in regards to your 4th question, the tiptronic, you've got 5 gears. from a stop you start in 1st, obviously, and go up from there. only thing i can suggest is just give it a try.. the computers will automatically shift up if you hit redline for some reason. watch your RPMs, listen to the engine, feel the car.. soon enough you'll just know which gear you're in without looking.

if it still bothers you enough there are plenty of guys selling instrument clusters through the classifieds sections here and at audizine, fourtitude, vwvortex.. but then your mileage won't be true.

 

Theres a button at the bottom of the wiperstalk that can turn on and off your DIS screen.

 

The non dimming outside mirrors run 78.12 left, and 85.56 for the right side. The auto dimming versions run 137.64 left, and 241.80 right side. Auto dimming have a black plastic border around them that the non dimming mirrors don't have. Other than that they are physically the same shape and have the same mounting tabs. So the mirrrors are hopefully cheaper than you found elsewhere, and we have all 4 choices in stock too. Cupholder in the upper dash area is 114.58 dollars, in stock also if needed. Any questions please ask us, thank you. Jeff.

 

Thanks for the offers, I will definitely think about it.

I pressed the button and the screen came back on, so thanks for that help. Embarrassing that was all it was.

I am still trying to weigh what is worth fixing and worth leaving be. Best case scenario for the mirrors right now is between $170 and $300 which I still cannot believe. I am just astounded that mirrors cost that much, I feel like I'm being robbed. (yes I am obviously a naive young car buyer so this is new to me). I have yet to look into the seat but if I throw in the center display I could be looking at repairs that get dangerously close or exceed $1k...on a car that has 184k miles. I don't know what to do here, I feel like that is too much money.

 

Does anybody know how to remove the cam gears off of a 2.8? is it pretty simple or...? I am going to try to remove the heads for a head gasket replacement

 

Index the motor at TDC ON CYLINDER 3, remove the timing belt, and pull the heads. No need to pull the sprockets that I can think of.