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New '03 ALH TDI Owner with a few questions

1113 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  YMZ, 
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The wife and I bought a 2003 Jetta GL TDI 5spd manual with 111K on it over the weekend. We are not new to VW's, Jetta's, or diesel engines, BUT this is our first VW TDI, needless to say we are VERY excited. I'm a do it yourself guy that enjoys getting my hands dirty so that being said I've done hours of reading this site and other regarding the entails of owning a TDI and what to in the first few weeks of buying a new to us car.

The car had been traded in at a local Ford dealership had no service records up front I plan do a full service including all filters (oil, cabin, air, fuel) as well as an oil change, coolant flush, and timing belt job including a new water pump. After weighting the cost of the parts and tools necessary to do the timing belt job I'm 99% sure I'm going to let our local VW guru do it. They quoted me $750 to do it including a new water pump.

My questions are:

Does $750 sound reasonable?
Any tips or tricks to fix the sagging cloth on the front door panels and headliner without taking the car to an interior shop?
How do I know the glow plugs are working properly, is there supposed to be a light on dash? (Sorry this is my dumb question for the day).

Thanks
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chittychittybangbang
That is a good price.

The headliner is easy to replace...if it's off the car! If you want to DIY remove it, unclip the trim and overhead console, scrape clean, and use contact cement with a new "mousefur" replacement headliner. Also see the FAQ for door card removal.

When you turn the key on, the glow plug "pigtail" light flashes on for a second. If it's winter, it may stay on for up to a second and a half.

Also take a look at the new owner checklist, there's other useful stuff to check in there.
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