£850 for cam belt change and service..what would you do?

SCUD

hello guys...
what would you do if you were in my place?

VW Golf car, 2002 model.
It is driven for 70k miles.

I wanted to have it serviced and change the cam/time belt.

I spoke to a servicing company specialised is servicing VW and Audi and they told me that they will change the cam belt along with the motor pump plus 60k miles service for £850.

this prices is much lower than what VW itself charge.

But how feasible is it to have this car serviced with that cost?

I got the car almost 3 years ago for around £3200, and I have spent like £1500 through these years on changing parts and servicing it.

Should I just continue on this course or there is some other alternatives?

fivetide

Is it reliable?

Does it do what you need it to?

Is it in decent nick?

If the answer to the above is yes then I would say better the devil you know.

You might well punt it on only to get a car that has an even bigger bill round the corner. It's certainly below average miles.

Jem8472

What about going to some local interdependent garages, they might be a bit cheaper.

anotherbaldrick

Hi SCUD.
If you gave some indication what neck of the woods you reside in we could give you some really good indipendants to phone around.

colino

Unless they've started throwing in 4 new tyres in a service, run away, that's crazy money for a run of the mill car.

SCUD

thanks guys for your input...
I live in west London and I guess prices here are not that cheap like what Dayle kindly shared with us.

I once used Kwik-fit but I didn't trust them and I felt they lied about many need-to-replace stuff mentioned in their report.

DUTR

Dayle wrote: »

That is crazy money....

I have just done an estimate for you.

Parts (at cost - for a 1.6 Petrol Golf) (all be similar)

Cambelt kit = £54
Water Pump = £14

Times the above by 1.6 (typical garage multiplication) = £108.80 for the cambelt parts.

Labour 4 hours at £30 per hour = £120

Total for cambelt = 228.80 EXC VAT or =274.56 With the VAT

Full service £119 + Vat (Plugs, Filters and Oil) he also does a multi vehicle check and small mini valet.

Total price = £416.40 INC VAT.

You are being robbed. I would advise against using that garage and go elsewhere.

At a dealership the labour is £100+ per hour

Destination_..._?

Being Audi , Volkswagen specialist is all good . That does not justify their very high quote they have given too you . Like others said , check with other independent good garages see what they quote . You should find out by few quotes exactly a truer better idea of cost of this job .
Not sure , personally I would spend £850 on a 2002 reg car ?

andygb

We had the cambelt and water pump replaced on our 1.9TDi last year, using an ex VAG mechanic and it cost £360 all in. He also replaced a CV boot at the same time.

KTF

Dayle wrote: »

Labour 4 hours at £30 per hour = £120

What garage is that quote from? I haven't seen one that charges £30 an hour for labour for years...

gilbert_and_sullivan

Make specialist indy.

People travel from over a hundred miles to use my Benz indie, for quality work and knowledge not just price.

Some makes are designed to be manufactured not serviced, buying into these makes costs you more in the long run.

VW group have been off my list for many years due to iffy reliability poor customer service and ridiculous maintenance costs, particularly if you prefer auto gearboxes.