cambelt change?

mikey72

TiTheRev wrote: »

It's not bad practice if they dont fail

The water pump would add approx £30 to the bill, but isn't changed as a rule, as since the Mk4 Golf they are very rarely seeing any issues.

It's bad practice.
Once again though, let's throw it open and see if it's VW penny pinching and a way of bumping up the £319, or if the rest of the forum agree it's good practice to leave them on forever.

TiTheRev

mikey72 wrote: »

It's bad practice.
Once again though, let's throw it open and see if it's VW penny pinching and a way of bumping up the £319, or if the rest of the forum agree it's good practice to leave them on forever.

It can't be a way of bumping up the £319 if they are not needed. I can honestly say that I have not supplied more than 1 water pump on a VW (other than the recognised Mk4 Golf issues which have mostly been replaced now) in the last 2/3 years. Why add money to a bill when it's not required? The only pump i can recall supplying was to a local cabbie with a Phaeton who'd done 160k in 2 years, but the engine was chain driven so wasn't connected to the timing anyway!

mikey72

That's VW's choice.
I've never skimped on a cambelt change and tried to save thirty quid by not having the water pump changed at the same time.
Like I said, let's get some more opinions though.

darich

Just had my cambelt changed - recommended interval is 75k or 5 years. Mine was done at 4.5 years although my mileage is around 46k.
£348 from an independent garage.
Included the belt, tensioners, water pump, coolant.
Kit alone was around £120 and it's a genuine OEM part.

robbies_gal

glad tp start off a discussion about cambelts! unfortunately i dont know anyone who could do mine if i bought it myself and would prefer to get some local quotes

mikey youre right the dealership is about 15 miles away nowhere near anything i guess thats why they offer a brilliant price match that noone can do!

TiTheRev

gabbyevs wrote: »

glad tp start off a discussion about cambelts! unfortunately i dont know anyone who could do mine if i bought it myself and would prefer to get some local quotes

mikey youre right the dealership is about 15 miles away nowhere near anything i guess thats why they offer a brilliant price match that noone can do!

Surely you can ring a garage local to the Dealer and get a quote from them for fitting a GENUINE belt kit (and water pump if you want!!), then ring the Dealer, see what they quote and then say 'Garage X can do it for £X amount, can you price match'...assuming it's cheaper of course

You will be able to get a courtesy car from the Dealer while the work is done too, so even if it's 15miles away you can take their car and get on with your day while they work.

robbies_gal

yes good point rev

pendulum

slyracoon wrote: »

Do you buy your cambelt kits at Harrods?

His estimate of about £100 for a proper cambelt kit sounds about right to me. I tried GSF, EuroCarParts & a local motorfactor and all wanted between £95 and £125 for a kit for my Citroen ZX. (Waterpump extra).

Maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places...!

mikey72

pendulum wrote: »

His estimate of about £100 for a proper cambelt kit sounds about right to me. I tried GSF, EuroCarParts & a local motorfactor and all wanted between £95 and £125 for a kit for my Citroen ZX. (Waterpump extra).

Maybe I'm shopping in the wrong places...!

£50 to £100 (with waterpump) for a polo from buypartsonline.
I'd still prefer a dealer part, but I like gates as well.

Dave101t

my car is on 120k without a cambelt change, tho its a company car and they want to risk it so im happy.
normally it should be 30-40k but id simply do it as soon as i bought the car (if 2nd hand) then every 30k miles thereafter.
and for 50-80 quid you cant go wrong, get a haynes manual and DIY!