Cam Belt Replacement - advice please

[paulw123]

make sure your independant has done golf belts before, as i too had a bad experience with one that had'nt, to my cost!!. Seems they are more difficult than the average car!!

[Poppa Dom]

Get it done asap  You should be able to get both the water pump and cam belt done at a main dealer for £399, there are deals out - shop around and get your local dealer to match it. They shoul dif they're on the ball! Don't forget that it is worth getting this done at a main dealer as all parts are warrantied for 2 years, which means if it does fail they're liable for sorting it out FOC.

Dom

[paulw123]

What dealers are doing it for £399?   thats web price without water pump.

AmD quoted on another forum
Good Morning,

We use OEM parts for the timing belt service, which are the same as VW use, just not in a VW box. Direct from manufacturer. (£312)

We can offer boxed genuine parts but this is at a greater cost. This would be £399.95 inc vat.

[swgti]

Wow £80 for some VW boxes.............................

[TimS996]

VW dealers in the Manchester area are offering this  at £400 all in. They are all part of the Inchape group, I think.

I got the call today, my car is an 08 with only 40k and nowhere in the handbook or in the Haynes manual can I see any mention of 4 years, only 60,000 miles. So could someone tell me where 4 years came from?

Rubber does perish, but not THAT fast!  For example I am currently restoring a car that has been sat in a garage for ten years. Whilst I am replacing a lot of stuff as part of the strip down, you would be surprised how good a condition some of the rubber hoses are in.

VW make these parts to last 60,000 miles. Putting an arbitrary 4 years on as well seems a bit over the top given average mileage most non-company car drivers do. The belt does not know it is on over 4 years, but it has been manufactured to high tolerances.

[DSG-GTI]

I have just had my belt and water pump replaced. (10-11-12) 58 plate with 38000 miles. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to getting it done as there are one or two horror stories of dealers actually getting the cam timing wrong... But as I purchased it from Inchcape VW Shrewsbury ( at 3 years old) I decided to take it back to them as they supplied it new and I have warranty with them just in case anything did go wrong... But all is well and couldn't fault them, Took just over 3 hours the tech even came out to have a chat before he started... probably the anxious look on my face but hey he didn't have to 

Cost was £399.00 all in   

[Emilwy]

I know someone who works on VW's all the time, well that's all he works on and he said no need to do it till 60 km and you could sell the car by that time so have a good XMAS mate 

[paulw123]

£399 was last years price, seems like you got a good deal 

4yrs is going to have a safety tolerance on it, i always change mine on the mileage limit as that makes more sense due to wear, as opposed to it ageing and cracking up after exactly 4yrs. It usually works out at every 5yrs for me.

[DSG-GTI]

£399 was last years price, seems like you got a good deal  

4yrs is going to have a safety tolerance on it, i always change mine on the mileage limit as that makes more sense due to wear, as opposed to it ageing and cracking up after exactly 4yrs. It usually works out at every 5yrs for me.

My car was in for a service last month and I got a phone call from some young fella from VW saying that it was due a belt and they would do it for that price... I was given a price at the time of the service, Think it was around £489 for the belt and pump... just said that it was to much and I would get it done elsewhere and left it at that.

I can see where you are coming from with the mileage... as you say it would probably be ok to take it another year without any problems but I didn't want to risk it... be just my luck to get 6 months and it go   I work on diesel engines and hydrostatic transmisions all day and wouldn't fancy having to come home and start stripping my own engine down them days are long gone  

[GrayMK5GTI]

I left mine for 5 years / 50k miles 

As said above if Audi can give an interval of 6(?) years for the same engine and materials then it's just vw trying to make money (who would take a car back to the main dealer when it's 8yrs old for example?)

If ford can make a belt last for 100k miles when it's made from the same material, then ours should be fine for wayyyy more than 4 years /60k miles.

Graeme

[TimS996]

In fact the dealer today told me it was 4 years or 120,000miles!

I agree with the comments re Audi. VW are trying to scare people in to it.