It's been awhile but I'm back in the club.

I sold my mkv a couple of years ago. Loved the jetta. Bought a 2.0 gas golf. Hated it. Just bought a 2002 beetle TDI manual with 200k on it. Drove it home last night. No power up the hills. I'm guessing the actuator is stuck. Other than the obvious stuff like timing belt water pump, pulleys, oil change, misc filters etc. What else should I do? I do not have any emission restrictions where I'm at. EGR delete? I'm going to try the easy off oven cleaner method through the egr on the turbo. I would like to make this car last awhile. I never cared for the beetle but the price was right and it's surprisingly comfortable.

So, you missed the torque did ya?

Do you know for sure that the actuator is sticking/stuck?

Do you have VCDS? This would be at the top of my list.

I'm not an advocate of ripping stuff out unless necessary. EGR stuff applies. IMO too many folks freak out about it when experiencing a clogged EGR valve and intake; once cleaned, and one knows to drive these things with some gusto, they're going to stay clog-free for a long time. If you yank this stuff they you're going to need a tune to kill the CEL: unless you have something like Scangauge or Ultraguage you're not going to know if you're getting a new CELL.

Running VCDS logs will give you direction on what needs to be done to the engine. All other stuff (and VCDS can check other stuff like CCM and brakes) is mostly common sense: brakes, suspension. If you've got a sunroof check the drains: even though you're in AZ you'll still run across some good downpours that could tax the drains.

Fuel filter, air filter, cabin filter... flush brake fluid. Not much else.

For most people I would recommend a BMW cyclonic filter instead of EGR removal.
This is a cheap and effective way to filter the CCV oil out of the intake to prevent clogging while still allowing the engine to warm up quicker.

Definitely use a hand held vacuum pump to check the actuator movement.

WOT does a great job in reducing clogging. Other "solutions" aren't as fun