My 2000 Golf 2L has been running sick of late, accelerator not responding to foot plant, lacking power up hills and have to shift down when i never had to, and sometimes trouble starting and when it does start after such an occassion it will rev itself for a minute or two up to 3500rpms and then eventually settle down before i can drive off.

Took it to my mechanic and their diagnostics showed coolant temp sensor but they replaced that and no better if anything worse. Then they possibly suggested it was the MAF but its too late to do anything today so am carless at the moment. My questions are does it sound like a MAf problem to the more knowledgeable? If so how much can i expect to pay for this? Can it just be cleaned rather then replaced?

Also read there was a recall on this part by VW for similar Golfs. My car is 10/00 so guess i would get no joy from VW for free replacement?

Car has 120k on it now.

This is a problem that has been building over last couple months i guess but only really affecting drive quality more recently.

Bit strapped for cash so trying to learn as much as i can.

Cheers for any help