Newly acquired 1.8T - questions

[Badman]

Hi,

Picked up my '03 1.8T Estate today - very pleased!
Couple of questions though:

1 - The manual specifies a switch in the glove box to deactivate the passenger airbags, however, I don't seem to have one there. Is it located elsewhere?

2 - Any recommendations for performance chips? I've seen several, but any experience of particular suppliers would be interesting.

3 - She's fairly high milage (87k) with an full VAG history. Is there anything I should look out for? How long do the turbos last? Is the standard VAG service as good as it should be(!)? Anything to look out for?

4 - What's the button at the bottom of the drivers side B piller for?

Many thanks,
Jules

[davegwynn]

Hi, I can answer the last two;
The button on the drivers door pillar is to turn off the internal monitoring for the alarm, for when you leave kids/animals in the car.
As to how long the turbo will last, *shrugs*, depends on luck, how thrashed it has been and how well maintained, but well maintained they can last ages. Mine is still on it's original turbo at over 170K (1.8T), with no smoke or problems at all. Regular oil changes, that's the key!

Oh, and check that they have changed the timing belt. People seem to recommend changing at about 60K to be safe, even though the servicing interval, I think, is longer (90K?)

[Badman]

Thanks dave - good to know they're capeable of high milages if looked after... fingers crossed!

Good point - cam belt...I'd forgotten about that.... my last car (Saab 9000 Turbo) had chains! I dare say it hasn't been done.

[SteveL]

Just had my cambelt changed - it is apparantley recommended at 80k for the petrol and 60k? for the diesel. My garage also recommended changing the tensioner as well as they have had problems where not changed.

'99 1.8T