What wears out on the Golf 5 platform?

[VAG-Abound]

I'm thinking of tidying up our 2.0 TDI 53 plate Touran for the children to drive for a couple of years when the Peugeot 107 is too small for whatever is happening. It gives that slightly odd feeling that if these things had been done 2 or 3 years ago they'd still be good and the car might have been a better drive (although it isn't noticeably poor).

It has had remarkably little replaced in it 170k miles of use, so as well as taking a look at the MOT advisories and I'll refresh other parts that are likely to be worn. In addition to the following what is worth looking at to make sure it is not overly worn and / or likely to fail?

• Standard service items / fluids / filters
• DMF (noisy, might replace with breaker part or new set with clutch plates)
• Turbo (very occasionally limps out when pushed hard - strip, clean, refit)
• Suspension struts (never replaced AFAIK)
• Suspension bushes / arms (ditto)
• Brake fluid (all well, but not done for quite some time)
• Brake disks / pads / calipers (brush pistons down - one is sticking sometimes)
• CV boots (one or two on MOT advisory)
• Wheel alignment (uneven type wear, and off centre when checked on rig last time)
• EDIT 1: Intercooler pipe seals (check for soundness, maybe put self-tapper in)

Unlikely to bother with:

• Bit of noise from the gearbox that garages have commented on, but still changes smoothly...
• Power steering can be dead when starting car, but comes to life once off the drive. Been like it for a decade.

Is there a do-er-uppers guide somewhere for Golf 5, A3, etc somewhere?

[Crasher]

I would start by inspecting the rear floor and having a good stab at the inevitable rot to see if there are any holes such as at the back of the sills. Your next to last comment triggers the inevitable judgement that the rear suspension is shot and the only sensible approach is a full rebuild with Powerflex bushes and powdercoating all the steel parts. When we do this we drop the tank, descale the entire rear floor, treat it with Dinitrol rust convertor, then spray the entire area with their 3125HS then shove the rebuilt rear end back in. Done on your back at home this would be an evil job but the biggest cost would be a full set of Powerflex bushes and a trip to your local friendly power coat chap. You would need a BIG pile of genuine bolts, wheel bearings, pads/discs, calipers maybe so DIY I think you would spend £1.5k in parts and when done, have a rear end the looks like new when viewed from below

THEN the rest of the PQ35 platforms maladies are all routine daily stuff but there is a BIG (smokey) cloud hanging over all this... with ULEZ zones coming in ALL over the UK from next summer, is it worth putting a penny into a non EU6 fuel of the Devil car?

[VAG-Abound]

The ULEZ thing doesn't trouble me too much. Currently costs £50 a year or so for trips into London, and we have other cars if needed to avoid it. In terms of overall environmental impact I'm happy keeping a car on the road rather than unleashing fresh carbon, chemicals, etc to replace it.

I don't think I'll do the whole powder coat thing. Just check things look robust and protectet from ongoing rust.

[dekhelia]

Can't comment about the suspension stuff really - if I were refurbishing the drivetrain ends I would just do new springs and shocks, and regular bushes (mainly for cost reasons: I mean, how many times does one take 'the racing line' in a Touran?). Anyway, one thing I've come across in my internet wanderings was one guy's solution to the perennial problem of air leaks along the intake/intercooler path: he basically used large diameter shrinkwrap tubes and cable ties to make the joins in (what is admittedly a very long) path from turbo to intake manifold. It's on YouTube - a basic word search will get you there. It's something I intend to do once I get time. And it's a much cheaper option than buying the OE seals - which are undoubtedly not doing their job effectively, given your car's vintage.

[VAG-Abound]

Thanks - the rear springs were done fairly recently due to snapped ends, but didn't to the shocks themselves as it would have delayed things and wasn't sure about keeping it at the time. I'll add front springs if I can't find trace of them being done. Pretty sure I'd remember if they had been.

And yes, it's probably at its best in a straight line .

I was surprised at the inter-cooler seal costs (£80 or so for a full set), and am not sure if it seal or alloy retainer that is the problem. Heat shrink could be a good "until the end of its life" choice.