Hi Siobhan,

Well, you’re right there — it is impractical, although not totally so. The first gen TTs were pretty tight in the cabin, right enough and if you’re over six-foot tall I’d avoid it. The boot is reasonably big though, so you can get away for a weekend in one and small kids will fit in the back seats, just. On the mechanical front, you need to make sure that the 1.8 turbo engine has had a cam belt change every 100,000km (not the 130,000km it says in the book), check for sluggish acceleration (faulty air mass sensor, most likely), check that the engine’s cooling fan is working and listen for a rattling, chuffing noise that means a faulty turbo. Ignition coils are also fragile, the instrument cluster can develop faults, electric windows get stuck and a knocking sound from the front means that a suspension ball joint needs replacing.