PX54WWT - Maintenance Record

Article Date : 10/09/14
Vehicle Sold Date : 17/10/18

Just thought I'd make my own online service history for my Golf. Eventually I will sell the car and someone may be like me and come across the car by looking at it's registration or finding my site. Now, I do have my own .xls spreadsheet, but I always preferred an online one. Anyway, below is the records to date for my Golf including any articles relating to servicing or technical posts I have created with my own knowledge on my website.

This service history may be a little sketchy because I have to remember where I store all the history of the parts I've kept. I've always been a bit negligent at keeping a record, but the car has been serviced regularly and never let me down yet. Any prices I didn't know to the exact amount were guessed to their nearest value.

I've tried to keep this as updated as possible so I can track just how much I have spent. Currently the car is costing me around £48 per month to maintain. This seems high, however this is the price of everything into the maintenance costs including Repairs / Mot / Wear and Tear / Upgrades (For reference the car costs about £12 per month on average in terms of repair costs)

I wrote a technical article on my blog page, about the reliability of a Golf MK5, based on my results below. This should help first time buyers, or existing owners of models like the GTI MK5 or BKD Golf MK5 figure out common things to watch out for on their vehicle

Mileage Date Type Description Cost
115,489 17/10/18 SALE

Goodbye my little pup. The vehicle wasn't sold - it was hit by another car and declared a total loss by the insurance. Superficially there wasn't much damage to the car, other than some scrapes on the paintwork but all of the impact was done via the side and translated into the steering on the car. The car was pulling from side to side when I was going home and when I arrived home the steering rack started making clunking noises. As I've experienced this symptom before I knew it was a sign of rack failure. I reported it to the insurance who declared the vehicle a total write off from the symptoms I described.

They paid me the "Market Value" for the car. Really sucks when you own a car for 8 years and put loads of work into it. Maybe some time in the future I'll consider it a blessing in disguise. I haven't given up on the Golf MK5, I love them too much. Just sucks when I intended to keep this car for a long time and use it for future projects

£1607.00
114,235 30/08/18 MOT Annual MOT - Failed on excessive rust rear door sills as they're structual points. New door sills welded in, and a bulb required replacement. £230.00
114,228 29/08/18 Repair Original handbrake cables stretched, replaced with OEM cables. Handbrake cable guides also replace along with grommets. New OSR brake caliper fitted as existing one was seized. Spare set of Pagid brake discs and pads were fitted £164.80
113,430 31/07/18 Service Filters replaced (Oil, Air, Pollen) & Oil (Mobil1 ESP 5w/40) £65.00
10/06/18 Repair New wheel bearings fitted (30MM) at rear of vehicle, existing bearings failed. Replaced with aftermarket "Nordic" model £45.00
107,815 30/12/17 Service & Repair

Replaced the G62 coolant sensor with an OEM Beru sensor from Darkside Developments (came with O-Ring and Clip), also replaced the OEM Fuel Filter, as it's been overdue for a long time coming.

Also the battery died before hand this work on the car, but it was under warranty so replaced with a new item. Looking into it I think the car has a parasitic draw either from the headunit, or the door locks. It was pulling 3A without anything running

£20.00
104,416 30/08/17 MOT Annual MOT - Pass £40.00
104,350 29/08/17 Wear & Tear Purchased 4 new tyres for MOT (205/55/16 91V) £152.00
103,000 26/08/17 Repair Steering Rack Replaced with 2nd hand Generation 2 Unit. I didn't want to pay for a replacement rack, or a new steering harness, so I bought a 2nd hand rack to reuse with my existing harness and fitted it which resolved the issue with the rack failure (G269 Torque Sensor error). This job if done at VW costs approximately £2000, so I selected the option hopefully to save me money. After I replaced the rack, all errors and sensors worked correctly again. Happy days :-) £94.10
101,650 26/05/17 Service Filters replaced (Oil, Air, Pollen, Fuel) & Oil (Mobil1 ESP 5w/40) £65.00
100,500 20/04/17 Repair Front suspension failed. Replaced shock absorbers, top mounts and drop links new lower control bolts and top mount bolts fitted £153.36
98,700 04/02/17 Repair Front coil springs replaced (Sachs Coil Spring - p/n 627444130) £86.79
93,583 01/09/16 MOT Annual MOT - Pass (Potential Issues)
- CV Joint deteriorated but not failed (will need replacing)
- Handbrake lever little reserve travel (new cables required)
£54.00
93,426 26/08/16 Repair Overhauled the bonnet lock - regrased with lithium grease £6.50
93,426 26/08/16 Repair Repaired the Brake Sensors (NSF). Replaced the connectors with new parts £13.90
90,589 18/4/16 Wear & Tear Purchased replacement NSF brake caliper (Pagid) for 25mm discs. Existing one had seized £98.98
86,000 15/12/15 Upgrade Alloy wheels reconditioned @ rsalloy in Hartlepool

£180.00

84,996 12/12/15 Service Purchased and fitted a large selection of servicing items for the car. Replacement of Pollen, Air & Oil Filters. Including full Oil change. Replacement of Front & Rear brake pads & Wipers. Glow plugs replacement with Bosch OEM fit £263.54
83,015 07/09/15 Repair Replaced rear number plate light bulbs with upgraded bulbs from autobulbsdirect as one had failed required replacement for MOT. The other one would go eventually so purchased a pair of upgraded ones. I replaced them with a pair of OSRAM Ultra Life 12v Bulbs £4.35
82,986 03/09/15 Wear & Tear

Purchased new set of 255mm rear discs and pads from eBay to go along with the new set of calipers purchased for the MOT.

Pads : Code - DP5541 (Made by Trupart)
Discs : Code - BD1088S (Unknown manufacter)

£31.00
82,986 03/09/15 Wear & Tear Purchased new set of rear brake calipers to be fitted to the Golf. Purchased as a pair. Steven had issues fitting the brake lines to the calipers, but for £37 each for either new/recon calipers I'm not really complaining. Most calipers are £80 each recon and old caliper in surcharge. £74.00
82,980 29/08/15 MOT Annual MOT - Fail / Pass (Immediate Pass with Issues)
- Number plate bulb out (replaced)
- OSR Brake Caliper fluctuating (sorted on day)
£35.00
81,250 15/07/15 Upgrade Fitted some genuine OSRAM Night Breaker Unlimited 110% Headlight bulbs. Amazing item, proven to be best Non-Xenon bulb possible when they were tested at the time. Much clearer at night too £15.93
79,000 30/04/15 Wear & Tear Car sounded like it had a hole in the exhaust after driving, after it was jacked up at a garage, the hangers simply needed replacing with new ones as the old exhaust clamps were too old and rusted £0.00
77,900 28/03/15 Service Filled the car up with some BG44K fuel system flush and some shell v-power then gave it the Italian tune up to clean the crap out of the engine. Sounds a lot more throaty now and pulls harder. £0.00
77,219 07/03/15 Service-Repair Car service, full Oil Change with genuine parts, using components BD1088S (LPD Brake Discs), 1K2819653B (Pollen Filter OEM), 1K0129620D (Air Filter OEM), 6Q6955707C (Rear Wiper Arm OEM), ADB01224 (Allied Nippon Brake Pads), 071115562C (Oil Filter OEM), Bluecol 477 H7 Headlight Bulb
76,450 19/03/15 Wear & Tear Went to start car for work and it failed. It was showing signs of failure, mainly harder starting in cold, but also bad central locking control. To it's credit, it was still the original battery. So it lasted 10 years. Original battery (VARTA - 1J0915105AF). I had to find a suitable battery which matched the original (72Ah, 380A, 640CCA). It was replaced with professional grade deep cell battery. It had a capacity of 74Ah and 720CCA. So would start better in cold. £81.62
76,400 18/03/15 Wear & Tear Setting off to work and the rear spring collapsed on the car. Prompting replacement. Parts were replaced with two springs from Eurocarparts, manufacturered by Anschler. They were £10 cheaper online so I did a click & collect. I also applied a discount code online for a further £5 off. Every little helps £47.40
73,911 06/01/14 Repair

Had a puncture in NSF tyre, it was in a place where the sidewalls where damaged. New tyre needed and replaced with another Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 205/55/16 91V

Annoyed me because the tyres were all rotated to the fronts approx 2 weeks prior :(
£79.95
73,720 30/11/14 Wear & Tear Brake piston on OSF Caliper seized. Discs and pads needed to be replaced on the car

£135.39
+

73,472 24/11/14 Service Car had the timing belt and all major components changed at Darcys' Garage in Durham. Parts replaced were using genuine VW parts. Timing Belt and Tensioners, Water Pump, AntiFreeze and Alternator Belt. You can read more in depth about this on my Blog about the timing belt replacement and additionally you can review pictures for the replacement on my page £385.00
72,000 12/11/14 Wear & Tear

Two tyres replaced , one tyre had a "bleb" on the rear (OSR) where I hit a kerb or pothole. The other (NSF) was down to near legal limit (@2mm) which I wasn't aware of. Tyres replaced on the car and fine tune balanced. One of the wheels needed grinding down because it had a slow pucture. This turned out to be because I had a seized caliper at the OSF, which was heating up the paint on the wheel so it wasn't sealing properly... I raised this as the wheel was shaking @ 70mph when accelerating or braking, wasn't sure if it was wheel balancing or warped brakes. Turns out it was warped brakes because of the caliper

Tyres used were Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 205/55/16 91V

£159.50
(inc £43.50 disc)
69,823 30/08/14 MOT Annual MOT - Pass (Issues raised)
- OSF and NSF Brakes Fluctuating but not excessive
£25.00
68,254 24/07/14 Wear & Tear Replaced a tyre, drove too close to a central island and hit the kerb hard resulting in the tyre exploding. Replaced with space saver. Tyre was replaced with a replacement of the same make and model. Tyre fitted was a Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 205/55/16 91V £66.75
62,874 01/03/14 Service Drained engine oil and replaced with Mobil1 ESP 5w/40 engine oil. Also replaced the Oil Filter, O-Ring, Sump Plug and Washer with genuine VW items. Then reset warning light with VAGCOM. All oil service parts with replaced with genuine VW items £65
59,662 06/12/13 Repair Due to bad design with the VW Bonnet Lock I had to carry out a repair and replace it. Eventually the bonnet locks seized up. I tried using silicone and copper grease but eventually the bonnet was harder to open and wouldn't stay shut. So I took the hit and went to VW and purchased a replacement part. Carried out the repair and replaced it the same day with genuine VW part. Part number used for the repair was 1K1823509E  £38.00
58,306 12/11/13 Wear & Tear Replaced all four tyres on the car with Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance (205/55/16 91V)
58,291 11/11/13 Service Replaced Pollen Filter {also known as Cabin Air Filter} with compatible VW part made by ALCO, part number MS-6274 £8.00
57,622 22/10/13 Wear & Tear Headlight Bulb replaced due to failing. Replaced Front Wiper blades on the car with a replacement set from Halfords. SET102 was the kit I used to replace mine with £37.98
56,319 09/09/13 MOT Annual MOT - Fail / Pass
- OSF Coil Spring snapped (replaced same day at garage)
£25.00
54,550 03/08/13 Repair Car experienced G201 Sensor Failure around 8 months after I purchased the vehicle. Resulting in the ABS/ESP system being disabled on the car. Not only did I get a warning light on the dash, the cars stabliity was a lot easier to unsettle. It wheel spun easier and was a lot less reassuring in the wet. These cars seem to handle rubbish without the ABS/ESP system. Repair was carried out and reprogrammed with VAGCOM. £160.08
54,466 19/07/13 Service Replaced Air Filter with compatible VW part made by MEHR, part number AF446 £7.75
52,350 18/05/13 Wear & Tear Brakelight Bulb replacement £2.00
49,863 16/04/13 Repair Flat tyre, purchased a replacement. Replacement was Arrowspeed £52.00
37,512 08/07/12 Upgrade Purchased 4 new tyres from garage. Tyre choice selected was a Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 205/55/16 91V, beneficial due to low wear rate and best rated grip in the wet. Perfect for UK weather £220.00
31,729 03/02/12 Ownership Purchase of the MK5 Golf GT TDI (140hp - BKD Engine) from Vine Place in Durham  £8439.53
   

Total Maintenance Costs : £2803.59 = £47.50 per month maintenance (Repair costs approx £871.83 - Approx - £12.27 per month in repairs)
Time : 6 years, 8 months
Total Mileage driven since purchasing car: 83,106 miles

UPDATE 23/04/20 - ADDITIONAL DATA BREAKDOWN
I've decided to add in some additional data for my vehicle below to show the actual running costs for one of these vehicles (if you used one for business reasons for example)

Adjusted running costs for Volkswagen Golf MK5 (GT 140 Diesel) Vehicle

(These figures are approximate, but roughly correct I used to spend roughly the below in fuel each month
Approx Fuel Cost @ 42MPG Average - £1.259 per litre = (8199 Litres - £10323.53) = £138.26 per month in fuel

(£10323.53 [FUEL] + £2803.59 [MAINTENANCE])= £13127.12 / 83106 = £0.16 per mile

If you want to know my calculations (Mileage Driven / MPG) = Converts mileage driven to gallons used total for average MPG
Multiply by 4.44 (Converts Gallons to Litres), then muliply by fuel cost (£1.259) and Divide by 80 (Total number of months) = Cost per month in fuel

£1168.61

Total Costs of Car + Maintenance : £11,243.12

CURRENT FAULTS TO FIX (or ones that I think are occuring)

If you have purchased this car and found this page, chances are it's still got faults. This is a list of the faults that I currently know about and are basically on the "to do" list, or know faults with this model in particular. I've included an approximate cost to fix the "fault" with it incase I haven't fixed this part on the car and I sell it

FUTURE REPAIRS / UPGRADES