Headliner

Hey all I know this has been discussed multiple times and Ive done searching but does anyone have any pics where they've done some DIY fix's for their headliner sags? Ive seen complete redo of headliners just curious what the push tacs look like and see if its totally horrifying or not.

Edit - FWIW - I have an 2008 MKV. Headliner is sagging right around the front dome lights. in the center. I do not have a sunroof

: bump : How hard is it to remove the center dome light / Sunglass holder? Has anyone tried reattaching the headliner around this area?

kpayton said:

: bump : How hard is it to remove the center dome light / Sunglass holder? Has anyone tried reattaching the headliner around this area?

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I tried re-attaching the headliner around the rear light. Don't do it, it will not work, the foam is rotten and even if you get it to attach, a week later if will fall back down. Also the spray adhesive mixed with the rotten foam will damage the backing board.

The center dome light / sunglass holder is not hard to take out, I followed a DIY and redid the entire headliner myself, not perfect, but not bad. Was it fun, no. Was it hard, no. Was it time consuming, yes. Did I save money, yes. I have a total of $50 and a day of work in it and I did learn a few things.
Good luck.

doc280 said:

I tried re-attaching the headliner around the rear light. Don't do it, it will not work, the foam is rotten and even if you get it to attach, a week later if will fall back down. Also the spray adhesive mixed with the rotten foam will damage the backing board.

The center dome light / sunglass holder is not hard to take out, I followed a DIY and redid the entire headliner myself, not perfect, but not bad. Was it fun, no. Was it hard, no. Was it time consuming, yes. Did I save money, yes. I have a total of $50 and a day of work in it and I did learn a few things.
Good luck.

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Well that stinks.. Being a father of two I don't have time to dedicate a day. I was hoping there was just a fix for it that I could do. It doesn't have to be perfect but I also don't want a pin cushion either I wish some folks would post their pics of what they have done to remedy the situation as I hear this is a common thing amongs MKV's

kpayton said:

Well that stinks.. Being a father of two I don't have time to dedicate a day. I was hoping there was just a fix for it that I could do. It doesn't have to be perfect but I also don't want a pin cushion either I wish some folks would post their pics of what they have done to remedy the situation as I hear this is a common thing amongs MKV's

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I drove down to Charlotte and looked at a 2007 Rabbit before I purchased the GTI. The owner had used staples to repair the headliner and I am not talking about a few, I am talking at least two hundred. The owner thought it was great, damn I wish I had taking a photo of that.

Maybe duct tape might work.....wrap the kids up, toss in the corner and enjoy the peace and quite, while you put in a new headliner.

doc280 said:

I drove down to Charlotte and looked at a 2007 Rabbit before I purchased the GTI. The owner had used staples to repair the headliner and I am not talking about a few, I am talking at least two hundred. The owner thought it was great, damn I wish I had taking a photo of that.

Maybe duct tape might work.....wrap the kids up, toss in the corner and enjoy the peace and quite, while you put in a new headliner.

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LMFAO!!!! OMG @ The Staples.. That would have been a sight to see!!

Ive heard shops charge around $200 to do it? Would have been nice of VW to do a recall on this stuff. Even so I probably would not have been eldgible as I have 120k on the clock

lol @ the staples as well....my first car was a mkv 2.5 jetta and my headliner was falling in every place imaginable and being the 16-17 year old i was, stapled mine up as well and it looked like complete ass...dealer i traded it into didnt even notice it and still gave me 7k for it with 75k miles lol

Same issue for me. So full replacement is the only fix?

drval85 said:

Same issue for me. So full replacement is the only fix?

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Sorry to say, yes this was the only way I found. I attempted to re-glue the headliner, and was very proud of a job well done. That is until the wife drove the GTI, a week later, called to tell me the GTI looked getto with the headliner hanging and flapping around.

Look at the picture, you can see where I attempted to reattach it around the rear light. The mixture of rotten foam and spray adhesive, damaged the backing board.

The foam has just aged out and VW cut the headliner very close to the edges of the backing board.

If you have someone or you do this job yourself, have the headliner material wrapped over the edges, to the back, of the backing board, more than an inch, two inches even better. The extra material on the backside will not interfere with reinstallation, but will help keep it in place years down the road.