Vauxhall Zafira cambelt change advice needed

atrixblue.-MFR-.

its not about increasing its value strider was pointing that people with tight attitudes toward maintenance when buying.

so if car was worth on average 1890 someone came along and asked if timing belt done reply is no they would haggle you down and pick more faults your out of pocket, where as if it looks good maintaoned with the timing belt and water pump done potential buyers would be more inclined to purchase closer to the price advertised rather than try and knock you dow 3-400 because the timing belt hasnt been done water pump hasnt been done, scratch here scratch there. so your not increasing its price just maintaining it value to the best you can.

the pro's of belt changes are maintain value, prolong engine life span,and a worry off the mind when will it snap.

cons..a belt done properly wont snap after a change only when people scrip on parts do they snap majority of people take the view of just replacing the belt then a tensioner siezes or water pump impeller shaft seizes and SNAP bang ping some valves.

vax2002

Are you saying there is no record of it been replaced or you know 100% it has never been, it would be very unusual for such and old car to get that far on 1 belt.

jase1

useless_git_requires_wife wrote: »

You think that a banger's value is increased by £300 by paying £300 for a timing belt change? I'm not at all convinced.

For every future purchaser of the car the feels that way, there would be plenty more who don't care and are just concerned to buy a cheap car that goes. Remember, we're talking about cheap cars here.

And to repeat another point.....it's quite uncanny (if you ask people who had a timing belt snap) how many of them had it changed relatively recently.

It's all a question of how long you think you'll be keeping the car for.

I've just replaced the belt on a £1000 Mitsubishi on-time, at a cost of £240 (including the fan/cambelt, tensioner and water pump). The engine (4G18 8valve) isn't known for throwing belts. So why did I bother? Because I anticipate keeping the car for a few more years yet, and it's a small price to pay to keep the car in working order.

If the cambelt/pump goes shortly afterwards, the garage has to put it right. If it lasts 3 months it'll last 3 years.

If I was getting rid in six months, I wouldn't have bothered.

It also depends on the car. As I alluded to before, the GM Family 2 16V engine from the late 1990s (1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 petrols) are prone to failure of the (plastic) tensioners. To run such a car past its specified interval is playing with fire. If you anticipate running the car for a while, for goodness sake get it done if it's a Vauxhall/Saab/Daewoo with one of the above engines (Daewoo dragged on with these frankly pretty poor engines until around 2006, whereas Vauxhall discontinued them around 2002-3).

mikey72

The main problem with driving until the cambelt snaps, even on a £400 banger, is it never goes on your drive, when someone is driving past with a bargain they desperately need to shift, followed by a scrap van that'll take away the old one for top whack.

By the time you've got it off the motorway where it exploded in the third lane, bought whatever you can for monday morning, or took a day or two's holiday to sort out picking it up and getting rid of the old one, the £250 looks a bargain.

ethanhall75

Hi there
I have purchased recently a 2003/53 reg Peugeot 206 1.1 petrol. The mileage is only 46,000 so good miles, but it is nearly 9 years old.

so is it due a cambelt change? or is it ok as its only done 46k miles?

jase1

I would, if the car is a good one otherwise. Cambelts are a time/mileage thing.