remove the liner and all the foam and replace it with suede! :goodjob:

 

Help! Drooping headliner!

Suede?!?!?!?! (But thanks for responding)
I guess I should rephrase my original question - I think removing the damaged headliner won't be the problem, it would be installing a new one that would be a major pain (or at least it looks like it would). Has anyone seen a thread or hint for installing a headliner? Is there a kit or something?

 

I would go to the nearest Mercedes dealer and ask where they sub-contract their upholstery "top work" to. Occasionally their convertibles acquire wear spots near the corners and are subbed-out to a highly respected local shop for repair...

 

I would go to the nearest Mercedes dealer and ask where they sub-contract their upholstery "top work" to. Occasionally their convertibles acquire wear spots near the corners and are subbed-out to a highly respected local shop for repair...

Mercedes dealer? Oh...forgot to mention I'm trying not to spend a ton of money (which I don't have). :crying:
The quote from the upholstery shop was $175, it's not that I'm looking to spend less necessarily as that I didn't have all that much confidence in this guy, although he does great work on seats and 'vert tops (he fixed top on the Caddy I used to have). I guess I might wait till the New Year, we are hoping to move out of Naples.

 

Mercedes dealer? Oh...forgot to mention I'm trying not to spend a ton of money (which I don't have). :crying:

Well, the Mercedes dealer isn't looking to pay a lot of money for the repairs either. They just mark it up a lot to their customers. I'd still call to find out who'd they recommend. Upholsterers are verry price competitive. You just need to find one who is qualified to do the work that you want to get done, properly...(no cost to get an estimate)

 

Well, the Mercedes dealer isn't looking to pay a lot of money for the repairs either. They just mark it up a lot to their customers. I'd still call to find out who'd they recommend. Upholsterers are verry price competitive. You just need to find one who is qualified to do the work that you want to get done, properly...(no cost to get an estimate)

Thanks, Alan, who else besides an upholsterer would do headliners,do you think? Or are they the only ones?

 

Also, LadyBug is not a convertible, this is a standard headliner for a hardtop. It seems like VW really NEEDS this new climate lab, a headliner shouldn't be falling down after only 5 years/66,000 miles! I know the climate is extra harsh here in far SW Florida, but still! It reminds me of when I was younger and GMs were known for crappy headliners, they started sagging at about 2 1/2 years old.

 

I'd try getting a can of spray adhesive and fixing it myself before I dropped $175 on it.

 

ScarabY2k redid his headliner himself and made a DIY for it :wink:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12615

heres the thread

Al's the bestest BTW :heart: :lol:

 

Well the "small visors" comment may be becuase he is going to recover those also. Sound to me like you don't have a problem with removing and reinstalling it ... if that is the case, find out what they want if you bring them the headliner board, if the hubby is a mech he prolly has a truck right! Also, while you have it out might be a good time to replace the antenna base ... mine looks rather ugly in the much cooler climate a few degrees north of you and the liner needs to be removed or bent out of the way to change it.

 

ScarabY2k redid his headliner himself and made a DIY for it :wink:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12615

heres the thread

Al's the bestest BTW :heart: :lol:

Good lookin out ShayShay :kiss:

You're pretty awesome too:heart:

Oh yeah, the DIY on the headliner is a fun job IMHO. Then again, I like working with my hands.

 

Good lookin out ShayShay :kiss:

You're pretty awesome too:heart:

Oh yeah, the DIY on the headliner is a fun job IMHO. Then again, I like working with my hands.

Thanks, Shay and Scarab and everyone for the tips and advice! It doesn't look so scary now that I've seen the pics, I might try it. I don't have the Bentley guide, I bought the actual VW tech DVDs off eBay, I'll have to dig through and see if I can find the diagram of where all the screws are.

 

Well it's been a while since I have had time to read the forum, let alone post. Here goes...
In the end, we found a guy who does lots of upholstery and specializes in mercs VWs and Jaguars, he charged $150 and as soon I figure out how to post photos through my MacBook I'll show 'em.
Thanks for all the advice, everyone. (Working too much so laziness won out)

 

Wow! She is a slow learner! 4 years and still no pictures!

 

Hey LLB,

Looking forward to the pics. A buck-fifty isn't too bad for the headliner. Now get-ta-gettin and post them pics. The eager crowd awaits.

 

Over the years, I have seen this problem with these cheap cloth headliners....no matter who makes them. Every single car that uses this type of headliner will at some point have the headliner fall down. You'd think that at some point, the car makers would stop using them and go with the better headliners. The better headliners are what is used in the 2012 Jettas. It's not some type of cloth that is glued to some type of fiber backing, they are instead made of a solid piece of material that isn't soft like the cloth ones are, but are more like a hard, fiber-like material. This type of headliner isn't glued to some type of backing so it can never fall down.

I don't know about anyone else, but I drive a car until it dies. That means that I don't plan on trading it in to get a decent trade in allowance on a new car, so the interior of a car isn't that important to me.

Since I just discovered that the headliner in my 2006 Beetle is sagging, what I'm going to do with my headliner is to rip it out. If need be, I'll use a razor knife to cut it off where it goes underneath of some plastic molding. Once it's all cut out, I'll just paint the inside roof of the car with spray paint that matches the headliner. It might not be a perfect match, but so what, I don't look at the inside roof of the car anyway. As long as there is no headliner sagging down and hitting me in the top of the head, I don't care what it looks like.

Maybe some of you won't want to do this because you want your car to look nice. That's fine, I felt the same way for my first few new cars, but after owning 21 new cars and 5 used ones, my ideas have changed. All a car is to me is a tool....something that I need to get from one place to another. As long as it's dependable, then I'm happy. Once it is no longer dependable, I'll trade it in on a new one. What it looks like on the inside is irrelevant to me.

 

This thread started 6 years ago and you've popped it back up with no constructive advice at all.

Well done. :lol:

 

there have been posts on this thread, giving other options than that oem headliner. I for one, don't care for the factory headliner either. and I too like to hold on to my cars for a very long time. this holds all the more true for my beetle, because I love the car so & have deemed this car a keeper....kinda knew that when I bought her. Still, for me I want my car to look as nice as possible & for as long i have it.

the alternatives to the oem headliner have been well documented here on the org- even mine, which is doing a far more superior job to the factory stuff...even in this hot & humid Florida heat.

D2Beetle has a good how-to on removing the headliner panel. May i suggest His DIY for removing the trim. That way you can do a sho nuff quality job. I'd also hit a good couple light coats of matte sealer on the panel first. From experience, the panel is pretty porous.

Your fabric-free method might be a good alternative for some. I'd like to see the end results.

Good luck buddy.
Sent from my SGH-T679 using AutoGuide.com App

 

We paid a place to do the headliner on our 11 year old car, so I beg to differ. We plan on keeping the car a good long time, so why not? 6 years old isn't all that old. Heck, we have a car that's 28 years old that we sunk a good chunk into rebuilding the whole engine! A headliner replacement isn't all that expensive.

 

I believe that diesel_dude does care, as he spent the time to research the problem and he resurrected this thread.

So here is the Headliner DIY Thread, in case it is needed.

 

Agreed.
And thanks for rhe link.

I really think diesel dudes method would look good. Scrub the headliner panel with a scotch brite pad to get it all smooth. Follow it up with a matte spray sealer, so as not to have a ton of paint get soaked in. Finish it up with a nice paint & it's money.



Sent from my SGH-T679 using AutoGuide.com App

 

We had the headliner done in our Jetta not too long ago at a shop here. We had removed all of the trim already and they charged us I think $130 to do the rest and this included the parts cost. My husband had the headliner in his '95 Passat done at the same place a number of years ago. That was completely from scratch and it had a sunroof, which our Jetta didn't. I think he paid $300 or so. Perfect match though and looked factory.

We had tried to do the headliner ourselves but it didn't come out nearly as nice. It was worth the price, IMO.