I’m nervous that I’m making the wrong decision. Everyone that knows me has a pretty high degree of confidence that I think things through often for too long and too deeply and therefore I’m the only person who is doubting myself. One memorable mistake I made was selling a digital camera on Amazon Marketplace in 2003 and accidentally sending it to a scammer who took me on a very common trip of having me send that camera to the non-verified address. They issued a chargeback and I was out $300 and a camera. I’ve made mistakes, but rarely do these mistakes have many consequences except my time.
A few things are all converging at once and that’s why I bought a $60,000 sports car in January without a house, a garage, and only being at my current job for a year. Well, it’s not a $60,000 sports car. It’s actually a $78,000 sports car that is used, with 5 years and 18,000 miles on it, with a previous owner in Atlanta and a small accident on the CarFax report.
I haven’t even mentioned that it’s bright green yet but…yes, it’s bright green.
After selling my 2nd Golf R in 2021, I told Heather that this life without a sporty fun car would not be as rewarding and I’ve talked about replacing that car ever since. I had already bought a diesel truck 1 year before selling the Golf R and while I could have kept it, I had already driven it 50,000 miles in salty/snowy Northeast weather and it wasn’t pristine or showroom condition and I just didn’t know if I wanted to babysit a rust-bucket for the next 10 years. I also had only ever had 4-cylinder 2-liter cars and wanted something more. I sold it for $32,500 after buying it for $37,500 just 5 years earlier. I sold my Ford Escape, Hyundai Ioniq, and one motorcycle and we moved to Charlotte, NC.
I told Heather that after I built my garage, I wanted to put a sports car in there.
When we moved back to NH in 2025, I started shopping. A few cars were on my list:
- BMW Z4 M40i manual
- Porsche 718 GTS
- BMW M2
- Toyota Supra
- BMW M4 xDrive Convertible
- Mini Cooper S JCW Countryman
- Golf R (sigh, didn’t want to go that route)
- Audi RS3
- Audi TT RS
- Nissan GT-R
A few things sort of dampened the mood. First, we have a child so a 2-seater was almost out. Let’s be clear, the 2-seaters I was shopping for like the Z4 had front seat car seat holders, airbags that were disabled when a child was present, and, in NH/VT legality, where a 2-year-old could sit in the front of a 2-seat car. The owners manuals all supported this operation and it was legal and allowed and considered by lawmakers and manufacturers. Heather was clear that if I bought a 2-seater, it’d be just like buying another motorcycle and that was fine but it wouldn’t be a family car.
Second, our home renovation was up in the air. Was it going to cost us $300,000, $450,000, or $600,000? Interest rates were high, our baby was sleeping in our walk-in closet. We needed to renovate or sell and we weren’t sure if our mortgage was going to go from $1250 a month to $6000 or something more modest like $3,000. We just didn’t know (not until November when we finally closed on our loan).
Summer was here and I was driving Matilda to daycare every day. I wasn’t riding one of our four motorcycles and I was stuck driving a 6500-pound diesel truck to work and daycare. I was depressed, bored, and frustrated because here I am in this heavy beast truck that is fully practical and we use it all of the time but I was bored. I wanted a sports car but with no garage, no renovation, unclear finances, I just didn’t know if buying something on my list was a good idea.
So I compromised. I found a pristine E46 convertible with 32,000 miles for $14,500 and I drove to Indiana and trailered it back. Matilda liked the convertible a lot. Heather did too but both of them sunburn easily and I later learned babies really shouldn’t be in a convertible because it can damage their hearing and of course it’s really not safe and the worst part….the car was painfully slow. It’s BMW’s fastest 3-series outside of an M3 but with less than 230 horsepower in a 3500-pound chassis, manual transmission, floaty steering, and rear-wheel drive, it was just boring. I started thinking of ways to take a pristine, fully stock and all-original classic car that I could sell for about $16,000 today and modify the suspension and handling to be more sporty without trying to get more power out of it which would for sure make it less reliable and hurt resale. I asked a few people if they wanted to buy it and had no shortage of buyers. So I decided it was time.
Starting in October, I started shopping again. I now know what I can afford, what our mortgage will be, and that come April I will have a garage. Now I needed to pick a car.
I took a few weeks to arrive at the one for me. Honestly, it was in front of me the entire time. When I had my MK7 Golf R, I wanted an Audi TT RS. It was almost identical to my car but…better. The dual-clutch transmission had one more gear and stronger clamping power, the rear Haldex system was a little bit overbuilt, and the motor had an extra .5L of capacity and an extra cylinder with a very exciting firing order that was full of rally history going back to the 80s. It was lighter by 200 pounds with stock power levels that were identical to my Golf R stage 2 power so it was lighter, faster, and had a few inches shorter wheelbase for more direct steering. It did have slightly less interior space but was still a hatchback. Back then, I really couldn’t afford a $78,000 sports car which is why I had a $37,500 sports car. The TT RS was superior but as a daily, with no garage and a little less salary, it didn’t make much sense when I was in my 20s.
Over the last 16 weeks, I’ve tracked dozens of cars online. I have a pretty huge spreadsheet of VIN numbers, features, colors, build sheets, CarFax data, time on lot, location, and sold figures. I was literally finding perfect cars then calling every independent shop in the CarFax report asking them for more information on what they did to the vehicle and if it was in good condition or modified. I called detailers, paint protection film installers, dealerships, and was doing forensic auditing on every car that checked my boxes. Note that only 1700 or so Audi TT RS cars came to America from 2018-2022 or about 340 a year with 2022 only having 50 heritage examples and 55 or so non-heritage that were still pretty rare.
Since October 15th, 47 Audi TT RS cars have come up for sale online across all websites. Only 10 of them were configured in a way with the mileage and history to be actual candidates to buy. Frankly, a week ago I thought I’d be shopping well into spring which means competing with people getting tax returns back and summer-car frenzy so for me, the winter clock was ticking to find a vehicle that I wanted, met my requirements, and I didn’t overpay.
What I came away from all of this was a specific need of features.
- A hot / loud color
- A 2020 or later model (faster infotainment system and some very tiny revisions)
- OLED tail lights (a $1600 option with 5% take-rate on builds)
- Black Optic Package
- Sport Exhaust Package
- Preferred: totally black interior (most people choose a red RS Interior package that I think is pretty ugly with red plastic and red AC vents)
- Sub 25,000 miles
- Full and complete Audi dealership service history on time (I had ChatGPT check every CarFax for 12-month maximum between service intervals)
- Unmodified
- Ideally 1-owner and no accident damage
- In my budget of $65,000 or less
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Over the course of 16 weeks, there were 4 cars that came up that were really special but unaffordable. Red, Orange, Yellow custom ordered cars with 300-4000 miles that were 2022 model year vehicles and all of them were priced at $73-$75K. I couldn’t afford them but I still checked them out and each sold within a couple of days. These were just $3-4K under sticker but they were collector grade examples with paint protection film, ceramic tint, and no blemishes or marks yet still had annual Audi dealership service performed.
4 other cars appeared that were extravagant and I could stretch to afford them. A grey 14,000 mile 2019 in Austin, another dark grey 10,000 mile 2019 in Vegas, a 4,000-mile grey car in LA, and finally a pulse orange car in Miami with 3,000 miles. These didn’t move too fast but none of them would consider lowering their price. Some sold and some didn’t but I just couldn’t make the deal happen.
The last real contender before I made my decision was a 2021 in Tango Red with 31,000 miles. It was an auction car and sitting at a wholesale lot in Jersey. Ownership history in AZ, NM, CA so no salt damage…oh yes, I was only looking at non rust-belt cars to keep salt issues away since it’ll be a 3,000 miles a year garage-car for Sunday drives and some trips to daycare. Anyway, this car was $56,000, 2021, fully loaded except OLED tail lights and had that ugly RS Design Interior package with red plastic everywhere. I dug deep on that one but learned it had damage to all 4 wheels, a very rusty and gross undercarriage and they wouldn’t budge on price at all. It also had minor CarFax damage but as an auction car, I had zero history on its origins. The dealer was pretty bad on customer service and just wanted to move cars. This was the most expensive car on their lot and it was on display in the showroom for 137 days as they continued to hold firm on the price since it was an anchor piece and not really a car they wanted to sell.
There was just one car sitting under my nose the entire time I had looked at a few times but stayed away from because it had CarFax moderate damage. It showed damage on the front and both sides of the car. I’m guessing many dozens of others did the same as me. I didn’t even really take a forensic look at it and just kept ignoring it. Cars that cost more with more miles kept selling within days but this one sat from December 1st until January 28th without a buyer. I finally picked up the phone and started building a folder on it on January 18th and on the 28th, I became that buyer.
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My 2021 Audi TT RS in Kyalami Green with 18,000 miles and Moderate Accident Damage:
The vehicle is equipped with everything I want. It’s a very hot color (safety green) and has completely black interior with just very nice carbon fiber bits everywhere, Alcantara steering wheel from the Audi R8, and grey plastic panels instead of fire red. It has the OLED tail lights that would cost me about $3800 to source today and trust me when I say these things are really special. Audi doesn’t use them anymore because the take-rate was abysmal but OLED is a remarkable technology and these things are gorgeous. I also have this weird quirk where I demand my vehicles have orange / yellow turn signals and the OEM LED tail lights are red only. These have orange. Same with why I swapped to Euro tails on my MK7 Golf R so I could have orange turn signal markers. My RAM does have them by default as does my BMW convertible but Heather’s Tiguan is just red turn signals. It’s annoying and yellow just feels safer.
…anyway.
It has Audi’s blackout package with black rings and badges as well as black exhaust tips and sport exhaust.
The previous owner purchased a set of 20×9 Vossen HF-2 forged wheels for $4,000 and wrapped them in brand new Michelin PS4S tires at $1700 (seriously, they’re new). They also purchased a matte-black Tag Motorsports fuel door since despite the whole car being black on green, the TT RS fuel door is a matte silver and stands out like a sore thumb. That modification was $750 just for the fuel door and I admit…I probably would have saved up to swap that myself later. It also has a full ceramic window tint.
The car has been at an Audi dealership every 9-12 months since purchase for full service including brake fluid, transmission, rear diff, and of course oil changes. I do my own maintenance but this is really great to see on a performance car. It passed the pre-purchase inspection with flying colors.
The only reason the dealership couldn’t certify it as certified pre-owned (costs them money but adds in a 2-year warranty) is because it doesn’t have OEM wheels. Why not OEM wheels? Well, in the accident, the wheels were scratched and during COVID, getting Audi’s forged 20×9 7-spoke wheels was impossible so the owner took the insurance money and purchased these. They cost more and they look better but they’re not OEM. Nowadays, I can buy these OEM wheels on eBay for $350 each and I plan to do that before I sell it down the road.
About the accident…The owner who traded it in was from Atlanta and had moved up to Asheville. He was a retired doctor and after owning for a few years, wanted a bigger car so he traded it in for an Audi SQ8. He was at a red light a few years ago and thought the light turned green, pressed the gas, and hit the car in front of him who had, of course, not moved forward yet since the light was still red.
Most Audi TT RS cars in accidents get totaled out since everything is so expensive. The front splitter under the car that I saw has a small curb rash on it will cost me $1600 to replace and I’d do it myself. I know that the front fender, headlights, and grill were replaced along with the 2 wheel hub pieces and of course the 2 front wheels (they just replaced all 4 wheels). The core support, crash bracket / bar, and motor were unharmed. It was still just a 10 mile per hour fender bender. I spoke to two Audi techs (the one who took the car in on trade and an independent shop who did the PPI) and both were impressed with how nice it is. The undercarriage of the car is immaculate. No rust, no dirt, no damages at all. It’s flawless. Everything you see is in 100% perfect shape for a 5-year-old car with 18,000 miles.
List price was $65,000 when I started tracking it. When I offered them $60,000 the price had been reduced by $2,499. They countered at $60,499. I declined that offer and a week later, I asked them for undercarriage images and reaffirmed my offer.
They accepted my offer.
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Now, this isn’t the first offer I put in that was accepted. The sticking point: I can’t take delivery until mid-April. So I thanked them for meeting my price, told them I was pre-qualified with a lender already, and then asked them to recommend a place locally to store the car and if they could facilitate. They said “you can store it here. We like having it in the showroom so we’ll just keep it on display as SOLD until you can come pick it up.” I told them, well, I can’t pick it up until mid-April, and they said, “so can we just start it once a week and keep it plugged into a battery tender?” And I said that’ll do just fine. They even offered to drive it around the parking lot for me.
Tomorrow, I have a local Paint Protection Film (XPEL) person coming over to their dealership to inspect the paint condition and offer some options to detail it and they agreed to let that person take it off-site for a few weeks to wrap the car after a full paint correction and then ceramic coating as well as interior protection from water (and frankly, baby vomit).
Their service department is already a certified APR tuning shop so I’ve asked them to put the APR Stage 1 ECU and TCU tune on the car before I take delivery. They might also receive a couple of parts from me to install before then as well but we’ll see.
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What’s next? Well, Heather and I will fly down to Asheville the 2nd week of April and drive the car home on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’ll then sell my BMW 330 CI Convertible for around $16K to whoever wants it and move on from that purchase using that profit to pay off Heather’s Tiguan and then we’ll just have the one Audi car payment.
I started this post talking about the converging of a lot of things. Clearly, I’ve thought long and hard about this purchase but that doesn’t mean we’re out in the clear yet. I don’t have a garage built, I’m still new at my job, yes I have a high credit score and very low debt (aside from my mortgage), but this is a completely selfish and unjustified purchase other than just wanting a fast and fun car. I hope I don’t regret it like I have the convertible, which I enjoyed but didn’t scratch the itch for me and only served as a distraction. We shall see but this bright green car is the one I want and I’m very excited to put it in my garage.
Fun fact, just 4 weeks ago I ordered a bright green with black trim customized tool cabinet setup that takes up my entire back wall of the garage. The two match perfectly together. It’s going to be weird and as if I planned it but I didn’t. I wanted an orange car but maybe that’s what we call fate?
Either way, the TT RS does have a back seat for a baby and it’s wicked fast. Matilda still tells me she would have preferred the red car. I tried but the green one is what we got.
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