ok for anyone wondering what i did... first i checked all the wires, grounds, ect. cleaned them all. then i diagnosed that the fuel pump was a problem, so i replaced that. then i did the timing and the spark plugs.
then the whole bad start/charge/dying all the time issues...
well im really new to cars, remember this. so i figured if the starter was doing anything at all - it was fine. it wasnt fine. i finally realized that this was the problem when i heard another VW start up... mine didnt sound anything like that. so i replaced the starter and all was good. then when i would stop, it would die... turns out i just had to adjust the idle cause it was way low.
so like everyone said, it was mostly the simple stuff. i felt pretty dumb, but at the same time not really... this is my first time ever working on a car, and i chose one that needed a LOT of work before it even got to these problems. but hey! ive learned lots and shes going strong now. so thanks everyone!
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