My budget build- 2014 Highline

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Boonalon
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My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Boonalon »

Well I thought I better introduce myself as I’ve been on here for a bit now. I’m Robbie, I’m from a small village about an hour outside Dublin.

Just before Christmas I bought my first own Caddy, but I’ve had a few in the past as company vans and always loved them.

I got a nice UK import 2014 102 highline, which from being on here was the best option to start with. I set myself a budget for the upgrades I wanted and I think I have upgraded mine on the cheap.

She is nice and clean here

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But she spends most of her life like this.

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I found this form a fantastic source of information and guidance on how to’s. There is a great community here and it’s a credit to the powers that be running it. Little tip to newbies is the search option is a fantastic way to find older posts on how to do things.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been flat out online on different buy and sell sites looking for deals. i set myself a budget of about 500euro. I was not looking for a show car, there are some unbelievable caddys here and the time and effort gone into them is amazing. I wanted to keep the OEM look and just add a few extras to make like in the van a bit nicer.

I chose not to do a “my build” tread as nothing I’ve done is really new. I started off with a bulkhead as mine had none from the factory, I got one for 50 in a breakers and fitted panels to reduce the noise levels. The panels I fitted were free as they are recycled digger panels I had sitting about.

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Next was the MFSW, I cheated a tad on this as I found a 2012 Golf and bought the entire column with all attached for 250 and it was just a case of swapping all across into the caddy. The only thing I keep was the key barrel, simples. The caddy had cruise control and I sold it to a fellow member here. Ive also sold the old leather steering wheel and airbag on a popular website. Selling both of these old parts helped top up the budget a tad.

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Up next on the list was the Touran centre console, this was a total steel at 20 from a guy in Germany, its tilt and slide and it adds great comfort on long trips.

Simple one next, was a set of VW mats which where free out of a 2017 caddy in a breakers yard. I also got the towbar off this caddy for 100

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I really wanted apple CarPlay, so I bought a NoName RCD300 off a local selling site that had a broken USB for 60. This may sound odd to you, but I had a plan. I did not want the USB out the front of the head unit, so I took the radio apart and soldered a USB lead off RCD510 to the USB pins and ran the USB out lead out behind the gearshift and blocked off the USB outlet on the radio, just looks cleaner in my opinion.

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Once I had the radio sorted a reverse camera was needed to see where Im going, plus its great when hitching up the towbar. The camera was 15, it was simple enough to fit, just the coding was slight pain to get the factory PDC working with the camera. But after several hours of 1’s and 0’s I got it all working together.

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The last major upgrade is a set of scirocco seats that are heated. I wanted tilt and slide seats so I could use the space behind the seats. These again are from a breakers for 150.

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As you can see they were in poor enough condition when I got them. But with a bit of cleaning and soaking in saddle oil the colour is coming back into them nicely.

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We have horses here at home so working with leather does not scare me at all. There were quite a few marks on the leather due to other parts sitting on them. So after soaking the leather so soften it up, I them ran a steam iron over the seats with a wet cloth between the iron and seats. they is still a bit more soaking needed but so far I’m amazed how well they have come up.

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The heated seat controls I bought online from a golf off a guy in France and ive ordered a loom off Stan. When I’m fitting the loom I will sound proof the front, the rear is already done. I know she is no show car but as my farm van I love her to bits. With selling the bits I took out I’m a tad over my budget but I think if you spent the time and do your research, upgrades don’t have to be expensive. Again cheers to everyone here and welcome your feed back.





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Glen G
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Engine size/power: 1.9 TDI (104bhp)
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Glen G »

Fair play man 👏 alot of great chosen mods so far looks fantastic!! Love the idea with USB

I'm the same mines a workhouse and I work in construction etc.. But I still treat it best I can :lol:
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Boonalon
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Engine size/power: 1.6 CR TDI (102bhp)

Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Boonalon »

Cheers glen, do you tow with yours? I curious to know what it like with the lowering kit towing


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Glen G
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Glen G »

Yeah fine iv had no problem towing I don't tow that much only when doing nixers etc.. But iv towed 2 tonne a few times and perfect 👌.. I have her lowed on bilstein coilovers have the rear of the van on one click off the highest setting and front 40-50mm..... So I can still load the back etc...... Lowering the van has no effect on towing as far as I'm aware mate
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andyreflexsilver
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by andyreflexsilver »

Nice work mate, your breakers yard sounds like a handy place to live near! The VW one near me must know their market and charge a premium for most stuff, Rocco leathers for 150 is a steal!


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the swan fiend
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by the swan fiend »

Nice looking van mate you’ve had some bargains there!!
Long may your bargain finding continue


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BoSelecta75
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by BoSelecta75 »

really inspiring stuff mate!
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Boonalon
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Engine size/power: 1.6 CR TDI (102bhp)

Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Boonalon »

Cheers lads, there are a couple of breakers near me, i think because they know me and I know exactly what I want is the main reason I get on with them. Plus the local VW parts guy is a great help check what parts are in each car for me, so I’m not wasting the breakers time.


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Glen G
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Glen G »

Boonalon wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 9:53 pm Cheers lads, there are a couple of breakers near me, i think because they know me and I know exactly what I want is the main reason I get on with them. Plus the local VW parts guy is a great help check what parts are in each car for me, so I’m not wasting the breakers time.


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Mind me asking what breakers? Or is that a top secret 😂 I find it very hard to get volkswagen stuff funny enough.
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Mark-Tam
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Mark-Tam »

Great job, good to see this all done to a small budget! Those seats were a complete steal

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reecewxxd
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by reecewxxd »

Love seeign a good budget build. The headunit was a steal too and worked out great with your USB replacement
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Boonalon
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Boonalon »

@glen mostly I deal with Stephen in Kilcock, they are odd as hell, I usually check the eBay and done deal pages to see if they have what I want and they pop in and haggle.

The seats came from dan comerford in Tipp, I can never remember the foreign guy name, again I use done deal to search there stock. They will post via DPD. Don’t deal with the Irish lad, he will rob ya blind!!

Cheers lads it was a pain searching, finding and marking sure certain parts fit. But I’m delighted with the outcome. I just did a 350 mile round tip today and the seats are so comfortable on the long trip.


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Gsi_Jimbo
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Gsi_Jimbo »

Tidy van mate, I’m off on Thursday to pick up the same model in black just a year newer,

Going to be doing some similar things by the looks of it, where did you get the rear camera? Is it a genuine vw?

Cheers joe
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Boonalon
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Boonalon »

I got mine off eBay, there are quite a few on there, make sure you get one to suit your head unit, none genuine are PAL and genuine are NTSC camera


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Seanick
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Re: My budget build- 2014 Highline

Post by Seanick »

Quality lad well done so far 👌🏽🚙❤️
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