Marie
I have a personal explanation developed via my keen sense of observation of female TT drivers. See, only hot women drive TTs. I had a friend who had one, she was hot, but she had to trade it when she got old and divorced. You are still apparently hot. Anyways, Audi ALLOWS the extra sprayage because you are SO hot you need to be COOLED OFF. This is actually a predetermined mechanism crafted by the design engineers due to the VOLUMES of hot women usually blondes with jobs in marketing that make the TT a great looking ride. So, though your comrades in hotness who commented above are well meaning, they are naturally unable to devise the true nature of your concern as āhotnessā is just another ordinary facet of their everyday lives. As I am a wannabee hotguy who drives a red 94 Miata, I am capable of making this observation in a pseudo-valid manner. Peace andā¦ stay hot.
I have a leased VW Toureg . After this kind of mistreatment, I found a lemon lawyer and got quite a bit of money. More importantly car companies spend a lot of money to get you into their car. It cost a lot less to keep you happy.
This situation would infuriate me. Needless to say wen it comes to purchasing a new car in the next year VW and Audi will not be on the my list.
You might contact a law firm that specializes in lemon law even if the date has passed to file. Iāll bet you get some money .
While I own an 2001 Roadster and Marieās TT is a 2005 coupe, I think I can provide a lot of insight. The windows in this car will automatically lower slightly when the doors are opened. This is designed to help create a better seal. Unfortunately sometimes the programming gets a little whacky and sometimes doesnāt go back up. In some cases it doesnāt activate at all and remains slightly down all the time. Itās possible this is your problem but I doubt it. I suspect itās more likely that the windows have slid down on their mounts over time. This has been a frequent problem for me. This makes the contact area much smaller. Adjusting the window up will likely solve your problem. Replacing the weatherstripping will likely not help since I doubt itās worn out on a 2005 model but may be a contributing factor. Itās also possible to adjust the angle of the window slightly to improve contact via some adjustment screws in the bottom of the door (IIRC).
I hope this is more helpful than the slackers at your dealership and Audi of America!
Marie, Iām the Assistant Manager at a Body Shop at a dealership that sells the 5 German lines (VW, Audi, Porsche. BMW and MB). Find a reputable body shop (one semi-near an Audi dealership so they probably have some experience working on Audis would be ideal) and ask them to take a look at it. I know my guys have tons of experience making sure that everything is tight and lined up after we repair a vehicle, and this may be your answer. I know you havenāt been in a wreck, but body guys know how to look for stuff like this. Hope this helps!
Has that line ever actually worked?
Marie: I am on my second TT convertible (2005) and neither had this problem. I routinely take it to the carwash. I agree with all ther est of the replies that this is a dealer issue. Present TT is my 7th Audi and I have also noticed that they have gotten not as customer-friendly as they used to be.
I have a 2000 TT Coupe and took it through a car wash with water jets on the side for the first time a couple of weeks ago and encounted the same problem, water came in over the top of the windows. I would think it is a problem in the original TT design that should be corrected by Audi
I have a 2004 Audi TT that leaks water when I go through a high powered car wash. It leaks a small amount around the windows (a few drops), and so far, Iāve only experienced this in a high powered touchless car wash.
I have a large dog who goes everywhere with me in my car, so I usually go to the hand car wash where they also detail the inside, so I donāt get to experience the interior shower too often.
Well, I certainly appreciate this explanation. Butā¦the passenger side seat also gets sprayed. Does that mean Audi assumes Iāll always have a hot friend with me?
Given the price of an Audi TT, I am not sure whether I am more amazed by:
The bizarre problems that owners of these vehicles seem to tolerate.
or
The cavalier attitude of Audi dealers and Audi corporate customer service people.
I know a woman who drives an Audi TT, and she swears that she can only get the windshield wipers to work by banging very hard on a particular area of the dashboard. And, this solution was only discovered after the Audi dealership told her āproblem not foundā on multiple occasions.
I say Marie should follow Grandma Lilyās lead and fix her leaky side windows using electrical tape. Or to do it up super fancy, duct tape! She may have to remove and replace the tape every time she opens and closes the door, but ā what is life if not sacrifice???
On a serious note, there seems to be a nasty tendency among certain German car manufacturers never to admit a fault or mistake or defect, and to blame the driver instead. I recall Consumer Reports in the past blowing the whistle on Mercedes Benz for this kind of behaviour.
Greetings from Vancouver Island ā where itās ten months of rain, two months of damp weatherā¦!
Shelly Lipsey
Sooke, B.C.
Audi TT Water Leak Problem in A3 also. Same dealer
runaround - just told not to use car wash.
My 2006 A3 (no sunroof, etc) leaks somewhere on the passenger
side when going through car wash. Water pours from behind dash onto
passenger side floorboard. Dealership (Flow Motors) claims it cannot recreate problem,
but that Audis arenāt designed for high pressure car washes, anyway!
Interestingly, after the last episode, for the first time I did NOT get a survey caller
from the dealer asking if I was pleased with the service. I guess they just didnāt want
to mess up their customer satisfaction statistics. This is obscene for a high end
auto and a reputable dealer.
I would skip the dealer and go to a good high end body shop. Obviously something isnāt aligned correctly on the door/window and the dealer canāt be bothered to fix it. The biggest problem with VW/audi seems to be customer service.
No you want the Tritium car wash
Naw, Tritium is too heavy, it might damage the paint.
Craig, another person also suggested this, but the car is still under warranty, so I really donāt want to pay to have the work done.
Latest update is that Audi says they are going to send a field engineer to the dealership the week of January 28th to try and fix the problem. All credit goes to Car Talk, because I couldnāt get any help when it was just me asking. Weāll see how it turns out.
Marie
Good to hear you are getting some action, finally. I would also be pretty annoyed if the dealer wasnāt responsive. I might get annoyed enough to pay for it myself if it wasnāt getting any response.
Iām glad Audi is finally attempting to correct this problem. But, if they fail, the body shop diagnosis still may be your best bet. I like the TTās also, and would rather get it fixed and pay for it even though itās still under warranty than give up on the carwashes. 
Good Luck and keep us posted.
Tritium car washes will also cause the car to glow in the dark until it dries (and set off Geiger counters). That might be cool.
Isnāt this also known as the āFonzie Methodā?