Dodoma said:
.....the previous owner was indeed dirty and lazy and lacked basic hygine. He may be using the fuel saving to cover the cost of having dogs.
PO was a young woman. I can't figure out how she managed to stain the front seats so badly, or what the stains are. Maybe I don't want to know.
The rear interior of the car is now done. The rear seat cushions look new after soaking the covers in Oxy-Clean. Carpet and headliner are clean and free of dog hair.
I had been thinking about buying a VW TDI since driving a rental in the UK in 2006 and being amazed at the torque.
After driving by this car on a gas station lot for several weeks, I stopped to take a look at it. First impression was poor - hood dents, dirty interior, cloudy headlights, nasty looking shift boot. But...the car did not appear to have any mechanical problems and had pretty good service records, including regular dealer (I know) oil changes with the correct oil.
I figured the hood was a good candidate for paintless dent removal (PDR - will post pics when done) and the interior would clean up OK. The owner was not advertising the car anywhere and the gas station had the wrong year on the windshield (2002 instead of 2003) along with an asking price. I bought the car for what I thought was a good price, though slightly more than I really wanted to pay.
Anyway, I have driven the car for two weeks now and so far, so good. A pleasant surprise is the Monsoon stereo, which sounds really good. Also, a pleasant surprise is that the gearbox shifts perfectly after the gear oil change. I had been thinking I would have to open the gearbox to fix the 2nd gear grind.
No serious negative surprises so far. I was a little concerned by the mouse nest under the cabin air filter, but the car has no electrical problems, so fingers crossed they had not started on the wiring. Also, two engine cover posts cross-threaded and stripped and two battery tray bolts cross-threaded and stripped. Anyone have the part number for the battery tray bolts?
My plan for the car after I have finished the basic mechanical work (TB redo, intake manifold and intercooler cleaning) is all the standard goodies - stage 2 tune, Koni FSDs, Dieselgeek clutch kit, maybe a Quaife differential. I have already bought new wheels - Exors with Continental tires - from Keffer VW.
This is a screaming deal by the way. I can't figure out what the catch is - 17" factory rims and tires for the cost of the tires alone - seems to good to be true.
The only thing I am a little hazy on right now is the turbo. It seems to be operating normally, but how do I check? And is there any maintenance (decarbon?, seal replacement?) that I should be planning to do on it?