Quote:
Originally Posted by twitchyzero
are the 1st gens even remotely reliable?
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The general consensus opinion is no, no they are not.
That being said, I drove an 03 TT 225 for two years (it was over 10-12 years old when I owned it), I modded it to stage 1. The only issue I had was a failed coolant temp sensor, fixed with a DIY install of a new sensor). It was completely reliable BUT this is purely anecdotal feedback. The reviews on Edmunds with more data points still point to reasonable reliability for the 2003 models where I think some bugs had been worked out.
I'm probably more willing than many people to forgive the foibles of aging German cars (see my post above for the latest example). That 1.8T motor is in soooo many cars, the issues are well documented and parts are readily available and reasonably cheap. If you're a little mechanically savvy, easy to get ahead of failure points and address them so you're not left on the side of the road.