Just bought a Audi TT 1.8T 180 and judders at high end

[gizdavies]

Hi people 

I just bought a 1.8T 180 last night test drive fine on B roads nothing where I could really open it up but on the way home on the motorway it judders when at high end acceleration and this morning hard driving caused it to over heat but when I took cap off it cool down and not seen issue since but also not drove it hard. Have a bought a piece of crap or am I over thinking it. Also couldn’t see faults due to dash being pixelated and not working properly but sure there was an error saying coolant issue Please help 

Thanks 

Geraint 

[gizdavies]

Always wanted one now feel like I made a mistake or rushed into it 

[Steve Q]

The screens do fail and you can get replacements. 

Did you buy it from a dealer? 

If it's overheating you need to get it into a garage for proper diagnosis. 

[Magnet]

Hello Geraint,

You are suffering from post-purchase blues - quite a normal reaction. Regrettably, in your situation, I think your concerns are valid.

Did you check the on-line MOT history of the car before you even went to look at, or particularly before committing to buy it?

Checking it now, probably explains the reasons for its juddering - severely worn CV joint boot, rough wheel bearing, welded wheel/s, brakes imbalance, worn suspension pins, tyre worn below limit - I could go on. 
I notice the car passed its latest MOT, now advisory-free a week or so ago, and my guess is you bought it from a dealer who arranged a new MOT before sale. 
Geraint:- PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR AT SPEED AND WITH ENTHUSIASM UNTIL IT HAS BEEN PROPERLY ASSESSED. ( apologies for caps.) This car has used some printer ink in its MOT history! 
Way forward:- if you bought it from a dealer then e-mail them ( you need a written record) and explain its juddering at speed , and it appears to be overheating, and you intend to book it in with an MOT station of your choice to check the car out. 
If you bought it privately, let us know the wording of the advert.

Regards,

Gareth. 

[cliffcoggin]

A properly maintained car, even one that is twenty years old, should not judder or overheat so it is clearly defective. Take it back to the dealer.

[Magnet]

Hello Geraint,

The forum is here to help you in any way it can. Please keep in touch with us.

Regards,

Gareth. 

[gizdavies]

On 5/24/2025 at 9:40 AM, Magnet said:

Hello Geraint,

You are suffering from post-purchase blues - quite a normal reaction. Regrettably, in your situation, I think your concerns are valid.

Did you check the on-line MOT history of the car before you even went to look at, or particularly before committing to buy it?

Checking it now, probably explains the reasons for its juddering - severely worn CV joint boot, rough wheel bearing, welded wheel/s, brakes imbalance, worn suspension pins, tyre worn below limit - I could go on. 
I notice the car passed its latest MOT, now advisory-free a week or so ago, and my guess is you bought it from a dealer who arranged a new MOT before sale. 
Geraint:- PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR AT SPEED AND WITH ENTHUSIASM UNTIL IT HAS BEEN PROPERLY ASSESSED. ( apologies for caps.) This car has used some printer ink in its MOT history! 
Way forward:- if you bought it from a dealer then e-mail them ( you need a written record) and explain its juddering at speed , and it appears to be overheating, and you intend to book it in with an MOT station of your choice to check the car out. 
If you bought it privately, let us know the wording of the advert.

Regards,

Gareth. 

Hi all 

Thanks for the feedback I bought it privately from a Facebook market place post. Was a good general post said he put an MOT for a no show and then reposted it he didn’t mention in the advert about the mileage being 999.999 on the 2017 MOT but said was a typo. I didn’t pay the world for it and runs ok to be fair hasn’t overheated since but havnt drove it hard and gonna work through the jobs to get it running better. I’m going to pop it to a garage up the road for a once over but unsure whether I’m better finding someone who more clued up on Audi TT rather than a standard mechanic. Could do with someone checking the MAF sensor and a few other bits to rule out a faulty sensor or pipe. Also gonna look at replacing the clocks whether that be a reverb or new and recoded. I have also read that the diverters are problematic am I worth changing that out for a dump valve  or something a bit more reliable 

 

Thanks again 

 

Geraint 

[Magnet]

Thanks Geraint,

If it were mine, I would certainly not be treating the ‘getting it to run better’ as a priority over getting it inspected in relation to the long list of previous  advisories, before even driving it quietly. 
Regards,

Gareth. 
p.s. Did you indeed look at its MOT history before going to look at it?