# MK 3 Buying Advice



## JWills (Jan 27, 2020)

Good morning,

I am a newbie to The TT Forum and I have been heavily looking into upgrading my car to a MK 3 TT.

I currently drive a 1.0 Ecoboost Fiesta which is great on MPG and fairly nippy but I have always wanted to own a TT, which I am in a position to now do.

I know what spec I am looking for within the TT however my main dilemma is whether to go petrol or diesel?

I currently drive around 11,000 miles per year which you would assume that the 2.0 TDI would be best for me due to the better MPG. However I love the sound and the speed of the 2.0 TFSI.

I was hoping you could drop me some advice on what would be best suited for myself and any recommendations to look out for when searching for my new TT?


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

hello and welcome!
if you can afford the 2.0 TFSI, go for that, it's another story  
this said, the diesel engine is not so bad but makes sense if you yearly mileage is consistent (maybe not your case, with 11.000 miles/year?)


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## ChrisLayton9 (Nov 14, 2019)

I picked up my 2.0 litre TFSI last Tuesday and was in a similar position to you when I was looking (similar mileage and thoughts about mpg - I was moving from a 2009 1.6 petrol A3).

What I will say is I do not regret getting the petrol - the sharpness and sound is top notch. I had kept my eyes on the market for a long time when I was searching and all the worries/scaremongering around diesel cars really is driving the price of the cars down, plus I believe Audi have now stopped making a diesel TT.

If you do have concerns about MPG don't get me wrong you aren't going to match a Fiesta in a 2.0 petrol TT. I have been playing around with mine and in eco mode I can get 36/37 on my 15 mile commute which is on par really with my old A3.


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## MarksBlackTT (Nov 29, 2016)

ChrisLayton9 said:


> I picked up my 2.0 litre TFSI last Tuesday and was in a similar position to you when I was looking (similar mileage and thoughts about mpg - I was moving from a 2009 1.6 petrol A3).
> 
> What I will say is I do not regret getting the petrol - the sharpness and sound is top notch. I had kept my eyes on the market for a long time when I was searching and all the worries/scaremongering around diesel cars really is driving the price of the cars down, plus I believe Audi have now stopped making a diesel TT.
> 
> If you do have concerns about MPG don't get me wrong you aren't going to match a Fiesta in a 2.0 petrol TT. I have been playing around with mine and in eco mode I can get 36/37 on my 15 mile commute which is on par really with my old A3.


Hi, is 36/37 mpg on your commute in stop/start traffic? Just wondering because my commute is 50 mile round trip and I'm getting 44/46 at a constant 60mph.On my way home this drops to around 40/41 as I'm now NOT doing 60mph :roll:


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## ChrisLayton9 (Nov 14, 2019)

MarksBlackTT said:


> ChrisLayton9 said:
> 
> 
> > I picked up my 2.0 litre TFSI last Tuesday and was in a similar position to you when I was looking (similar mileage and thoughts about mpg - I was moving from a 2009 1.6 petrol A3).
> ...


It's a bit of stop start and some motorway (8 miles or so). It only takes 25 mins pretty sure if it was a slightly longer journey I would get more. Equally this is on a 65 Plate so not sure if engines etc had improvements in later versions.


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## MarksBlackTT (Nov 29, 2016)

ChrisLayton9 said:


> MarksBlackTT said:
> 
> 
> > ChrisLayton9 said:
> ...


Yes, mines a 15 plate 2.0 TFSi petrol coupe S-line. Would love to achieve the Audi figure of 54mpg though!!!


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

just make sure the car has all the options on you want from the start and don't assume ANYTHING is standard on the car other than 4 wheels and a gearstick!!!


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Toshiba said:


> just make sure the car has all the options on you want from the start and don't assume ANYTHING is standard on the car other than 4 wheels and a gearstick!!!


+1 very underrated advice Toshiba. Too many people focus on the colour and engine. And then plague this already bloated forum with "can you retrofit this" threads.

As for the question:
(if like Toshiba says. Both options have the equipment you have)
Then ask yourself if you are ok with Automatic or Manual transmission? Diesel was mostly sold as FWD manual transmission. Only for a short period was it sold as Quattro S-tronic and those are very expensive even today.


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## Blade Runner (Feb 16, 2018)

JWills said:


> Good morning,
> 
> I know what spec I am looking for within the TT however my main dilemma is whether to go petrol or diesel?
> I currently drive around 11,000 miles per year which you would assume that the 2.0 TDI would be best for me due to the better MPG. However I love the sound and the speed of the 2.0 TFSI.


What is the spec and what is your budget? You will probably get more focused replies if we know that.

Diesel is just about saving money on fuel, and for that you have to put up with a noisy engine and reduced performance (compared to the equivalent petrol). To my mind, a sports car and a diesel engine is not a marriage made in heaven, but Audi have sold quite a few TDIs over the years, so hey-ho.

However, it got me thinking..what is the current annual fuel saving on a 2.0 TDI vs a 2.0 TFSI? A few sums based on current (average) UK fuel prices, respective mpg official figures for the TFSI and the TDI, and an annual mileage of 11,000, suggest that the annual saving would be about £350 (i.e. about £7 per week). Is that enough to persuade you?

With diesel falling from grace at an alarming rate (quite a few cities are planning to ban _all_ diesel cars from their centres at peak times), new diesel car sales are plummeting and second hand prices are bound to be affected. You may therefore be able pick up a second hand TDI "cheap", but this depends on spec etc. My point is that the £350 annual fuel saving may well be more than outweighed by the higher depreciation compared to the TFSI.


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

I think the savings is much higher than 7 par week... it's not just a matter of petrol/diesel price, it's that diesel engine has much lower mpg than petrol one


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## blackvalver (Jan 6, 2020)

drive both engines?, the diesel has pretty amazing torque that makes driving pretty effortless unless you drop under 1300 rpm, lower road tax (£30 pre 2017) and cheaper insurance
with a real-world mixed average mpg of just over 50mpg in the winter and plenty of grunt, I don't have any issues with the car, road noise on the 19" wheels is far more intrusive than the engine noise too.
Don't get me wrong, I love a car that revs, but as a daily driver I wouldn't discount the diesel


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## Blade Runner (Feb 16, 2018)

kevin#34 said:


> I think the savings is much higher than 7 par week... it's not just a matter of petrol/diesel price, it's that diesel engine has much lower mpg than petrol one


You didnt read my post properly. I took into account the difference in UK fuel prices (diesel vs regular unleaded) *and* the difference in quoted mpg figures for the two engines. Its an easy calculation. And, contrary to what you said, the diesel engine has a *higher* mpg than the petrol one.


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

yes, you are right, of course diesel engine has an higer MPG than petrol one, it was a lapsus because here we use lx100km, my intention was obviously to say it has a *lower *fuel consumption than 2.0 petrol engine, that's why I was a bit doubtful about "just" the 350£ difference...
Audi claims in _combined cycle _a fuel consumption of 46.3 mpg for 2.0 FWD manual transmission and 62.8 mpg for the 2.0 TDI, so I guess that petrol/diesel fuel price difference is nearly not existing in UK, contrary to here&#8230;
If so, for just 1£ a day I would go for the petrol engine, no doubt!


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## Blade Runner (Feb 16, 2018)

kevin#34 said:


> yes, you are right, of course diesel engine has an higer MPG than petrol one, it was a lapsus because here we use lx100km, my intention was obviously to say it has a *lower *fuel consumption than 2.0 petrol engine, that's why I was a bit doubtful about "just" the 350£ difference...
> Audi claims in _combined cycle _a fuel consumption of 46.3 mpg for 2.0 FWD manual transmission and 62.8 mpg for the 2.0 TDI, so I guess that petrol/diesel fuel price difference is nearly not existing in UK, contrary to here&#8230;
> If so, for just 1£ a day I would go for the petrol engine, no doubt!


Yes, thats more or less the mpg figures i used: 42 mpg for the 2.0 tfsi and 60 mpg for the 2.0 diesel. 
£1 a day saving based on an annual mileage of 11,000.


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## kevin#34 (Jan 8, 2019)

well, I had already expressed my preference for the petrol version (post#2), but for a mere sterling par day, there is no doubt!


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## Ruudfood (Apr 9, 2018)

You should be discounting the diesel purely because of the environmental impact. There is no planet B!


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Ruudfood said:


> You should be discounting the diesel purely because of the environmental impact. There is no planet B!


Sure he is saving the planet. While on the other side of the continent a soccer mom drives a 3.0 V6 minivan. And every other citizen is rolling 4.0 V8. Why are we Europeans getting shafted while rest of the world gets to enjoy their cars?

The whole diesel bs was made just to popularize hybrids and EV. Impact that one shady factory does cant be matched by 100,000 cars.

Slap a new particle collector and diesel is back in action.


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## blackvalver (Jan 6, 2020)

Ruudfood said:


> You should be discounting the diesel purely because of the environmental impact. There is no planet B!


which makes absolutely no scientific sense...
some diesels are cleaner than petrols and vice versa (particulates and NOx), and the vast majority of 'equivalent' turbo diesels emit a lot less CO2 than their petrol counterparts


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

If people were serious about climate change and I think it's foolish to believe we understand the forces at play with the eco system that has warmed and cooled for millions of years then we'd look toward population control. The number of people and it's continuing growth is not sustainable.

Electricity generation may be even worse than boring petrol depending on how it's been generated.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Toshiba said:


> If people were serious about climate change and I think it's foolish to believe we understand the forces at play with the eco system that has warmed and cooled for millions of years then we'd look toward population control. The number of people and it's continuing growth is not sustainable.
> 
> Electricity generation may be even worse than boring petrol depending on how it's been generated.


What we need is another world war or global pandemic....... hang on a min, I've just had a promising call from China.


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Removing the population of India would be a first step followed by China.
Nothing to do with religion or race, pure numbers 3bn right there, nearly half the population

Question is who would make the iPhones then?
Hopefully no one takes this seriously before the PC police pounce!!!


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## blackvalver (Jan 6, 2020)

anyway...
back to the buying advice, from my recent limited experience I'd say some TT's can be very tatty, looked at a few in 'supermarkets' and other non-dealer locations and while the spec can seem OK on some cars the state of trim, bodywork and general care can be shocking, I chose to go for a dealer approved car and it was immaculate for a 3yr/27K car, but go over any prospective purchase with a fine tooth comb as even audi prepped cars can have annoying damage and for their price premium they are supposed to replace anything that's not near A1 condition.
What I'm saying is, if you get a clean car to start with it's a lot easier and probably cheaper than fixing up a car with imperfections, especially things like trim and bodywork.
So maybe if you drive 1.8. 2.0 and TDI models and the car style and kit is more important than outright peak performance there's not much in it and look for the best condition/specced car you can find?


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## Ruudfood (Apr 9, 2018)

captainhero17 said:


> Ruudfood said:
> 
> 
> > You should be discounting the diesel purely because of the environmental impact. There is no planet B!
> ...


The US soccer moms shouldn't be getting away with their gas guzzlers either. The US is one of the worst but as individuals and as a continent we can and should take the lead.

Also, the VW/AG scandal was primarily about manipulating emissions for diesel cars rather than petrol ones if I remember correctly.


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## Number86 (Oct 20, 2017)

Environmental impact? Really? This isn't the greenpeace forum. It's for car enthusiasts. The tt is a wasteful car in any guise, and to levy an environmental accusation, non ironically, at another forum member for wanting a 2.0 tfsi is hilarious. Get back in your box, jesus.

That aside! Get the car you like the most. If the diesel is fast enough for you then there's nothing wrong it. Everything else being equal of course.


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