on staff I see rough profit rate of 50-75% here): Oil Change: 100$. Parts wise o.k.-ish (40$ for oil and oil filter part, rest labour) Timing Belt & Water Pump: 1250$. OEM Parts are at most 250$ if bought through Distribution. Labour would be 3-4 hours tops. (Do this service every 5 years or 50T-Km) Valve Cover / Plugs / Coils: 800$. OEM Parts would be at most 150$. (This one is not very transparent time wise since theres so much leakage, but id say 2 hours max) Filter Service: 50$. This is reasonable. Rear Shocks: 350$. I feel this might be reasonable aswell. But then again I paid the same price having my shocks and struts done on my multiple Quattro Models. (Febi Parts) Transmission Service: 450$ Uh. Oh. Hold on Gandalf, we might be treading on overcharge territory there. Labour would be at most 2 hours if you are flushing the system. Steering Rack: 2.000$ Now you have completely started dipping into the "paint boozing" territory. You get these parts refurbished for 300-500$ with all the extra stuff you need to replace it + 3-5 hours labour. Its very labour intensive to replace I give you that. Front Struts: 900$. That must be quite the expensive parts to warrant such a cost. Last time I checked they were 200$ for them together you would be looking at another 2 hours of work here. Aux Cooling pump: 450$ The part is around 70$ and work is around 30 mins while you do all the rest. All this excl. Tax. By this estimate you are making at minimum 50% profit margins on parts and on labour each. Not trying to undermine your skill and practice, but at this rate she can go to an Audi dealer and have it done for the same price or even cheaper. I always thought mechanic shops ought to be cheaper than the dealer itself. But I guess times are a changing. + Some of the things you mentioned could be done in the same time since all the parts are lying open anyways. But I guess you are quoting the price for transperancy reasons. Nonetheless thanks for showcasing the possible costs of such a beautiful car.
I came up with $1350 in parts cost using quality stuff. Labor is what kills people. 98% of the country couldn't even put brakes on a car so they are paying $$$$ for labor.
This is why I do most of my own work. I own a VW, Mercedes, BMW, Dodge and a Chevy. Family vehicles in the rust belt. Lots of work to go around but they all run well and just need the occasional repair. Always on the fluid / filter changes which I believe keeps them going strong.. If more people learned about their cars they could save so much money owning them.
I am a VAG enthusiast, if you are mechanically minded the 1.8t cars are super easy to work on. I myself prefer the VR6 and even that is not that bad to work on. My friend had this same year TT with almost all the same issues and did all the work himself then flipped it for a hefty profit.
@@marlonmalave7098 You're not including the cost of your time. Like most repair type work... the parts aren't that expensive... it's the "labour" cost. Yes, the oil change is $30. But the shop hourly rate is 60-120, depending on where you go. Doing it yourself, you never account for that. But if you were to... you'd find that you'd be charging the same.
Wow in the UK it's recommended to do the timing belt on these every 5 years. It should be on its 3rd belt by now and soon due its 4th! You didn't mention the rear bushes on the front control arms - they are usually knackered after 50 k miles :) Timing belt and water pump in the Uk is usually 4 to £500 at an independent garage - your strut and shock prices sound about x2 as well even for Bilstein.
A few years ago I wanted an awd v8 car. I live in New England. This was 2007-2009. There were several a8s in the 5-6 k range, all with around 120k miles. Turns out the transmission was like 8k and blew in the 120k range like clockwork.
V8 DSG? I drive and Audi - but still so old that I can get manual 1.9 TDI with any emissions stuff :P Still more expensive than a Toyota to maintain - buy you don't get multilink in one the last time I checked.
The S4 story and TT story is spot on, you'll be spending quite a bit to get it sorted. I bought a 2011 A4 Avant back in early 2019. When I started looking at it, I checked the VIN with Audi to see if it was still under the engine warranty and it was! After negotiating a bit, I bought it. But I knew what I was getting into to get the car back to even. Engine was rebuilt under warranty and then I had my regular mechanic do the 50,000 mile service along with changing all the fluids because we were fairly certain they'd never been changed, new tires and all that. All said, it was ~$2000 to get it all sorted. Knowing what you are getting into with any vehicle purchase is really important so you are ready.
That last part is good advice… Sure, you can buy a solid high mileage car for a low price, assuming you’ve already priced out an engine replacement if you happen to need it. That could still be very economical. Even more so if you don’t need the drivetrain redone.
My Brother had a 2009 that had the engine rebuilt and piston rings replaced under warranty. Solid car after that and because it's a chain you don't have to change it like the older timing belt models. Audi hooked him up with the revised tensioner and new chain when they rebuilt the engine at 88k miles.
@@DJR5280 good thing they changed the tensioner. Those fail, and I know 2 people who had trashed valves. One could not fix it himself and the car was junked at 130k miles. I told him to change it like I did...
This isn't a rip off. VAG products of that era are a combination of expensive parts and difficult repair procedures. I had a touareg that the front of the truck had to come off for the timing belt, which had to come off to change the thermostat. So an hour job for a $15 part turned into a day or 2 job including water pump and timing belt. I dumped the truck.
I agree 1250$ for waterpump and chain is ridiculous price. Deutsche AutoParts would do it for cheaper and they specialise in VAG cars. I know oem VAG parts are expensive..but there are so many aftermarket alternatives that meet oem standard (or exceed it) that cost less. This guy either buys parts directly from Audi or charges an hour rate as if he works for Rolls Royce
I drive since about over 20 years old Audi‘s and I love them, I live only 2 miles away from the Audi factory here in Germany, Ingolstadt. But I repair on my own and never needed a repair shop…
Audi 1.9 TDI manual and 1.6 manual here... More maintenance than a Toyota for sure - but last time I checked you don't get multilink suspension in a Toyota...
@@ytr8989 most of the Audi cars on the USA market have been imported from Germany lmao. It's the people who won't service their car the way it should be and when it needs to be done. Starting with oil changes
@@rkan2 the issue is simply that vw products have more moving parts so more stuff can go wrong. More wear can happen. That's how it be. Gonna be crazy when they get down electric motor builds and start burning tracks up. The Audi gt rs electric is crazy
@@HellaNooBs problem is parts in the states are not cheap for VAG cars...in europe you can find vag cars everywhere...audi,vw,škoda parts are all basically the same and most cars share a platform, so you can always find replacement parts...same like can buy ford parts at a walmart im sure...
Well to be fair Car Wizard hadn’t once said don’t buy a TT in this video. Also, in the “buy this not that” video he had warned us against the possible costs that Audis do have after long periods of time. This is one of those examples of an Audi after a good run..
Gotta call bulls#&t on this one, Wiz. There was nothing notably wrong with this car that wouldn’t be expected to go wrong with a 2002 Camry. And I know because I maintain one for my Mom. The only difference that I see is a bit more expense on the parts themselves. The fact that the buyer was clueless doesn’t make the car bad. It is also true that German cars were/are designed for a more preventive maintenance schedule, so again, don’t blame the car for the neglect of the prior owner. I am personally on my 4th Audi, a 2013 S4, and it is breezing past 100,000 miles. I am blessed with the confidence, knowledge and tools to be able to perform all maintenance requirements, but my neighbor still has my first one, a ‘98 A4 and it is still happily chugging thru 245,000 miles on the original clutch! Audi engineering is spot-on, it’s the misinformed used buyer’s expectations that need to be changed. Audi actually does very little of the horrid BMW engineering tricks that look great on paper but don’t translate well to everyday cars. Things like liquid-cooled alternators and hollow, oil-filled alternator brackets. If this was a Camry, this job, all-in, would still have been between $4000-$6000, so stop trying to make your viewers think the difference would have been an entire decimal point.
Anyone else just love the fact that the car lift has its own theme song? I find myself tapping my foot to it when it’s going up. And the same again when it’s going down.
@Martin no doubt. I had an 07 A4 myself. Everything was fantastic until 100k miles. Then things started going out left and right, including a $5k transmission. And when I say 100k miles, I mean almost literally. I hit 100k on my way home from work one day. The next day an ignition coil failed on the way home. That was the beginning of the end.
@@drivewaymarvels311 These cars are pretty straight forward to work on, especially FWD's, and very durable if maintained. Other audis may be a different story but the old TT's are very reliable if you check and correct the usual suspects (timing belt, coil wiring loom, valve cover gasket, sump ventilation and vacuum system, strut mounts).
It's done 19 years already. It's not rusty so if the mechanical jobs are done there is no good reason for it not to last plenty more years provided the owner keeps up with oil changes and doesn't abuse the car. Cars are always a calculated risk, but I'd rather one of these than some of the latest road rubbish being produced.
😂😂😂 no way! I have a 02 TT Quattro with 220,000 miles Timing belt done at 200k on OG belt:$350 kit with metal impeller water pump, Gates Racing Belt/Tensioner etc 4 hour project (with aluminum pulley upgrades) Reman Power Steering Rack $300 at 215k (OG Rack) 2 hours time (You also need an alignment after) Aftermarket Coil overs $700 190k, Oil change $40 Mobile 1, OEM Valve Cover Gasket Kit $79 about an hour , Plugs (4) NGK $34, Coil Packs R8 Upgrade $89 (If needed 🤷🏻♂️) 15 minute install: OEM lasted until upgrade 200k. It all depends on the owner, driving, storage, maintenance, and if you price out parts on sale/fix it yourself. This applies to ALL cars. Shop times and prices are hyper inflated because of the Audi badge. It’s no different than a Honda
The 1.8T models aren't much different but man Audi had some real awful ideas like that damn V-8 with the front and rear chains and tensioners that failed.
I mean I have a 2.7t allroad and spend all of 4 grand on the car, timing belt and water pump, manual swap, and resealing the entire engine. If I didnt go stage 3 I wouldn't been done at that... They really are just killed with shop time when going to a mechanic
My experience with Audi is limited to being in a Toyota dealership waiting room and having a customer walk in and ask for a salesman who materialized out of thin air and asked if he could help. The customer said he wanted to sell his Audi. The Salesman sighed, his eyes grew dull, and said, “What’s wrong with it?” and they walked outside. I learned a lot in that brief exchange.
I worked at an acura dealership and back in 06 a salesman there fell in love with a TT and bought it. I witnessed him cry once when i jump started it and asked him how it was going. He paid too much for it (every cent he had it seemed) and it was nothing but trouble. Poor guy sold it later, probably got raped.
Nearly twenty years of age, what is the problem of this issues? Totaly normal hard seals and leaking everywhere.. Even the engine might have some weak piston rings..i don't want to know, if the customer never has to refill engine oil...
It’s an old car. Stuff wears out. If you fix a little bit here a there, it’ll just be routine maintenance. I found the most expensive steering rack on Rockauto is $549 plus tax and shipping but also get a 5% discount code. I’m sure I could fix that car for $2,000. I’ve done TB and WP changes on a Passat with the 1.8T.
If practical, you might want to drop the oil pan and check the oil pickup. Limey reviewer said that it can be/is a problem area. They are easily clogged and can lead to total engine failure. The apparent lack of maintenance on this car makes this a very good idea. The pickup can be cleaned or cheaply replaced and a little attention could prevent a disaster.
I did my TT's timing belt in a day. Like 6 hours. Kit was like $150 or something from ECS Tuning. I'm not a professional, a real mechanic could do it in 4. $1100 for four hours of work?
He’s making healthy profits if he gets nearly 7,000 for that job. Makes more sense to own a mechanic shop than be in lots of other professions these days especially since the barriers to entry are low.
Yeah watched it again. I mean what’s the “transmission service”? Is he charging nearly $500 bucks for fluid and filter service on that? Car wizard the retail on the shocks and struts all the way around is $600.00 for the parts man.. You’re only gonna get little old ladies to pay you 7,000. Everything was kinda routine on that job except for the steering rack lol. I guess I need a new career.
Every shop marks up the parts and most get manufacturer parts which always cost more. VW/Audi parts must be gold plated to justify the price. I've got a beetle with the same engine and I did it myself too.
that car is actually super clean underneath for a 2002 model, must be from california or arizona. here in the UK it would be a big ball of rust, the springs still have the paint markings on them!
I was thinking that as well, here on the east coast all of that metal would be rusty. The UK is significantly better than here for that as we get more snow and therefore road salt. Most mechanics around here use their torch and cutoff wheels more than any other tools.
I have a 2004 Audi A6 that’s as rust free over here in Finland. Although it has 280 000km. I was shocked when I saw the undercarriage because I expected rust. Apparently these cars don’t really rust easily.
I’ve owned two 1.8T A4s and we still have a 1.8T Jetta with 276k miles on it. It’s on its third timing belt and it’s still faster than my ‘15 Focus SE. Great engine, would recommend if you’re buying an older VW/Audi.
Selecting quality aftermarket parts: x1 STARK Valve Cover Gasket set, x4 NGK Ignition Coils and x4 NGK Spark Plugs cost 183,00€ ($207,00) in Europe, with 24% VAT included. Say very generously 2-3 hours labor at $100 per hour so an extra $200-300. Total cost should be from $407,00 to $507,00 How on Earth do you charge $800,00 ?
That exhaust clamp is actually ... stock - all the mk4 platform has that clamp in the middle. VW and Audi weren't cruel, and gave folks a way to take the exhaust off without needing the 4 point lift and 3 people to manipulate everything from downpipe to exhaust tip out.
Its actually VWAG cars in general. Mk1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 all this way. The member underneath isn't even for structure like most think. Its too weak. Its just in case the mid clamp fails the exhaust doesn't drop and cause injury or wrecks. One of the best designed exhaust setups of any car groups I've worked on. Easy to do in a driveway vs a large bay shop
I wish I could find an Audi TT in this color for Less than $7k. I can do most of the work myself but what the Wizard quoted for all that work was very reasonable. Definitely do the timing belt water pump and steering rack first, Then the transmission service and the suspension components, I'm surprised the plastic cooling lines aren't shot.
Here in the UK you could buy a 225 Quattro for $3000. The only expensive one is the Quattro sport which I don't think you got. They fetch $15000 in your money.
@@terencejay8845 Their worthless now if like me you live near London and the Ulez zone. I'm amazed I can buy a 3.0 l shogun v6 which is exempt but my silly 1.8 is not. Don't throw good money at an old banger.
I used to work at a wrecking yard specializing in European cars, pulling those Auxiliary pumps was a chore mostly because trying to save the plastic hoses coming off of it was 80% unlikely to work. The plastic usually turned brittle.
Had an older Subaru Outback. Had a a long list of items to fix. Some were 'nice to fix' and some were safety/reliability items. Only reason they got done was because I did the work myself and actually liked the car. When labor cost isn't in the equation, sometimes you can justify it, but in this case... well...
that g12 or what goes in there , stinks from mile away no need to taste it :D:D:D....the chemicist will do the same with the poisenious mushrooms .... taste ti....
When I was a mechanic for Mercedes we had a saying. There are two types of customers, those you can afford a Mercedes and those who think they can afford a Mercedes. The largest quote I have ever given to the service writer was just shy of $15,000.
lol i have a friend like that.. she thinks she can buy a brand new Civic Type-R but she ended up with a 2017 Chevy Cruze RS lol And she thinks she's got a better car than my Corvette! lolol
I really enjoy your "Automotive Ministry" You are grounded,down to earth, and matter of fact. Whenever you and Hoovie get together I always crack up. If I lived in Wichita, you would be servicing my car.
When I worked at a BMW parts department in the 80's, people would complaine about the prices of parts. I would tell them you are the one who wanted an expensive car and now you see why they are. Parts don't get cheaper just because they are older.
Aftermarket options get more plentiful with older the car gets though. There is a sweetspot however, after about 20 years the aftermarket volumes start to go down and thus prices up..
no indeed, needed a driving shaft for my old E32 735iLa from 1986, glad they still make it, but 1500€ is expensive, however it lasted throughout the life of the car and 320.000km, considering that it isnt that exppensive at all :). that it is expensive is for a reason. It lasts a long time
I had a similar 1.8T in a Golf GTI... and I found it to be quite reasonable in costs for most things. The car had a penchant for wheel bearings, but finding the full replace bearing and hub combo saved money in the long run. What this particular TT looks like is a car that was used fairly hard and didn't have too much maintenance done. So the current owner is looking at a pile of work to do because it's been not done in the past. I would say that since the car itself appears to be sound (not particularly rusty, etc) it would be worth it. But the same amount of money may buy a slightly better sorted car.
Its basically I bought a cheap sports car. Also I wonder why Audi has a low price. I mean my 2011 TT mark 2 costed me 10k euros. For a what 11 year old machine that had 180k on the clock. Just the notice highest cost service was 600 euros. If you are buying a used car check the list of services. If the car is old pay attention. Audi is really relliable car and if you take car of it it will last long time
Good luck with your clogging cats, leaking pcv, broken thermostat, dead coil packs, cracked coolant reservoir, defective clock spring, & malfunctioning mechatronics unit
I'm new to your channel and would like to thank you for this video! I'm on the market for a MK1 Audi TT and it was great watching you perform the inspection as I'm not knowledgeable on cars. I'll do a pre-purchase inspection when I buy mine, but its great to know where to look at. I guess all of them are going to need some love, just have to find one not as neglected as this one!
I live in England and the timing belt on a TT is about £350 Parts and labour must be way more expensive in America on European cars I've now got a TT 225 quattro and it's got 114 thousand and the only issue I've had other than basic service is my power steering pump died and that was only £50 to buy a new one . Crazy how prices vary America .
@@mancsblue Yes, labour is way more expensive in the States. $120 per hour at least in California. When a rear hub bearing went out on my 2007 Yaris I was feeling lazy and phoned a mobile mechanic to ask how much it would be to replace it. He said $300. When I stopped laughing I said, "No, I have the part; I just want you to fit it". "Yeah, that's $300", he said again. So I fitted it myself in in half an hour.
I'm always shocked at how little room there is to work. The RS models on his channel especially are just jam packed with stuff under the hood. No wonder the labor costs are insane. (This comment brought to you by the NA Miata gang).
No no no way.... My Audi Coupe 1994 has nearly 200,000 miles on her..... Never broke down or anything .... No leaks.... It's all down to servicing and taking care.... Drive it hard, don't service or look after her, then your asking for trouble.... Great show... Keep up the great informative programs.....
...well my experience of Audi, and TT in particular is at complete odds with this. I'm on my 3rd MkI TT, the BAM225bhp Quattro one, and at 165k miles it runs like a Swiss watch. Yes it's serviced regularly, but I'm on original clutch and turbo as well. I had thecsump dropped at 130k miles and th pickup replaced as precautionary, always a good idea in a high mileage turbo car. Now, the prices of some of those repairs are a bit saucy imho, especially the timing belt one. A timing belt service including water pump in an Audi main dealer here cost €699. How on earh is it $1250 in Kansas ?? Ditto the steering rack. I don't doubt these cars need TLC, but they're only a Golf in wolf's clothing......
He’s full of it that’s why. I own several cars he regularly bashes(5.2 Chrysler v8 powered jeep, vw Passat and I’ve have Mercedes etc) They are fantastic when maintained properly. My jeep has 280k on it and it’s like new yet he claims it’s one of the worst engines ever. Bull it’s great and I’ve bought and sold dozens of them when I was selling cars never once had an issue. He just doesn’t like them and it repairs ok German cars are rediculously over priced.
His prices are ludicrously high for indie shop. Even in the NYC tristate area you will not pay that much, only at a mainline dealer would you. If you learn to turn a few wrenches you will be lucky if it costs 300 dollars. I remember him talking about replacing Coils on S6 and how much they cost. He was charging over dealer on that one. Most 1.8t timing belts at indie shops are 600-700 dollars or at least used to be
@@matthewguerra5410 exactly. An audi/vw timing belt is 300-800 in most shops even the dealer said 900. No way would it take 7000$ to sort this. He just wants to push away cars he doesn’t like. Some of his videos are great then there is nonsense like this. I’ve put shocks on Mercedes for less than that.
Did it myself ( gates timing belt with new waterpump, tensioner and pulley) wich cost me 135 euros total. 5 hours of work. it isnt that hard but You have to unbolt one of the engine mounts and lift the timing belt side of the engine up.
Yeah he's a little overboard on the quotes. I have a MK4 VW with the 1.8t engine some of these TT have, 321,216 miles, original clutch and turbo as well. One of the most reliable powerplants Ive ever seen in a car. Especially for being turbo. I keep up with oil changes, every 2k miles, and do my timing belt and water pump every 80K with OE parts. If you care for them these can be damn good cars.
I have a friend who got a really nice B5 S4. I told him before he bought it, be ready to spend several thousand to repair or regular maintenance to it. After driving it for six months, the mechatronic triggered a gear select code. The Audi dealer had a total estimate of 21k including 7k to replace the transmission... he declined the repairs and three years later it still sits in his barn.
YEP, I LOOKED at a 2004 S4 back around 2007. The dealer wanted $26,000 for it and the 2nd gear synchro was going out. And it had a check engine light on. Sure was fun on the test drive but I had read a story in Road and Track when they did a Long Term Test in one. 2nd gear on theirs went out under warranty and the cost was around $7,000.
It amazes me that some would question you with your resume. You are a brilliant mechanic. Wizard I said it before I wish you lived closer to me. Keep the videos coming. Happy Motoring!
This car has one of the cheapest maintenance for the engine/transmission here in Brazil. However, the headlights and other finish parts are impossible to find, specially the 1st gen TT that is really rare here. The internals are basically the same for all VW/Audi models sold here. The original TT has 150hp and the red T (A3 and Golf GTi has 180hp). The S3 has 220hp but uses the K03S turbo (the 150 and 180hp use the normal K03 turbo)
I’m reminded of someone on an Audi forum who’s “friend” tried to port the headers for him…by dumping a bag of sand into the fuel tank. When he was asking for help to fix it he said “my friend doesn’t know much about Audis.” Someone replied, “guess what your friend doesn’t know much about cars period.”
That sounds like a guy I knew a while back who was working on a diesel bobcat skid steer that had engine problems. He was convinced that it had low compression because the rings needed seating so he said take the air filter off and pour flour or something in the intake. Despite my efforts to dissuade him he was certain he was right. Didn't work out too well.
First time I rebuilt a quadrajet, I was working my way slowly through the manual, one part at a time, putting each bit in a labeled fishing tackle box..... Buddy of mine came by and wanted to go grab a bite and a beer, and I was moving too slowly for his preference. He grabbed a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and said "here, I'll do it for you. what are you working on?" I closed everything up and came back to it later, in private. He redid the stereo in his car--giant jagged edged holes cut in the doors with speakers screwed into the holes--but only covering 2/3 of each hole.... cheap and fast, not good.
I think you said it best at the beginning of the video, buy one with good maintenance records. This is all differed maintenance that if it had been done when it needed to be done would have cost the same but over a longer period of time.
Hmm. I guess I'm an outlier. I've had my 2006 A4 Wagon for years and it's been very reliable family rig and I haven't had to do anything drastic. I'd wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.
@@Anonymous______________ Maybe only in America cause in Europe they don't cost anymore than any regular car to fix, and they are known to be pretty solid engines, most problems are faulty sensors, which you can live with. I have a Seat Leon Cupra R, 225hp same engine as the S3, audi TT, i think the mk4 golf only got the 150hp AUQ engine but similarish and they're all pretty decent engines with affordable parts...and imo, they sound nice with a weird rumble about them under load. btw watching the video where he mentions the work to replace the waterpump and belt to be in the thousands of dollars just proves my point. I have 2 receipts from the previous owners of my Cupra, the most recent being from April 2021 just before I bought it where it shows the price of the timing belt kit + waterpump + labour at 2.5h at £40 an hour (average rate in UK for independent garages outside cities)to replace the lot at £320, thats $429 when I converted.
@@Anonymous______________ any car that is old and neglected costs alot to maintain. You think a Toyota would be much cheaper to repair if it had same faults as this audi?
If you keep them serviced properly they go on for ever, based on a Golf (Rabbit). That one has been neglected like most of the European cars you deal with. Love your channel.
I like the the mk1 TT. The BAM engines are great and in many cars. Here in the UK you can pick these up for £1000 ($1500). You just drive it till something expensive goes on it and buy another. No need to spend more than you pay for it.
Hi guys I just sold my TT Cabrio with 280000 (yes, that's right) miles on its 1.8T 5 valve BAM engine. Change the oil and filters often plus don't tune the heck out of it and they are indestructible. It's a non-quattro and had no leaks...get a good one and you're laughing
I have done most of the jobs on my Audi TT 115000 miles, quattro 225 version, steering rack has been fine. Front and rear oem Monroe shocks were just £200, four new springs £100 complete timing belt kit £140 various bushes for the suspenion, front and back brake disks with brake pads were £100. Thank God I can do my own work. There's good saving to be made by shopping around and still get oem or oem quality parts and not paying oem rates.
I can honestly say that the 1.8t motor is a solid reliable motor. I have one in my passat. However I’ve heard that the accessories around the engine go bad but the engine itself is bullet proof
Thank you for these videos! We own a B5.5 Passat Tdi Wagon. When it's running and driving its a great car, but repairs are brutal, even with a very reasonable independent mechanic. This is one of the first cars we've taken a wash on. Toyotas have gotten all of us spoiled. If only there were good affordable commuter cars that weren't boring and slow.
B 5.5 are so common in Europe and sooooo easy to service, they can run forever. Still very common on the streets even though the production stoped 16 years ago.
Toyotas never spoiled me. They need routine maintenance all the time...just like other cars. Engine and trannie mounts, starters, alternators, batteries, brakes, bushings, bearings, serpentine belts, clogged catalysts, headlights, tail lights, exhausts, gaskets, seals, rotors and brake shoes, drums and pads....etc...
Interesting I didn't know the TT and the beetle shared major parts. I've been working on a family members 1998 Beetle with a 2.0 standard, surprisingly a very pleasant car to drive. I appreciate all the great info thank you wizard!
over 70 cars in VW group on market sheer that same chassis, in Europa parts for service them are cheap and most of those cars are fully serviced cos of cheap service parts.. cars from 2000 are better serviced then cars from 2010 and up
I had a 99 Audi A4 Turbo, I bought used in 2001. It was a great car for the first six or seven years. By 2009, I was easily spending close to 5K a year in maintenance and repairs. In 2010 after spending over two grand in suspension repairs, the ABS light came on and the power steering pump literally went out on the drive home from the shop. I was looking at another $2,500 minimum. I parked it in my garage and never drove it again. Sold the Audi in 2015 for a thousand bucks to a kid who did all his own work, so I had no problem telling him everything wrong with it. Audi like Volkswagen are fun cars for the first few years, but not worth the headaches after they turn five years old.
My TT sat in the garage for five years. When I brought it back out I had a list of repairs quite similar; the repairs trends on that particular model are always unlike and the bill was just about the same. My car runs great now and I love it, and it was worth the money. Great video content!
When my son was younger and in his "learning to drive" days, he kept finding cool cars he could almost afford. BMW's, Volkswagens, and yes, an Audi. He asked me which one he should get, I looked him in the eye, and said carefully: "HONDA." Or Toyota. Or even Chevrolet. Not anything fancy and German. He ended up with a 1998 Chevrolet Prism which is, of course, a Toyota.
In defence of the poor car, it's 20 years old! I think she held up pretty well. Yes, German cars are $$$ to repair, but the car itself ain't that bad. You wanna play, you gotta pay, and when sorted German cars put a smile on your face every time.
Many cars make it easily to 20 years with no problem nowadays. For Toyota and Honda products that's no big deal. I grew up with many German cars in my life and they were once great cars. Now many of them are over engineered garbage that are foolish to pay the bucks for. Plastic that cracks and tons of computers in one car that are prone to failure. If you're gonna pay so much to play in any car then one should expect it to be superior in build quality over lower costing vehicles, right? That can be said to the extreme about terrible "once British brands" like Rover and Jaguars that even rich people are turning into lawn ornaments after the catastrophically break down. Everyone one of my friends and family who once swore by German cars now drive Japanese products that are easily lasting longer, holding together better and holding thier value. I agree that German cars put a smile on your face until you gotta pay, then play time is over no matter how rich you are. Even the most wealthiest individuals I've known who drove just about every luxury car imaginable now drives Lexus. One went from a beamer to a Honda type R and he has a bigger smile on his face since he dumped his BMW for a car with less problems and thst cost less dinero. The only person I know who currently owns a "modern" German car has a Porsche in his garbage as a weekend driver, and yes, that is one German car that can put a smile on a face. Especially as a special occasion car.
Preventative maintenance is key with these older German cars, I have an 01 allroad and got it in rougher shape for 1700, spent maybe a grand (I believe it was 800 bucks) doing maintenance to it and catching it up. If the trans didn't fail I would've been done, spent another 1500 on a manual swap and has been golden since, honestly for 4 grand though that's not terrible for a car as long as you know going into it.
@@raymondabella4684 lots of repetition of myths and little substance. "German cars" is quite a blanket statement. We are talking about a range of a 1.2L VW Lupo or Polo all the way to a Bugatti Veyron. For some reason in America every model from the big three is "luxury" when here you have to get an S Class/7/A8 to get that title, or at least a well speced E Class. Something like a 3 Series or A6 is just a normal car here not luxury, lmao. His point was that the car was terribly neglected and it is amazing the timing belt lasted for 20+ yrs. You're probably the type of person who would keep driving the car on the original TB then after grenading the engine would go on an internet rant about how Audi and all German cars are unreliable. LoL
@@vw5056 Actually I and the people I referred to do the basic maintenance expected of all cars. BTW... You are correct, I never changed my time belt because my particular model of Japanese car was wisely designed to have a timing chain. As for the original statement I replied to, read the statement VERY CAREFULLY. He made the statement, "You have to pay to play" and not a statement talking about basic maintenance. As for basic maintenance on a modern German car, including VWs (Sorryif this an emotional subject for you), there are only one way to maintain crappie plastic that cracks, computers that fail, gaskets that leak or blow...! That would be to replace them and that falls out of the category of maintenance and into the realm of repairs, right? Then again, maybe you can explain how cars like a simple cheap costing Corolla can take the abuse of a person who neglects it, while an A4 (simple car, yet well over the sticker price of a Corolla) can be well maintained and end up in the junkyard before it hits it's 200,000th mile that the abused Corolla easily made because I've seen it first hand with individuals I know. Let me make it simple for you... If you're gonna pay a higher sticker price for something than common sense is that you should expect it to hold up better than the cheaper item. Otherwise, That makes as much sense as payong for a fancy restaurant for the sake of going to a fancy restaurant even if they serve you a plate of dog crap. 🐕 💩
Any car repair is going to be expensive if your shop marks up parts 100%+!! Most expensive steering rack on eBay: $376. Set of 4 Bilstien shocks for $350. Coils $50, Timing belt kit $100 (Includes valve cover gasket. Last one took me an hour). Aux water pump $70 (Bosch)... The takeaway here is that an unscrupulous shop will mark up parts to the moon and charge you separately for service that is part of the other service. eg. To change the rack you take out the struts first... Valve cover gasket is part of the timing belt service and etc. Have them break out parts separately and look them up yourself. Like everything else in the auto industry service is negotiable. If you are shocked by the quote go to another shop and have them quote the services. It might cost you $100 but save you $1000s. Don't let shops use you as their retirement plan. Especially if they make a TH-cam video to brag about it!
I wouldn’t recommend an Audi for a first car unless they know how to work on cars and know what their getting into. Also I can relate when the Wizard mentioned that someone asked for advice and then proceeded to throw it by the wayside. It happens more often than you’d think
I’m a huge Audi guy and people need to know they are awesome cars….when you have the money and patience. Don’t get one expecting a cheap reliable daily driver
Your mind will be blown when you realize most people think in a way that is far from logical… This explains everything from poor lifestyle habits to buying worthless Extended warranties.
Man, service costs in the US are insane. $450 for transmission service, i pay 200 euro for that, with filter replacement in Europe. $50 filter service, might aswell just buy a new one.
Buy a service manual and a set of tools, then try to tackle it yourself. Let us know if that $450 is so outrageous after being on your back for ten hours struggling with the transmission. On the other hand, we're paying about $3 a gallon (breaks down to about 80 cents a liter) for gasoline. How much is yours?
@@houseofno Only 80 cents per liter? Here in Spain we pay 1,60 "dolars" per liter... The double, so fuck off.... :) I guess you agree with the super cheap price of 50 dollars to clean a K&n filter with soap and water... LMAO
I like Wizard videos but these prices are crazy. I had 2000 225 Quattro and had some of these done by shop and did some myself. There’s no point of buying 2000$ steering rack when you can get refurbished or low mileage second hand ones for 300-500$.
The gasket/filter kit is about $25 and the four quarts at the dealership run for $20/liter. The rest is "finders fee"... That much about his $7k bill... My ass $7k; it's about 2.5 in parts at the best...
I looked up the struts and shocks as well and they only run maybe $450 for OE Bilsteins and mounts. Definitely overcharging at $800 or so for labor. You can also get a 5 qt jug of Mobil 1 Synthetic for $25 at Walmart
@@tym7883 that is just disgusting. My mechanic once replaced all four shocks that i brought him for $50. Took him not even an hour. Think he cuts the car owners a break from the TH-cam revenue the cars generate?
I bought one for 3000$ and I invested over 2 years 10 000 $ more for fixing it perfect and just put brand new gas system wich is pretty nice ! This one is 132 kw like mine
I have a 99 Audi TT 1.8T with 170K miles that I bough a year ago for 2000€ (the cheapest running & driving in France), I use it as my daily beater and it has been an awesome car, only had to fix a small coolant leak and a tiny brake fluid leak and that's it (also did the timing belt and water pump because it was in unknown state, turned out it wasn't necessary but oh well). It's been a pretty solid & reliable car, turns on and drive every day.
I have the same model TT, bought it with the belt being snapped, did a headrebuild and fixed it up, 400miles later down the road the oilpump died and killed everything, now with a full engine rebuild it runs amazing though however.
One way to spot a good shop... the mechanic will sort the list of repairs from highest to lowest priority in case you can't afford to do it all at once.
I've bought a fairly solid 95 Buick Riviera for about 3.5k. I have since put all new breaks all the way around on it. 780 for the rear, and 540 for the front, I've also had to do new rear suspension with linkage Which was another 600+ I'm now chasing oil leaks and I had to replace the directional assembly which cost 330 for the part and 250 to install. Yea, it adds up.
A backyard mechanic (me) could easily do the water pump/ timing belt/ valve cvr gask/ elec water pump/ struts/ rack for the cost of parts. Not the end of the world and not totaled either.
Yeah but not everybody has that availability and they like the guarantee of a warranty on the work, even with a Lexus I have saved myself $2000 on easy labor, And I went to someone else, I would've already been looking at two to $3000, when pretty much everything I did was $150 out of pocket
Any local proper mechanic here in the UK would do all that for about £2k (about $2.7k). I priced up the parts from a national motor factor. The Bilstein shock absorbers are only £80 each - about $105. Vehicle labour rates in the US must be stratospheric.
Agreed that this is all easy stuff to fix at home for those of us who can turn a spanner - but that's a tiny fraction of the general population - and I don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my weekends that fix base model German shitboxes - sure some of us would but it reduces the level of interest even further - which effectively makes this car mechanically totalled.
There is a reason some of these cars are so expensive when new and so cheap on the secondary market. You can exceed the retail price very easily on some cars unless you do the work yourself and even then it’s still expensive. It’s usually only worth it on cars that you really planning on keeping long term or have some kind of historical importance to them.
The 1.8t is an absolute fantastic power plant. I’ve had a vw/Audi shop for the past 15 years and I’d have to say aside from the diesels the 1.8t is one of the best vw engines ever made. Curious on the s4 story if it was the 4.2 engine. That motor is absolute crap.
The 4.2 V8 is great engine, but ONLY if the timing chain system has been overhauled with RS4 guides and then the oil changed every 5k miles (Audi long service intervals spell early death for all their engines). I recently bought an S4 cab here in the UK for £2,200, 109k miles with a full service history, near perfect bodywork but with bad chains. Pulled the engine, replaced all the chains, fitted metal RS4 guides (4 were broken - utter plastic cr@p), JHM inlet cam phasers and a ton of seals and gaskets. The car would be a mechanical write-off if it was put into a workshop for repair!
Just get a 4cyl manual - and while it won't be Toyota level cheap - it will be much more fun imo. Basically nonexistant since the last 10yrs though unfortunately.
@@adotintheshark4848 my 2013 Passat 3.6 V6 engine has been nearly flawless. 160k miles and only issue has been a pcv valve. I think I spent about $50 to repair it myself. The vr6 engines are nearly built proof
I can confirm had my b7 a4 in the dealer and a shop 7 times between the 2 for a corroded wire from my throttle body to the ecu that put it in limp mode about 101 times I bought a Toyota shortly after 😂
I live in the Uk and enjoy your blogs. I have just purchased a 20 year old 22 5 Quattro . One owner , full Audi history black looks like new . It cost me about £10000 . It’s way over the usual cost for this year but it’s in unique like new condition! You buy cheap you buy twice !
can confirm bought an a4 for 4k needed a new gearbox 2k, heater core clogged 200-300, needed brake disc pads all round 700, aircorn re-gas 80, full major service 300 (filters/oils). Will be getting new tyres on all corners 500.
I was an audi dealer tech for 5 years and never once saw one of these that wasn't ruined. I honestly despise the brand and am embarrassed to say I still own one. If you want an older German car, just buy a bmw
REALLY older.
Depends on what you mean by older - if you want a German car in the age bracket of this Audi, then there is nothing that will not be a risk - everything from Germany this century is built to expire.
It’s a shame that they are that bad.
I love my 2014 VW GTI...150k and just regular maintenance.
you ll need a 30yo bmw to be remotely reliable
or $1500 of parts from Rock Auto and a weekend in your driveway. The steering rack is the only painful thing and would be at least a 5 or 6 beer job.
agreed 🍺
TT's specifically are just a golf on steroids so parts are mostly cheap. Not a difficult car to work on either, a far cry from most modern cars of any make.
Can't the rack be rebuilt I mean if the seals can be replaced it needs a pro to replace the seals but cost would be way cheaper I think.
@@johnathancommodore9642 yup thats possible........I like his videos but he always thinks cars need to be in perfect condition. Most people drive these cars for 3-5 years. Just put in a secondhand rack and hope for those years, some cheap shocks. Also don’t think even a dealer charges that much for a belt and pump...........I mean these are good videos for people who know nothing about cars but 7K is also al the complete opposite
@@Mark-vn7et yes I think so also 7k is just to much but still it's up to the customers to just pay him for his diagnostics and do what's best for their pockets but wizard is an honest mechanic and I appreciate he shares all what he knows about vehicle maintenance but audi cars is just one of those brands to avoid well if you are not financially able☺
Videos like this make me so grateful to be able to do all my own work. I couldn't afford to drive a car if I had to pay labor costs.
Exactly..most of this will be labour costs. Second hand items can be used for certain jobs..further reducing costs.
Yeah, but this guy is charging more and 2x what the guys around here charge.
Might as well just take it to the Steeler-ship!
Yea seems like he's at what 400 an hour rofl..fking ridiculous..but hey that's how he can buy collectors Ferraris and a huge ass shop...work yes I appreciate hard work..but this is over the top highway robbery
@@poppaluv somehow I sense this guy licked his lips as the woman drove the Audi into the workshop.
Oil change - $100, Transmission Svc - $450, Steering Rack $2,000....Wizard's Boat Payment - Priceless!
That fwd 1.8t tt is essentially a golf / gti / or beetle , very easy to work on and reliable just a better looking car
As a car guy I'm 100% cool with paying for what needs to be done. Coils being replaced just because they're Audi doesn't fall in the need category. It's one of those lets get your car safe and reliable first. When you're ready to give it a well deserved tune up, let's do coils, plugs and address the exhaust starting to fail.
One other thing you never hear is changing power steering fluid. If done every 3yrs along with brake and radiator fluid. You'd be surprised how long your steering rack will last.
I did my timing belt on my tt in my driveway. Only set me back like $150. Ive owned my tt for 5 years and can firmly say, it dosent cost that much to maintain if you do it yourself.
That's is the case with most 10+ year old luxury cars. If you are buying a 'cheap' one then you better been a decent shade tree mechanic and have a garage to work on, otherwise you better have a fat wallet because maintenance will eat you alive.
I'll second this; the non-quattro 1.8T TT is a very easy car to maintain
Key here, you did it yourself
Like Wizard says, "" ohh I didn't think I have to pay for the mechanic!! """. He is right, you should factor labour cost!
I wouldn't tackle this job, because if you get it wrong, you will need a whole new engine!! $150 will soon become $5000+. Leave it to the experts (unless you are trained by the Wizard!), and get a warranty with the job too. Believe me, as I had a TT Mark1 & now TT Mark 2 and soon the Mark3. By the way, prices in Great Britain are equally high!
Excatly, the "my time is free crowd" is not to be taken advice from on ease of ownership. That being said I'm in that same crowd just with chainsaws.
Wizard: it's junk
Me: *immediately looks at S4's in Kansas 😂😂
Yup ..I'm in Kansas ...about 150 miles from Newton
Same here. I’m about 20 miles away from Newton and I looked too 😂
Glad I'm not the only one who makes bad decisions 😂😂 my cousin lives in Iola was debating on a visit
I would rescue them all if I could
Hahaha hahaha hahaha!
Every shop has the right to set their own pricing, but damn Wizard, your're in the stratosphere!
My local indie shop is high quality and is significantly less to repair the exact same things. Could be locale
Have you taken your car to any mechanic after the pandemic? Mosts techs lost their jobs and moved on to other careers because people were not driving during the lockdowns and working from home era. There is a severe shortage of trained auto mechanics. My local shop raised labor from $120/hr to $185/hr working on a Ford. My local Ford dealer is now charging $200+/hr. Parts are also universally up more than 30% bc of supply chain issues. Add to those issues the lack of new cars and inflated used car prices and you understand why mechanics are in short supply and repair costs are so high.
A friend of mine on his 2011 Audi A6 3.0T paid over $1000 just for the parts to replace the thermostat & housing. He is mechanically inclined and did the labor himself. I believe the dealer quoted him close to $2200 for the work.
If you want cheap mechanics you got to find a smaller time shop that's owned/operated by only a couple guys. There's a place I took my car to that's staffed by only 3 guys, all of whom are the mechanics. It's a small building on a small lot, but because they're good at their job and don't have lots of overhead they can get you in an out same day at a reasonable price, even drive ins. Bigger shops need more money to keep going.
From all those "customer states" videos and mechanic shops stories on the Internet, US is an absolute hellhole. I'm in Europe and a whole air\oil filter change, oil and Valvoline change, timing belts, suspension and battery change cost about 400€.
From I've seen on US, it would have cost me like $4000 at least.
@@flyingspaghetti Where are you in Europe? The only comparable places in the EU pricewise are Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and UK (I know they aren't in EU anymore)
Also what do you mean by suspension change? Those prices don't include parts, right?
This is definitely a Mr. Dink from Doug episode: "Very Expensive!"
My dad has always referred to people who ask for advice and then do the complete opposite as "ask-holes."
The example he always likes to reminisce about is when he was a fleet mechanic for the local telephone company during the late 90s/early 2000s. One of the secretaries asked him what kind of car she should buy since she didn't have a lot of money and needed something dependable to haul her and her two kids around in. He told her to find a used Geo Prizm/Toyota Corolla in decent condition, pay cash and drive it for a couple years until she could afford something nicer. What did she do? She went out and financed a used Dodge Intrepid with no money down at some crazy interest rate at one of the local used car lots, and a few months later had catastrophic engine failure.
Ask holes ..gonna put that phrase in my back pocket
That reminds me of the last Dodge Intrepid I saw on the road back in 2017. It was on the shoulder engulfed in flames.
haha dodge, wasnt Al Bundy's a lesson for everyone?
Ahh yes the infamous Chrysler 2.7....I got a great deal on 99 years ago it was in great shape ran great....the day I bought it I decided to Google any know issues for said car....I immediately dumped the car onto someone else😇
ask holes hahaha , just perfect !
1.8T is rock solid if proper maintained. I have worked on a couple dozens so let me know if you need any advice. Check MAF sensor, lambda sensor, n75 wastegate valve, spark plugs and ignition coils, vacuum and boost leaks. Another common issue is the dual mass flywheel (Sachs is the brand to use always)
Spark plugs go with NGK iridium ones
Ignition coils go with OEM code from the Audi dealer (made by Eldor) and use the Touareg plastic spacer (2bucks each)
Sensors go with ORM (Bosch all most of them)
Hey man I found an Audi TT 1.8T roadster listing that I am seriously interested in, would you take a look at the listing for me and lmk what you think? The current owner has done some work on it.
@@SohailKazi7 if it helps, but the best thing is to drive and log the car
What are the touareg plastic spacers
thanks
HI, there i have a problem with the car not recognizing the key fob it won't lock doors, it starts the car no problem, shop said it's the car, what part. can i reset the ECU would it help. The console buttons not working , where should i start. thank you any advice would be helpfull...
I can't stand that and it happens in a lot of businesses. People call an expert for advice. However it really isn't for advice, it is to try to justify their bad decision which they already have made. When the expert doesn't do that, they get upset and don't listen.
@@moderncoaches That’s certainly true, but the general economy of buying cars is not based on most people working on them in their driveway… Otherwise we’d all drive European cars and Japan would not rule the industry. European cars are more fun to drive!
I love it when I go to someone’s house for an AC not cooling enough and it turns out the evaporator coil is covered with years of dog hair from the 5 dogs they insist on keeping inside. I tell them that I will not bother with cleaning because it will never get it all and the corrosion is going to destroy it anyway. Of course they get angry and act like I’m trying to upswell them. A year later after the other guy cleans it they call me and sure enough it has a leak. People don’t understand that they are not only paying us to fix something they are paying us for our experience.
I work in tech support, and I get this all the time. When I explain what the problem is and the solution, I get "Oh, it can't be that..." I don't understand. If you're the expert and know all the answers, tell me again why you are calling ME?
@Mike Quote them a price on a service manual and a set of tools. Be sure to tell them that your expertise isn't included in this DIY discount. Wish them luck on their new DIY auto repair hobby.
there's a reason people unload these. They know how expensive it is to bring them up to snuff. I wouldn't pay more than a couple grand for this car.
I remember when the original Audi TT (this model) launched way back in 1998 it truly did look like a concept car on the road. In fact very little got changed between the concept design to the road going version. We've all got used to it now, but it really did look like something from the future back then.
Yes, i remember the hype when it launched. The design aged extremely well unlike many 90's jellybeans.
Fantastic cars for the DIY mechanic. Not terrible to work on with a decent set of tools.
Yeah, you have to like them and be fans of them.... Aka, you enjoy doing the work, enjoy digging deep and putting the labor in.
If you enjoy driving a car that resembles a clown shoe sure 🤡👟
@@samholdsworth420 Still not as bad as the Bug
@@volvo09 Har, I assume that 'digging deep' means reaching further into yer wallet fer lotsa $$$...
Thats precisely what I do with mine.
I love the TT. I bought a 2003 225 hp roadster for $1900 two years ago. It needed a clutch. Everything else was already done. The clutch took me nearly 30 hours on my back in my driveway to get done bit it was worth it. I drove it for a couple of years and sold it. It had 180k miles.
driveway garage sucks, ive been there fora couple of clutches
At least this one has a nice color..the orange seems to change hue from different angles. very nice.
30h for a clutch? what the heck
@@webfreakz driveway... Non professional... Learning as you go... Not rushing... I can understand it.
I did a few RWD clutches in my driveway and they were partial day jobs, but my first simple civic clutch took 2 days taking my time. I know it would be more on a more complicated car like this.
@@webfreakz It is a big job. You have to pull the front of the car apart and pull the engine and transmission out the front. Its not for the faint of heart.
I work on these a lot. I own and rebuild them. That is a 150bhp model but it is rare as the colour is Papaya and were originally early release or press cars. In uk I would charge £1800-2k for everything inc parts and Labour but we pay far less for the parts. The steering rack does book at 5 hours but takes half that on the front wheel drive. What you will find is when you do the secondary pump, I bet the breather pipes are broken. Rip them all out and put in a catch can. Cheaper and much easier to do. That car would make a premium in UK just for the colour. Great content wizard…
It's about that in the USA. The wizard just rips people off by not price shopping and he quotes numbers for dealer parts or something. A new rack is 265$ with a 1yr warranty here if you look around and then a new k&n air filter is 50$ and he wants that just to clean it. An oil change at the dealership is 50 to 60$ tops with a free wash.
He's charging double what most shops here charge because he's famous now.
...juicy...
@@cppctek I agree, the bill seems very over inflated, kind of reminds me of Storage Wars, they value their items way higher than they will actually resell them for.
@@cppctek 50 bucks to put some compressed air to a K&N filter?? Just buy a new one and put it in yourself....
@@dougb5202 nailed it !
This is why it's best to do a little bit of work at a time so that it doesn't turn into a massive lump sum. If you start by doing a regular maintenance program around 80-90k miles then you can spread the cost out over more time and miles. For instance service your transmission, service your cooling system, change the spark plugs and possibly the coils too if you know that's an issue. If you just do one or two maintenance items per year starting around 80k miles then it's a lot more manageable than waiting until 110k + miles and getting dragged through the coals.
If the cam belt has never been changed since 2002 then it's a neglected car. You can't really blame the car when all the neglect adds up to a big bill. I often found with Alfas that the well maintained ones were reliable and the badly maintained ones weren't. Well surprise surprise. This Audi deserves some kind of award for lasting as long as it has.
Exactly.
@vincent schoenekase this guy asking 4+times what the dealership asks, is also not the fault of the car.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 yes, taking advantage of people's ignorance. Sure being expensive is one thing. But asking more then 4 times an Audi dealership charges is just ridiculous.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 take for example the timing belt and waterpump. That's at the most 200$ for parts, and because he is a shop, probably more like 150$. And it takes at about 2 to 3 hours to do the job. That's about 500$ a hour. If you want to defend that, be my guest.
This guy is a con man, plain and simple. And as a mechanic it pisses me off. And I have nothing to gain to give this guy criticism. I don't even live on the same continent. But if you want to belief this guy, knock yourself out.
@@youtubeisgarbage900 if I search on American auto part stores a timing belt kit is 230$. A shop doesn't pay that. Also, even if the parts were 500$ it's still 750$ for a 2 hour job on labor alone. Seriously, are you trying to be stupid?
Perfect car for a DIY enthusiast such as myself. I totally understand why the Wizard charges what he does, but that's all DIY'able for a fraction of the cost. The trick is knowing the exact state before purchase, and getting at a cost that condones the repairs.
Flippin' cars 101...
Exactly, plus he's changing a number of items that aren't faulty, entire front struts when they are fine and coil packs when they haven't failed. Plus as a mechanic he should know the tricks for replacing front strut mounts, that saves him time and the client money. And some of those prices seem extremely expensive.
Here in the UK I can't see how that's a bill anymore than £1500 at a good independent VAG specialist. Turn that into USD, maybe $2500.
@@BRED510 Those price do seem pretty high, maybe parts are more expensive jn America?
Well he does have a new yacht to feed and and take care of. 🤪
For most people the state is "confusion."
I love how the videos are just as honest as the Wizard himself, no crazy edits or anything needed. Just straight to the point, bullet-proof sincerity. The best car mechanic channel on TH-cam. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Wizard!
He did start his career by showing some repair bills to a customer a few times as I remember. Ya gotta be honest to do that on camera.
Yep we love the Wizard. 😸😸😸
@@jamesrocks9733 Scotty is the biggest bullsh*tter out there! 🤣🤣🤣
Check out Project Farm here on TH-cam. Just one guy doing real world testing of products. He reviews a lot of tools too.
Aleelxza SAy@@jamesrocks9733 HYE GET OUT OF HERE YETROLL. WEAL KNOW 1970 MECHAICK WAS THE BST IN DAY GOBLSS BBC- Sent from 4bbl smart nike walker - Vietnam Turkey Shooter 1965-1975, Certified Forklift Omperator 1975-1976, Barb took the kids
He's got a good point, for an owner or buyer who doesn't know much about cars and is completely dependant on someone else to do the work. However, if you know how to turn a wrench and can shop for the best part prices, some of these cars are a good deal. I own one of these TT's, I did buy it new, 20 years ago, however it still has cost me very little in maintenance.
Non car folks often don't grasp, you're gonna pay now, or you're gonna pay later. It's up to them whether they want to space it out, as it should be, or get hit with a huge bill which is probably larger than the sum of its parts b/c things could have been prevented if they hadn't been neglected.
You the anomaly. 95% of used Audi's?= nightmare
I guess it needs to be said again there's nothing more expensive than cheap
Out of curiosity, I checked the prices of parts for the base Audi TT here in Europe.
Oil: $30 (Motul 5w40 5l)
Timing (complete kit with water pump): $130 (Continental, Ina)
Valve Cover Gasket: $10- $20
Spark Plugs (Set of 4): $40 (Denso, NGK)
Ignition Coil (Set of 4): $125 (NGK, Beru)
Filter Set (Air, Fuel, Oil, Cabin): $30 (Mann Filter)
Rear Shock Absorber (Set of 2): $85 (KYB, TRW) / $220 (Bilstein B6)
Front Shock Absorber (Set of 2): $135 (Monroe) / $350 (Bilstein B6)
Tie Rod (Left & Right, Complete Kit): $130 (TRW)
Auxiliary water pump: $45 (Bosch)
Prices are approximate, but final. We don't have that funny "tax thing" that is in the US.
Was thinking the same thing myself being in uk parts seems like they are very expensive to repair in the USA
Apples and oranges difference. Parts cost aren't the same as mechanic's shop doing the work for the owner. You are quoting tie rods on either side of the rack, which will not solve a leaking steering rack. That rack is the quick ratio version in the TT and R32, which is more than the normal one found in a mk4 Golf. And, all the parts in N. America for a TT are more expensive shipping it across an ocean, than in a country nearly adjacent to where the parts (like the steering rack) are built.
@@chrstphrr The steering rack costs $125-600 (depending on the manufacturer). I understand what the price differences are due to. Parts for old American cars that can be found at every junkyard in the USA cost a fortune in Europe ;)
@@ZabrakloLoginow But you would turn far more heads driving something like a Trans-Am than an Audi here in the U.K. A builder up the road has an R8 so even those aren't that unusual.
@markjames3044 didn't you know about capitalism? And exactly what USA stands for? United Scam Artists!! I've lived here my entire life and realize this more and more every day.Yeah, I got 2 rear struts from 1A- Auto with free shipping and lifetime guarantee for $125 bucks and put one in my mom's 2016 Subaru legacy. I'm no pro mechanic. It took me an hour of relaxing, easy work. The dealer and the local garage both wanted $800 bucks. That's totally legal CRIME!! A total SCAM . The lousy garages and dealers don't even give a lifetime guarantee. They are definitely not out to save us a single penny. They are out to get as absolute much of our money as possible. Check out Scotty Kilmer on TH-cam. He really seems like a genuine human being doing excellent work at fair prices.
So from what I see is this, owning multiple Audi TT 8n Quattros (and having a mechanic on staff I see rough profit rate of 50-75% here):
Oil Change: 100$. Parts wise o.k.-ish (40$ for oil and oil filter part, rest labour)
Timing Belt & Water Pump: 1250$. OEM Parts are at most 250$ if bought through Distribution. Labour would be 3-4 hours tops. (Do this service every 5 years or 50T-Km)
Valve Cover / Plugs / Coils: 800$. OEM Parts would be at most 150$. (This one is not very transparent time wise since theres so much leakage, but id say 2 hours max)
Filter Service: 50$. This is reasonable.
Rear Shocks: 350$. I feel this might be reasonable aswell. But then again I paid the same price having my shocks and struts done on my multiple Quattro Models. (Febi Parts)
Transmission Service: 450$ Uh. Oh. Hold on Gandalf, we might be treading on overcharge territory there. Labour would be at most 2 hours if you are flushing the system.
Steering Rack: 2.000$ Now you have completely started dipping into the "paint boozing" territory. You get these parts refurbished for 300-500$ with all the extra stuff you need to replace it + 3-5 hours labour. Its very labour intensive to replace I give you that.
Front Struts: 900$. That must be quite the expensive parts to warrant such a cost. Last time I checked they were 200$ for them together you would be looking at another 2 hours of work here.
Aux Cooling pump: 450$ The part is around 70$ and work is around 30 mins while you do all the rest.
All this excl. Tax. By this estimate you are making at minimum 50% profit margins on parts and on labour each.
Not trying to undermine your skill and practice, but at this rate she can go to an Audi dealer and have it done for the same price or even cheaper.
I always thought mechanic shops ought to be cheaper than the dealer itself.
But I guess times are a changing. + Some of the things you mentioned could be done in the same time since all the parts are lying open anyways.
But I guess you are quoting the price for transperancy reasons.
Nonetheless thanks for showcasing the possible costs of such a beautiful car.
I came up with $1350 in parts cost using quality stuff. Labor is what kills people. 98% of the country couldn't even put brakes on a car so they are paying $$$$ for labor.
You're on point
This is why I do most of my own work. I own a VW, Mercedes, BMW, Dodge and a Chevy. Family vehicles in the rust belt. Lots of work to go around but they all run well and just need the occasional repair. Always on the fluid / filter changes which I believe keeps them going strong.. If more people learned about their cars they could save so much money owning them.
Wait you guys put extra charge on parts to, services where I go (in Europe) doesn't markup parts, or at least use price they get from supplier.
@@janisber111 yeah that’s mad, in the UK parts aren’t marked up extra by the mechanic you just pay their labour 😮
I am a VAG enthusiast, if you are mechanically minded the 1.8t cars are super easy to work on. I myself prefer the VR6 and even that is not that bad to work on. My friend had this same year TT with almost all the same issues and did all the work himself then flipped it for a hefty profit.
Owner of this car is a woman, so no matter how easy it is to work on it she would not do anything.
@@marlonmalave7098 You're not including the cost of your time. Like most repair type work... the parts aren't that expensive... it's the "labour" cost. Yes, the oil change is $30. But the shop hourly rate is 60-120, depending on where you go. Doing it yourself, you never account for that. But if you were to... you'd find that you'd be charging the same.
A vag enthusiast 😂🤣😆
@@Kaktus965 yes those people excisist !
You are a Cadillac freak? 🤮
@@sjefhendrickx2257 I feel sorry for you if you don’t know what a vag is 😂🤣😅
Wow in the UK it's recommended to do the timing belt on these every 5 years. It should be on its 3rd belt by now and soon due its 4th! You didn't mention the rear bushes on the front control arms - they are usually knackered after 50 k miles :) Timing belt and water pump in the Uk is usually 4 to £500 at an independent garage - your strut and shock prices sound about x2 as well even for Bilstein.
Sounds like he’s taking the mick out of his customers!
Usually on these 1.8ts, timing belt and water pump service is $1000 or more on the west coast of the US
Shops mark up the prices of parts, surely you realize that? They charge $10 for a spark plug that costs $1.50.
This screams "sarah-n-tuned" but she did her own work!
project "tetter tott"....
Was just thinking the same thing
& she bought hers for 2500.00
@Mike hmmm?
She's giving it away.
A few years ago I wanted an awd v8 car. I live in New England. This was 2007-2009. There were several a8s in the 5-6 k range, all with around 120k miles. Turns out the transmission was like 8k and blew in the 120k range like clockwork.
V8 DSG? I drive and Audi - but still so old that I can get manual 1.9 TDI with any emissions stuff :P Still more expensive than a Toyota to maintain - buy you don't get multilink in one the last time I checked.
Look at the Volvo S80...AWD V8 available from 07 to 2010 model years
The S4 story and TT story is spot on, you'll be spending quite a bit to get it sorted.
I bought a 2011 A4 Avant back in early 2019. When I started looking at it, I checked the VIN with Audi to see if it was still under the engine warranty and it was! After negotiating a bit, I bought it. But I knew what I was getting into to get the car back to even.
Engine was rebuilt under warranty and then I had my regular mechanic do the 50,000 mile service along with changing all the fluids because we were fairly certain they'd never been changed, new tires and all that. All said, it was ~$2000 to get it all sorted.
Knowing what you are getting into with any vehicle purchase is really important so you are ready.
That last part is good advice… Sure, you can buy a solid high mileage car for a low price, assuming you’ve already priced out an engine replacement if you happen to need it. That could still be very economical. Even more so if you don’t need the drivetrain redone.
My Brother had a 2009 that had the engine rebuilt and piston rings replaced under warranty. Solid car after that and because it's a chain you don't have to change it like the older timing belt models. Audi hooked him up with the revised tensioner and new chain when they rebuilt the engine at 88k miles.
@@DJR5280 Chains stretch and tensioners fail if you keep the car long enough you'll have to change the chain and tensioner too.
@@hithere7382 Good thing Audi took care of that for him
@@DJR5280 good thing they changed the tensioner. Those fail, and I know 2 people who had trashed valves. One could not fix it himself and the car was junked at 130k miles. I told him to change it like I did...
Those prices are crazy, you can fix it on OEM parts including labor in a reputable shop for half this price. This is a rip off.
Big Time!
Much cheaper and easier to work on yourself. That's what I do with my audi
This isn't a rip off. VAG products of that era are a combination of expensive parts and difficult repair procedures. I had a touareg that the front of the truck had to come off for the timing belt, which had to come off to change the thermostat. So an hour job for a $15 part turned into a day or 2 job including water pump and timing belt. I dumped the truck.
I agree 1250$ for waterpump and chain is ridiculous price.
Deutsche AutoParts would do it for cheaper and they specialise in VAG cars.
I know oem VAG parts are expensive..but there are so many aftermarket alternatives that meet oem standard (or exceed it) that cost less.
This guy either buys parts directly from Audi or charges an hour rate as if he works for Rolls Royce
I drive since about over 20 years old Audi‘s and I love them, I live only 2 miles away from the Audi factory here in Germany, Ingolstadt. But I repair on my own and never needed a repair shop…
American Audis are 💩
Audi 1.9 TDI manual and 1.6 manual here... More maintenance than a Toyota for sure - but last time I checked you don't get multilink suspension in a Toyota...
@@ytr8989 most of the Audi cars on the USA market have been imported from Germany lmao. It's the people who won't service their car the way it should be and when it needs to be done. Starting with oil changes
@@rkan2 the issue is simply that vw products have more moving parts so more stuff can go wrong. More wear can happen. That's how it be. Gonna be crazy when they get down electric motor builds and start burning tracks up. The Audi gt rs electric is crazy
@@HellaNooBs problem is parts in the states are not cheap for VAG cars...in europe you can find vag cars everywhere...audi,vw,škoda parts are all basically the same and most cars share a platform, so you can always find replacement parts...same like can buy ford parts at a walmart im sure...
Hey Wiz I bought a TT because of your “buy this not that” episode a while back!
Well to be fair Car Wizard hadn’t once said don’t buy a TT in this video. Also, in the “buy this not that” video he had warned us against the possible costs that Audis do have after long periods of time. This is one of those examples of an Audi after a good run..
You should only buy older Audis if you really like them and you’re going to do all the work and maintenance DIY.
But the average person lacks the time or skills to do that.
@@PseudoSpaceMarine and the tools
Let alone the average female...
Just call Ice-T and get "Car Shield"!
@@sbbrian805 Haha nice one.
Love how thorough you are and your common sense explanationon. Top notch job!!!
Gotta call bulls#&t on this one, Wiz. There was nothing notably wrong with this car that wouldn’t be expected to go wrong with a 2002 Camry. And I know because I maintain one for my Mom. The only difference that I see is a bit more expense on the parts themselves. The fact that the buyer was clueless doesn’t make the car bad. It is also true that German cars were/are designed for a more preventive maintenance schedule, so again, don’t blame the car for the neglect of the prior owner. I am personally on my 4th Audi, a 2013 S4, and it is breezing past 100,000 miles. I am blessed with the confidence, knowledge and tools to be able to perform all maintenance requirements, but my neighbor still has my first one, a ‘98 A4 and it is still happily chugging thru 245,000 miles on the original clutch! Audi engineering is spot-on, it’s the misinformed used buyer’s expectations that need to be changed. Audi actually does very little of the horrid BMW engineering tricks that look great on paper but don’t translate well to everyday cars. Things like liquid-cooled alternators and hollow, oil-filled alternator brackets.
If this was a Camry, this job, all-in, would still have been between $4000-$6000, so stop trying to make your viewers think the difference would have been an entire decimal point.
Anyone else just love the fact that the car lift has its own theme song? I find myself tapping my foot to it when it’s going up. And the same again when it’s going down.
or maybe air guitar...
I still kinda wanna look and see if there's a cheap one nearby...
@Martin lol! Cheapest around was about $6k, and I'm sure it wasn't sorted. Fortunately I can be quite cheap, so I'll never buy one.
@Martin no doubt. I had an 07 A4 myself. Everything was fantastic until 100k miles. Then things started going out left and right, including a $5k transmission.
And when I say 100k miles, I mean almost literally. I hit 100k on my way home from work one day. The next day an ignition coil failed on the way home. That was the beginning of the end.
It surprises me that the 2-post and the 4-post lifts have the same music!
Once repaired, she’ll get 6 more years out of it. A 3 year lease would be upwards of $35K.
"she'll get six more years out of it" in your dreams maybe
Probably 2 years MAX.
@@drivewaymarvels311 These cars are pretty straight forward to work on, especially FWD's, and very durable if maintained. Other audis may be a different story but the old TT's are very reliable if you check and correct the usual suspects (timing belt, coil wiring loom, valve cover gasket, sump ventilation and vacuum system, strut mounts).
6 months more likely.
It's done 19 years already. It's not rusty so if the mechanical jobs are done there is no good reason for it not to last plenty more years provided the owner keeps up with oil changes and doesn't abuse the car. Cars are always a calculated risk, but I'd rather one of these than some of the latest road rubbish being produced.
😂😂😂 no way! I have a 02 TT Quattro with 220,000 miles Timing belt done at 200k on OG belt:$350 kit with metal impeller water pump, Gates Racing Belt/Tensioner etc 4 hour project (with aluminum pulley upgrades) Reman Power Steering Rack $300 at 215k (OG Rack) 2 hours time (You also need an alignment after) Aftermarket Coil overs $700 190k, Oil change $40 Mobile 1, OEM Valve Cover Gasket Kit $79 about an hour , Plugs (4) NGK $34, Coil Packs R8 Upgrade $89 (If needed 🤷🏻♂️) 15 minute install: OEM lasted until upgrade 200k. It all depends on the owner, driving, storage, maintenance, and if you price out parts on sale/fix it yourself. This applies to ALL cars. Shop times and prices are hyper inflated because of the Audi badge. It’s no different than a Honda
The 1.8T models aren't much different but man Audi had some real awful ideas like that damn V-8 with the front and rear chains and tensioners that failed.
Those are the prices I know! For every car that has a cam belt, the service to replace everything costs 300-400.
it is different than a honda because every part of it leaks or breaks and costs 4x as much for a aftermarket replacement.
“It’s no different than a Honda”
Now that’s funny….thanks for the laugh.
I mean I have a 2.7t allroad and spend all of 4 grand on the car, timing belt and water pump, manual swap, and resealing the entire engine. If I didnt go stage 3 I wouldn't been done at that... They really are just killed with shop time when going to a mechanic
My experience with Audi is limited to being in a Toyota dealership waiting room and having a customer walk in and ask for a salesman who materialized out of thin air and asked if he could help. The customer said he wanted to sell his Audi. The Salesman sighed, his eyes grew dull, and said, “What’s wrong with it?” and they walked outside. I learned a lot in that brief exchange.
I worked at an acura dealership and back in 06 a salesman there fell in love with a TT and bought it. I witnessed him cry once when i jump started it and asked him how it was going.
He paid too much for it (every cent he had it seemed) and it was nothing but trouble.
Poor guy sold it later, probably got raped.
Salesman checks gas gauge and weighs car to determine trade in value. A half tank of gas can double an Audi's worth.
You could just save a lot of time by listing what's right with it.
@@volvo09 lol volvo for life
15:15 You could spend $14k and still have to spend $7k repairs on it.
yep. imagine sterring rack failing next month as it could happen at any time with the given mileage. Anything could go lol
Not really drama queen
Why don't u just walk every where tight wad
Nearly twenty years of age, what is the problem of this issues?
Totaly normal hard seals and leaking everywhere..
Even the engine might have some weak piston rings..i don't want to know, if the customer never has to refill engine oil...
It’s an old car. Stuff wears out. If you fix a little bit here a there, it’ll just be routine maintenance. I found the most expensive steering rack on Rockauto is $549 plus tax and shipping but also get a 5% discount code. I’m sure I could fix that car for $2,000. I’ve done TB and WP changes on a Passat with the 1.8T.
Audi had a recall on the coils on the early TT's I had a 2002 quatro audi did them for free, worth checking the recall list
If practical, you might want to drop the oil pan and check the oil pickup. Limey reviewer said that it can be/is a problem area. They are easily clogged and can lead to total engine failure. The apparent lack of maintenance on this car makes this a very good idea. The pickup can be cleaned or cheaply replaced and a little attention could prevent a disaster.
I did my TT's timing belt in a day. Like 6 hours. Kit was like $150 or something from ECS Tuning. I'm not a professional, a real mechanic could do it in 4. $1100 for four hours of work?
He’s making healthy profits if he gets nearly 7,000 for that job. Makes more sense to own a mechanic shop than be in lots of other professions these days especially since the barriers to entry are low.
Yeah watched it again. I mean what’s the “transmission service”? Is he charging nearly $500 bucks for fluid and filter service on that? Car wizard the retail on the shocks and struts all the way around is $600.00 for the parts man.. You’re only gonna get little old ladies to pay you 7,000. Everything was kinda routine on that job except for the steering rack lol. I guess I need a new career.
Definitely second this opinion, dude it's a vw golf. Definitely not that much 🤣
Every shop marks up the parts and most get manufacturer parts which always cost more.
VW/Audi parts must be gold plated to justify the price.
I've got a beetle with the same engine and I did it myself too.
@@crooney82 Yep this guy is in his own universe.
that car is actually super clean underneath for a 2002 model, must be from california or arizona. here in the UK it would be a big ball of rust, the springs still have the paint markings on them!
Really? I’ve got a 2001 and it’s immaculate😁 And I live in Manchester mate 🇬🇧
I was thinking that as well, here on the east coast all of that metal would be rusty. The UK is significantly better than here for that as we get more snow and therefore road salt. Most mechanics around here use their torch and cutoff wheels more than any other tools.
In canada that car would be done in 8 years. Audi's are all leased in canada.
I have a 2004 Audi A6 that’s as rust free over here in Finland. Although it has 280 000km. I was shocked when I saw the undercarriage because I expected rust. Apparently these cars don’t really rust easily.
@@scagooch yep and here in sweden. cars life if winter driven is 8 years.
then you throw it away.
I’ve owned two 1.8T A4s and we still have a 1.8T Jetta with 276k miles on it. It’s on its third timing belt and it’s still faster than my ‘15 Focus SE. Great engine, would recommend if you’re buying an older VW/Audi.
Selecting quality aftermarket parts: x1 STARK Valve Cover Gasket set, x4 NGK Ignition Coils and x4 NGK Spark Plugs cost 183,00€ ($207,00) in Europe, with 24% VAT included.
Say very generously 2-3 hours labor at $100 per hour so an extra $200-300.
Total cost should be from $407,00 to $507,00
How on Earth do you charge $800,00 ?
That exhaust clamp is actually ... stock - all the mk4 platform has that clamp in the middle. VW and Audi weren't cruel, and gave folks a way to take the exhaust off without needing the 4 point
lift and 3 people to manipulate everything from downpipe to exhaust tip out.
Can confirm
Indeed it is. Bolts rust but super to reuse with new bolts.
Its actually VWAG cars in general. Mk1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 all this way.
The member underneath isn't even for structure like most think. Its too weak. Its just in case the mid clamp fails the exhaust doesn't drop and cause injury or wrecks.
One of the best designed exhaust setups of any car groups I've worked on. Easy to do in a driveway vs a large bay shop
@@jw18xxx MKI did not have that slip joint in the US.
I wish I could find an Audi TT in this color for Less than $7k. I can do most of the work myself but what the Wizard quoted for all that work was very reasonable. Definitely do the timing belt water pump and steering rack first, Then the transmission service and the suspension components, I'm surprised the plastic cooling lines aren't shot.
Here in the UK you could buy a 225 Quattro for $3000. The only expensive one is the Quattro sport which I don't think you got. They fetch $15000 in your money.
Hey John.....owner here......I'll sell! And BTW it's Paypa in color!
@@terencejay8845
Their worthless now if like me you live near London and the Ulez zone. I'm amazed I can buy a 3.0 l shogun v6 which is exempt but my silly 1.8 is not.
Don't throw good money at an old banger.
@@heatherdean7708 I was gonna say Mango lol
You are kidding me in the US? Here in Europe the work would be much less than half, even at an Audi dealer...
Lmfaooooooo
customers: “🤦🏽♀️ohhhhhh, I forgot about the labor. “
Wizard: yes😒🤨
Yes don't forget the little Mexican running around the shop. Manuel Labor.
I used to work at a wrecking yard specializing in European cars, pulling those Auxiliary pumps was a chore mostly because trying to save the plastic hoses coming off of it was 80% unlikely to work. The plastic usually turned brittle.
Had an older Subaru Outback. Had a a long list of items to fix. Some were 'nice to fix' and some were safety/reliability items. Only reason they got done was because I did the work myself and actually liked the car. When labor cost isn't in the equation, sometimes you can justify it, but in this case... well...
“Tastes like the propel water you drink, but that’s definitely coolant”😂😂 savage the car wizard 😂
that g12 or what goes in there , stinks from mile away no need to taste it :D:D:D....the chemicist will do the same with the poisenious mushrooms .... taste ti....
When I was a mechanic for Mercedes we had a saying. There are two types of customers, those you can afford a Mercedes and those who think they can afford a Mercedes. The largest quote I have ever given to the service writer was just shy of $15,000.
Essentially you were saying that you were working as a part of a parasitic ecosystem. Good job!👍
lol i have a friend like that.. she thinks she can buy a brand new Civic Type-R but she ended up with a 2017 Chevy Cruze RS lol And she thinks she's got a better car than my Corvette! lolol
Itemized list for 15k usd, please. Also, what year and model MB was it.?
Does nobody put seals in steering racks anymore
@@gerardkeaveny9746 I bought a seal rebuild kit for my 84 nissan 300zx! Can't wait to rebuild it
I really enjoy your "Automotive Ministry" You are grounded,down to earth, and matter of fact. Whenever you and Hoovie get together I always crack up. If I lived in Wichita, you would be servicing my car.
When I worked at a BMW parts department in the 80's, people would complaine about the prices of parts. I would tell them you are the one who wanted an expensive car and now you see why they are. Parts don't get cheaper just because they are older.
Aftermarket options get more plentiful with older the car gets though. There is a sweetspot however, after about 20 years the aftermarket volumes start to go down and thus prices up..
@@rkan2 I'm beginning to find that out with my 2000 Town Car....
no indeed, needed a driving shaft for my old E32 735iLa from 1986, glad they still make it, but 1500€ is expensive, however it lasted throughout the life of the car and 320.000km, considering that it isnt that exppensive at all :). that it is expensive is for a reason. It lasts a long time
@@lexburen5932 did you look into getting the universal joint replaced at a driveshaft shop? Cant imagine any other way a driveshaft would fail..
And the fact that the parts are not made in volumes like a Camry parts would be.
I had a similar 1.8T in a Golf GTI... and I found it to be quite reasonable in costs for most things. The car had a penchant for wheel bearings, but finding the full replace bearing and hub combo saved money in the long run. What this particular TT looks like is a car that was used fairly hard and didn't have too much maintenance done. So the current owner is looking at a pile of work to do because it's been not done in the past.
I would say that since the car itself appears to be sound (not particularly rusty, etc) it would be worth it. But the same amount of money may buy a slightly better sorted car.
Its basically I bought a cheap sports car. Also I wonder why Audi has a low price. I mean my 2011 TT mark 2 costed me 10k euros. For a what 11 year old machine that had 180k on the clock. Just the notice highest cost service was 600 euros. If you are buying a used car check the list of services. If the car is old pay attention. Audi is really relliable car and if you take car of it it will last long time
My 2010 S4 still drives like new and the engine light is always on just like new too!
Good luck with your clogging cats, leaking pcv, broken thermostat, dead coil packs, cracked coolant reservoir, defective clock spring, & malfunctioning mechatronics unit
That light is just a courtesy to remind you that your engine is running perfectly well.
@@vw5056 lol that's right. It tells me that the light is not burnt out.
@@jacobhauenstein Basically same crap that goes on BMWs
I'm new to your channel and would like to thank you for this video! I'm on the market for a MK1 Audi TT and it was great watching you perform the inspection as I'm not knowledgeable on cars. I'll do a pre-purchase inspection when I buy mine, but its great to know where to look at. I guess all of them are going to need some love, just have to find one not as neglected as this one!
I have personally done a timing belt and waterpump on my own Audi 1.8t with the same engine and I am shocked that you want to charge $1250.
Where i live, wich is Latvia...The timing belt and waterpump changge costed just 350 Euros!
I live in England and the timing belt on a TT is about £350
Parts and labour must be way more expensive in America on European cars
I've now got a TT 225 quattro and it's got 114 thousand and the only issue I've had other than basic service is my power steering pump died and that was only £50 to buy a new one .
Crazy how prices vary America .
@@mancsblue parts are cheaper here, wizard just isn't that great of a mechanic.
@@sgt.hugo.stiglitz3855 viva Latvia! Great country 🙌🏾🙌🏾
@@mancsblue Yes, labour is way more expensive in the States. $120 per hour at least in California. When a rear hub bearing went out on my 2007 Yaris I was feeling lazy and phoned a mobile mechanic to ask how much it would be to replace it. He said $300. When I stopped laughing I said, "No, I have the part; I just want you to fit it". "Yeah, that's $300", he said again. So I fitted it myself in in half an hour.
Audi: Average cars, luxury costs.
BMW: Fun cars, not so fun costs.
Mercs: Smooth cars, very bumpy rides to the bank! ;-)
Who even goes to the bank anymore?
@@Boguardis damn, you didn’t get the joke .
Exactly!
Also
Tesla: "Eco Friendly" Falls apart in couple of month.
@@eriknation8409 😅🤣🤣
Mercs, most expensive to work on. At least in America.
Car Owner: "Get an Audi. They're so cheap to repair!"
Customer States What? has entered the chat to dispel the Googats......
I'm always shocked at how little room there is to work. The RS models on his channel especially are just jam packed with stuff under the hood. No wonder the labor costs are insane. (This comment brought to you by the NA Miata gang).
"Let's take'r up top!"
@@letstakeagander4599 wasn’t a lot of flavor on the car, but there was the self lubricating chassis system.
And a WAWP
If you do it yourself it is, Atleast in europe. lot of parts available here...
No no no way.... My Audi Coupe 1994 has nearly 200,000 miles on her..... Never broke down or anything .... No leaks.... It's all down to servicing and taking care.... Drive it hard, don't service or look after her, then your asking for trouble.... Great show... Keep up the great informative programs.....
...well my experience of Audi, and TT in particular is at complete odds with this. I'm on my 3rd MkI TT, the BAM225bhp Quattro one, and at 165k miles it runs like a Swiss watch. Yes it's serviced regularly, but I'm on original clutch and turbo as well. I had thecsump dropped at 130k miles and th pickup replaced as precautionary, always a good idea in a high mileage turbo car. Now, the prices of some of those repairs are a bit saucy imho, especially the timing belt one. A timing belt service including water pump in an Audi main dealer here cost €699. How on earh is it $1250 in Kansas ?? Ditto the steering rack. I don't doubt these cars need TLC, but they're only a Golf in wolf's clothing......
He’s full of it that’s why. I own several cars he regularly bashes(5.2 Chrysler v8 powered jeep, vw Passat and I’ve have Mercedes etc) They are fantastic when maintained properly. My jeep has 280k on it and it’s like new yet he claims it’s one of the worst engines ever. Bull it’s great and I’ve bought and sold dozens of them when I was selling cars never once had an issue. He just doesn’t like them and it repairs ok German cars are rediculously over priced.
His prices are ludicrously high for indie shop. Even in the NYC tristate area you will not pay that much, only at a mainline dealer would you. If you learn to turn a few wrenches you will be lucky if it costs 300 dollars. I remember him talking about replacing Coils on S6 and how much they cost. He was charging over dealer on that one. Most 1.8t timing belts at indie shops are 600-700 dollars or at least used to be
@@matthewguerra5410 exactly. An audi/vw timing belt is 300-800 in most shops even the dealer said 900. No way would it take 7000$ to sort this. He just wants to push away cars he doesn’t like. Some of his videos are great then there is nonsense like this. I’ve put shocks on Mercedes for less than that.
Did it myself ( gates timing belt with new waterpump, tensioner and pulley) wich cost me 135 euros total. 5 hours of work. it isnt that hard but You have to unbolt one of the engine mounts and lift the timing belt side of the engine up.
Yeah he's a little overboard on the quotes. I have a MK4 VW with the 1.8t engine some of these TT have, 321,216 miles, original clutch and turbo as well. One of the most reliable powerplants Ive ever seen in a car. Especially for being turbo. I keep up with oil changes, every 2k miles, and do my timing belt and water pump every 80K with OE parts. If you care for them these can be damn good cars.
I have a friend who got a really nice B5 S4. I told him before he bought it, be ready to spend several thousand to repair or regular maintenance to it. After driving it for six months, the mechatronic triggered a gear select code. The Audi dealer had a total estimate of 21k including 7k to replace the transmission... he declined the repairs and three years later it still sits in his barn.
YEP, I LOOKED at a 2004 S4 back around 2007. The dealer wanted $26,000 for it and the 2nd gear synchro was going out. And it had a check engine light on. Sure was fun on the test drive but I had read a story in Road and Track when they did a Long Term Test in one. 2nd gear on theirs went out under warranty and the cost was around $7,000.
I’ll give him $5000 for it 🤣 the automatics fuckin suck from that gen VAG stuff.
It amazes me that some would question you with your resume. You are a brilliant mechanic. Wizard I said it before I wish you lived closer to me. Keep the videos coming. Happy Motoring!
I agree, he has integrity. That's the guy you want fixing things
I almost want to take a road trip with my vehicles just to get them looked over by him, but it might be a long trip from Florida to Kansas
This car has one of the cheapest maintenance for the engine/transmission here in Brazil. However, the headlights and other finish parts are impossible to find, specially the 1st gen TT that is really rare here. The internals are basically the same for all VW/Audi models sold here. The original TT has 150hp and the red T (A3 and Golf GTi has 180hp). The S3 has 220hp but uses the K03S turbo (the 150 and 180hp use the normal K03 turbo)
I’m reminded of someone on an Audi forum who’s “friend” tried to port the headers for him…by dumping a bag of sand into the fuel tank. When he was asking for help to fix it he said “my friend doesn’t know much about Audis.” Someone replied, “guess what your friend doesn’t know much about cars period.”
Dumping sand into the fuel to "port the headers". I'll have to remember that.
Friends like that who needs enemies
most people couldn't come up with that even if they tried
That sounds like a guy I knew a while back who was working on a diesel bobcat skid steer that had engine problems. He was convinced that it had low compression because the rings needed seating so he said take the air filter off and pour flour or something in the intake. Despite my efforts to dissuade him he was certain he was right. Didn't work out too well.
First time I rebuilt a quadrajet, I was working my way slowly through the manual, one part at a time, putting each bit in a labeled fishing tackle box.....
Buddy of mine came by and wanted to go grab a bite and a beer, and I was moving too slowly for his preference.
He grabbed a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and said "here, I'll do it for you. what are you working on?"
I closed everything up and came back to it later, in private.
He redid the stereo in his car--giant jagged edged holes cut in the doors with speakers screwed into the holes--but only covering 2/3 of each hole.... cheap and fast, not good.
I think you said it best at the beginning of the video, buy one with good maintenance records. This is all differed maintenance that if it had been done when it needed to be done would have cost the same but over a longer period of time.
Hmm. I guess I'm an outlier. I've had my 2006 A4 Wagon for years and it's been very reliable family rig and I haven't had to do anything drastic. I'd wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.
Audi's and VW's are hit or miss but mostly miss in terms of reliability. Much worse regarding repairability and total cost of ownership.
is it by any chance a TDI?
@@Anonymous______________ Maybe only in America cause in Europe they don't cost anymore than any regular car to fix, and they are known to be pretty solid engines, most problems are faulty sensors, which you can live with. I have a Seat Leon Cupra R, 225hp same engine as the S3, audi TT, i think the mk4 golf only got the 150hp AUQ engine but similarish and they're all pretty decent engines with affordable parts...and imo, they sound nice with a weird rumble about them under load. btw watching the video where he mentions the work to replace the waterpump and belt to be in the thousands of dollars just proves my point. I have 2 receipts from the previous owners of my Cupra, the most recent being from April 2021 just before I bought it where it shows the price of the timing belt kit + waterpump + labour at 2.5h at £40 an hour (average rate in UK for independent garages outside cities)to replace the lot at £320, thats $429 when I converted.
@@Anonymous______________ any car that is old and neglected costs alot to maintain. You think a Toyota would be much cheaper to repair if it had same faults as this audi?
If you keep them serviced properly they go on for ever, based on a Golf (Rabbit). That one has been neglected like most of the European cars you deal with. Love your channel.
Those prices are ridiculous. Here in UK you could get all that done for around 3000 dollars
I like the the mk1 TT. The BAM engines are great and in many cars. Here in the UK you can pick these up for £1000 ($1500). You just drive it till something expensive goes on it and buy another. No need to spend more than you pay for it.
Hi guys I just sold my TT Cabrio with 280000 (yes, that's right) miles on its 1.8T 5 valve BAM engine. Change the oil and filters often plus don't tune the heck out of it and they are indestructible. It's a non-quattro and had no leaks...get a good one and you're laughing
I have done most of the jobs on my Audi TT 115000 miles, quattro 225 version, steering rack has been fine. Front and rear oem Monroe shocks were just £200, four new springs £100 complete timing belt kit £140 various bushes for the suspenion, front and back brake disks with brake pads were £100. Thank God I can do my own work. There's good saving to be made by shopping around and still get oem or oem quality parts and not paying oem rates.
I can honestly say that the 1.8t motor is a solid reliable motor. I have one in my passat. However I’ve heard that the accessories around the engine go bad but the engine itself is bullet proof
Thank you for these videos! We own a B5.5 Passat Tdi Wagon. When it's running and driving its a great car, but repairs are brutal, even with a very reasonable independent mechanic. This is one of the first cars we've taken a wash on. Toyotas have gotten all of us spoiled. If only there were good affordable commuter cars that weren't boring and slow.
B 5.5 are so common in Europe and sooooo easy to service, they can run forever. Still very common on the streets even though the production stoped 16 years ago.
Toyotas never spoiled me. They need routine maintenance all the time...just like other cars. Engine and trannie mounts, starters, alternators, batteries, brakes, bushings, bearings, serpentine belts, clogged catalysts, headlights, tail lights, exhausts, gaskets, seals, rotors and brake shoes, drums and pads....etc...
@@vig37 Then idk wtf happened to you because I've never seen anything bad between me and my pops owning 5 of them.
@@Perry.... good for you and yer pops.
@@vig37 Bull Crap.Your stupidity is showing to the point of embarrassment.
Interesting I didn't know the TT and the beetle shared major parts. I've been working on a family members 1998 Beetle with a 2.0 standard, surprisingly a very pleasant car to drive. I appreciate all the great info thank you wizard!
They all share the same chassis as the mk4 Golf.
over 70 cars in VW group on market sheer that same chassis, in Europa parts for service them are cheap and most of those cars are fully serviced cos of cheap service parts.. cars from 2000 are better serviced then cars from 2010 and up
@@Oldsmobile69 - if you living in Germany had access to parts yards and a hoist you could probably do well with these cars…
Yep MK4 VW platform.
Badge engineering. Beetle , golf, Audi TT, Audi A3, Seat, Skoda
I had a 99 Audi A4 Turbo, I bought used in 2001. It was a great car for the first six or seven years. By 2009, I was easily spending close to 5K a year in maintenance and repairs. In 2010 after spending over two grand in suspension repairs, the ABS light came on and the power steering pump literally went out on the drive home from the shop. I was looking at another $2,500 minimum. I parked it in my garage and never drove it again. Sold the Audi in 2015 for a thousand bucks to a kid who did all his own work, so I had no problem telling him everything wrong with it. Audi like Volkswagen are fun cars for the first few years, but not worth the headaches after they turn five years old.
Sorry for yr pain
My TT sat in the garage for five years. When I brought it back out I had a list of repairs quite similar; the repairs trends on that particular model are always unlike and the bill was just about the same. My car runs great now and I love it, and it was worth the money. Great video content!
When my son was younger and in his "learning to drive" days, he kept finding cool cars he could almost afford. BMW's, Volkswagens, and yes, an Audi. He asked me which one he should get, I looked him in the eye, and said carefully: "HONDA."
Or Toyota. Or even Chevrolet. Not anything fancy and German. He ended up with a 1998 Chevrolet Prism which is, of course, a Toyota.
I'm sure he gets all the ladies now.
Love my geo best car ever
@@lamontgray6015 low maintenance car, yes. But certainly not the best.
German cars are such money pits!! Maintenance & upkeep will always be more than the car is worth
@@GaryKrum Basing what you spend on upkeep strictly on what "the car is worth" is foolish. You need to factor in the cost of a replacement vehicle.
In defence of the poor car, it's 20 years old! I think she held up pretty well. Yes, German cars are $$$ to repair, but the car itself ain't that bad. You wanna play, you gotta pay, and when sorted German cars put a smile on your face every time.
Many cars make it easily to 20 years with no problem nowadays. For Toyota and Honda products that's no big deal. I grew up with many German cars in my life and they were once great cars. Now many of them are over engineered garbage that are foolish to pay the bucks for. Plastic that cracks and tons of computers in one car that are prone to failure. If you're gonna pay so much to play in any car then one should expect it to be superior in build quality over lower costing vehicles, right? That can be said to the extreme about terrible "once British brands" like Rover and Jaguars that even rich people are turning into lawn ornaments after the catastrophically break down. Everyone one of my friends and family who once swore by German cars now drive Japanese products that are easily lasting longer, holding together better and holding thier value. I agree that German cars put a smile on your face until you gotta pay, then play time is over no matter how rich you are. Even the most wealthiest individuals I've known who drove just about every luxury car imaginable now drives Lexus. One went from a beamer to a Honda type R and he has a bigger smile on his face since he dumped his BMW for a car with less problems and thst cost less dinero. The only person I know who currently owns a "modern" German car has a Porsche in his garbage as a weekend driver, and yes, that is one German car that can put a smile on a face. Especially as a special occasion car.
Preventative maintenance is key with these older German cars, I have an 01 allroad and got it in rougher shape for 1700, spent maybe a grand (I believe it was 800 bucks) doing maintenance to it and catching it up. If the trans didn't fail I would've been done, spent another 1500 on a manual swap and has been golden since, honestly for 4 grand though that's not terrible for a car as long as you know going into it.
@@raymondabella4684 lots of repetition of myths and little substance. "German cars" is quite a blanket statement. We are talking about a range of a 1.2L VW Lupo or Polo all the way to a Bugatti Veyron.
For some reason in America every model from the big three is "luxury" when here you have to get an S Class/7/A8 to get that title, or at least a well speced E Class. Something like a 3 Series or A6 is just a normal car here not luxury, lmao. His point was that the car was terribly neglected and it is amazing the timing belt lasted for 20+ yrs. You're probably the type of person who would keep driving the car on the original TB then after grenading the engine would go on an internet rant about how Audi and all German cars are unreliable. LoL
@@vw5056 Actually I and the people I referred to do the basic maintenance expected of all cars. BTW... You are correct, I never changed my time belt because my particular model of Japanese car was wisely designed to have a timing chain. As for the original statement I replied to, read the statement VERY CAREFULLY. He made the statement, "You have to pay to play" and not a statement talking about basic maintenance. As for basic maintenance on a modern German car, including VWs (Sorryif this an emotional subject for you), there are only one way to maintain crappie plastic that cracks, computers that fail, gaskets that leak or blow...! That would be to replace them and that falls out of the category of maintenance and into the realm of repairs, right? Then again, maybe you can explain how cars like a simple cheap costing Corolla can take the abuse of a person who neglects it, while an A4 (simple car, yet well over the sticker price of a Corolla) can be well maintained and end up in the junkyard before it hits it's 200,000th mile that the abused Corolla easily made because I've seen it first hand with individuals I know. Let me make it simple for you... If you're gonna pay a higher sticker price for something than common sense is that you should expect it to hold up better than the cheaper item. Otherwise, That makes as much sense as payong for a fancy restaurant for the sake of going to a fancy restaurant even if they serve you a plate of dog crap.
🐕 💩
@@raymondabella4684 of course a Corolla will outlast an A4. Comparing any car's longevity to a Toyota is unfair.
Any car repair is going to be expensive if your shop marks up parts 100%+!! Most expensive steering rack on eBay: $376. Set of 4 Bilstien shocks for $350. Coils $50, Timing belt kit $100 (Includes valve cover gasket. Last one took me an hour). Aux water pump $70 (Bosch)... The takeaway here is that an unscrupulous shop will mark up parts to the moon and charge you separately for service that is part of the other service. eg. To change the rack you take out the struts first... Valve cover gasket is part of the timing belt service and etc. Have them break out parts separately and look them up yourself. Like everything else in the auto industry service is negotiable. If you are shocked by the quote go to another shop and have them quote the services. It might cost you $100 but save you $1000s. Don't let shops use you as their retirement plan. Especially if they make a TH-cam video to brag about it!
I wouldn’t recommend an Audi for a first car unless they know how to work on cars and know what their getting into. Also I can relate when the Wizard mentioned that someone asked for advice and then proceeded to throw it by the wayside. It happens more often than you’d think
I’m a huge Audi guy and people need to know they are awesome cars….when you have the money and patience. Don’t get one expecting a cheap reliable daily driver
I work in the computer industry. This happens all day.
Your mind will be blown when you realize most people think in a way that is far from logical… This explains everything from poor lifestyle habits to buying worthless Extended warranties.
Man, service costs in the US are insane. $450 for transmission service, i pay 200 euro for that, with filter replacement in Europe. $50 filter service, might aswell just buy a new one.
True, what a scammer, for 50 dollars i get a new k&n filter.
This is premium, highend brand and eastern European labour rates are among the cheapest. :)
Buy a service manual and a set of tools, then try to tackle it yourself. Let us know if that $450 is so outrageous after being on your back for ten hours struggling with the transmission. On the other hand, we're paying about $3 a gallon (breaks down to about 80 cents a liter) for gasoline. How much is yours?
@@houseofno Only 80 cents per liter? Here in Spain we pay 1,60 "dolars" per liter... The double, so fuck off.... :) I guess you agree with the super cheap price of 50 dollars to clean a K&n filter with soap and water... LMAO
I like Wizard videos but these prices are crazy. I had 2000 225 Quattro and had some of these done by shop and did some myself. There’s no point of buying 2000$ steering rack when you can get refurbished or low mileage second hand ones for 300-500$.
$450 dollars for a transmission oil change seems very high, what is actually involved in that job to warrant the price?
The gasket/filter kit is about $25 and the four quarts at the dealership run for $20/liter. The rest is "finders fee"... That much about his $7k bill... My ass $7k; it's about 2.5 in parts at the best...
Dropping the pan, replacing filter and topping of with new fluid. A 45 minute job.
@@vw5056 Or less.. But you're right!
I looked up the struts and shocks as well and they only run maybe $450 for OE Bilsteins and mounts. Definitely overcharging at $800 or so for labor. You can also get a 5 qt jug of Mobil 1 Synthetic for $25 at Walmart
@@tym7883 that is just disgusting. My mechanic once replaced all four shocks that i brought him for $50. Took him not even an hour. Think he cuts the car owners a break from the TH-cam revenue the cars generate?
I bought one for 3000$ and I invested over 2 years 10 000 $ more for fixing it perfect and just put brand new gas system wich is pretty nice ! This one is 132 kw like mine
I have a 99 Audi TT 1.8T with 170K miles that I bough a year ago for 2000€ (the cheapest running & driving in France), I use it as my daily beater and it has been an awesome car, only had to fix a small coolant leak and a tiny brake fluid leak and that's it (also did the timing belt and water pump because it was in unknown state, turned out it wasn't necessary but oh well). It's been a pretty solid & reliable car, turns on and drive every day.
I have the same model TT, bought it with the belt being snapped, did a headrebuild and fixed it up, 400miles later down the road the oilpump died and killed everything, now with a full engine rebuild it runs amazing though however.
@Dominick 🤣🤣🤣
Audi/Mercedes/Porche etc... maintenance is why people buy Toyotas...
@Dominick yeppp, but i'd rather call the convertible one a hairdressers car haha, but i also got an Audi A3 with the 1.8T 20VT👀
@@groosbro1 true, in my opinion a toyota or honda etc will run longer with barely to no maintenence, compared to a german car let's say.
@Dominick both of mine are far above 74k miles so not sure, the tt is now at 200k miles or so
Perhaps the four Audi rings actually represent hand cuffs, and leg irons?
seems accurate
One way to spot a good shop... the mechanic will sort the list of repairs from highest to lowest priority in case you can't afford to do it all at once.
I've bought a fairly solid 95 Buick Riviera for about 3.5k. I have since put all new breaks all the way around on it. 780 for the rear, and 540 for the front, I've also had to do new rear suspension with linkage Which was another 600+ I'm now chasing oil leaks and I had to replace the directional assembly which cost 330 for the part and 250 to install. Yea, it adds up.
They are gorgeous though.
You spent 780 DOLLARS TO REPLACE THE REAR BRAKES ON A RIVIERA???!!!
😂
If you can't work on cars you shouldn't own an older one.
They're called *brakes, not breaks.
$1320 to replace the front and rear brakes? Dude, you got ass fucked with zero lube!
A backyard mechanic (me) could easily do the water pump/ timing belt/ valve cvr gask/ elec water pump/ struts/ rack for the cost of parts. Not the end of the world and not totaled either.
Yeah but not everybody has that availability and they like the guarantee of a warranty on the work, even with a Lexus I have saved myself $2000 on easy labor, And I went to someone else, I would've already been looking at two to $3000, when pretty much everything I did was $150 out of pocket
And within a week something else would come up. They are money pits.
Any local proper mechanic here in the UK would do all that for about £2k (about $2.7k). I priced up the parts from a national motor factor. The Bilstein shock absorbers are only £80 each - about $105. Vehicle labour rates in the US must be stratospheric.
Agreed that this is all easy stuff to fix at home for those of us who can turn a spanner - but that's a tiny fraction of the general population - and I don't know about you, but I have better things to do with my weekends that fix base model German shitboxes - sure some of us would but it reduces the level of interest even further - which effectively makes this car mechanically totalled.
@@12yearssober That's correct, these cars are never done you might get a good month depending on how much you drive
A 19 year old timing belt? That's drinking age around here. :D
😂😂 - funny. It’s done well to last that long. Think of the money saved 😆
It’s 19 here in Ontario, 18 in Quebec beside us. Can’t believe it’s still 21 in the US. Great info on Audi’s
My timing belt on my Audi was changed in 2015 and I’m starting to worry it should be replaced. Before that it was replaced in 2011.
It'd be half that here in South Texas. I have no idea why mechanics inflate things so incredibly high.
There is a reason some of these cars are so expensive when new and so cheap on the secondary market. You can exceed the retail price very easily on some cars unless you do the work yourself and even then it’s still expensive. It’s usually only worth it on cars that you really planning on keeping long term or have some kind of historical importance to them.
Indeed;)
It’s funny how maintaining an Audi TT can cost so much in the states because it’s essentially a Golf. Affordable people’s car underneath.
The 1.8t is an absolute fantastic power plant. I’ve had a vw/Audi shop for the past 15 years and I’d have to say aside from the diesels the 1.8t is one of the best vw engines ever made. Curious on the s4 story if it was the 4.2 engine. That motor is absolute crap.
The Audi and VW 4's are good engines. Any V6, W6 or W8? Stay far away.
The 4.2 V8 is great engine, but ONLY if the timing chain system has been overhauled with RS4 guides and then the oil changed every 5k miles (Audi long service intervals spell early death for all their engines). I recently bought an S4 cab here in the UK for £2,200, 109k miles with a full service history, near perfect bodywork but with bad chains. Pulled the engine, replaced all the chains, fitted metal RS4 guides (4 were broken - utter plastic cr@p), JHM inlet cam phasers and a ton of seals and gaskets. The car would be a mechanical write-off if it was put into a workshop for repair!
I've heard a lot of good about the 3.0T engines
Just get a 4cyl manual - and while it won't be Toyota level cheap - it will be much more fun imo. Basically nonexistant since the last 10yrs though unfortunately.
@@adotintheshark4848 my 2013 Passat 3.6 V6 engine has been nearly flawless. 160k miles and only issue has been a pcv valve. I think I spent about $50 to repair it myself. The vr6 engines are nearly built proof
You couldn’t pay me to buy an Audi. And I’m a VW Porsche tech. The electrical problems can be maddening.
you think that's bag the GM is "are you shitting me"
I can confirm had my b7 a4 in the dealer and a shop 7 times between the 2 for a corroded wire from my throttle body to the ecu that put it in limp mode about 101 times I bought a Toyota shortly after 😂
I live in the Uk and enjoy your blogs. I have just purchased a 20 year old 22 5 Quattro . One owner , full Audi history black looks like new . It cost me about £10000 . It’s way over the usual cost for this year but it’s in unique like new condition! You buy cheap you buy twice !
I love love the 1.8 and 2.0 T VW motors decently reliable!
Always dreaded taking my B5 A4 to a mechanic, but I would do most the work myself- timing belt, wheel bearings, control arms.
can confirm bought an a4 for 4k needed a new gearbox 2k, heater core clogged 200-300, needed brake disc pads all round 700, aircorn re-gas 80, full major service 300 (filters/oils). Will be getting new tyres on all corners 500.
When will people learn to not buy automatic VAG cars?
Other than that and the heater core, the rest is basic maintenance.