Ok Another rant ...

[Paul the 6th]

never had any dealings with cambelts until this year and then I've had 2 to do

audi s4 - £700!!!! £750 at vw main dealer and £700 at audi specialist in York.. All because they have to take the front end of the car off..

And then VW T4 - £500 at vw specialist or £560 at vw main dealer..

Bastrads, but still cheaper than a new engine

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

Bastrads, but still cheaper than a new engine

Yes, used to be every 4 years for cambelts.

BIL cambelt went on his Audi so thats trashed the top end.

Worse still he'd just had it done

Garage reckons its a rogue batch from a surplier, as its not the only one its happened to. Garage will be footing the bill, lucky for my BIL.

My Zafira is chain driven

My old Saab was too, are the new ones, I doubt it

Originally Posted by maviczap

Yes, used to be every 4 years for cambelts.

BIL cambelt went on his Audi so thats trashed the top end.

Worse still he'd just had it done

Garage reckons its a rogue batch from a surplier, as its not the only one its happened to. Garage will be footing the bill, lucky for my BIL.

My Zafira is chain driven

My old Saab was too, are the new ones, I doubt it

correct

VAG issued a recall on some tdi belt kits..

My uncles had the same thing happen

Originally Posted by specialone

My 4year old VW golf needs a service and MOT, when i bought it i thought it would come under long life servicing as my previous golf but because of low mileage i had to rivert back to 1 year servicing.

Anyway, last years bill was £207 with MOT, on the invoice it showed 4x £15 for the oil, £60 fecking quid for oil that gets changed every year, robbing c**ts.
So as its out of warranty now i decided to ring local garage, they want £165, so i thought sound, but the woman mentions a cambelt change according to her data, every 80k or 48 months, im not close to either, but she quotes me £343.80 as they always do the water pump.

Ive looked in my manual after speaking to them and it says 100k and no mention of time, so i ring VW, they quote me £169 for the minor service and MOT and £329 for the cambelt if i want it done.
I complain and mention the manual, " yeah we've changed the cambelt servicing now to a shorted time".

What? have cambelts suddenly got poor quality, or am i being synical and think that they pull in more work if they pop that in the servicing earlier?
Surely that is some kind of false wording or break of contract?

Ive ran a few VW's and only changed cambelts at 80k, so far touch wood, no problems.
My car has done less than 15k from new, am i right to refuse a cambelt change?

Also, the woman tells me the reason why they dont charge as much this year is my car is out of warranty so they dont need to check as much, confidence eh?


So in the end i booked it with VW as it was so close to the local garages price and they have been fine till now.

Rant over...

hi there dont run a vw but a ford i change the oil myself i use ford oil which is £30 odd a can but i buy 4 cans a time of ebay from a ford dealer at about £60 and ive got a tame mechanic to do the bits i just cant be bothered to do he used to work for ford and charges somewhere between £10 and £30 a hour,and at that price i just cant be bothered to do the dirty jobs myself.so all i can say to you is find a mechanic you can trust and dont pay through the nose

I changed thebelt and water pump on my Passat at 80,000 miles - not worth the risk of pushing the mileage more, or not doing the water pump at the same time. To be honest, if you guys are happy tinkering with your bikes then you should have no real problem changing the cam belt. The engine locking tools are available on ebay very cheap, and you only have to slide the front grille etc forward a few inches on the A4 and Passats. Just buy some threaded rod and cut two 9 or 10 inch sections and screw them into the chassis - then just pull the front end forwards. Get a Haynes manual and go for it.

Originally Posted by suzukigt380paul

hi there dont run a vw but a ford i change the oil myself i use ford oil which is £30 odd a can but i buy 4 cans a time of ebay from a ford dealer at about £60 and ive got a tame mechanic to do the bits i just cant be bothered to do he used to work for ford and charges somewhere between £10 and £30 a hour,and at that price i just cant be bothered to do the dirty jobs myself.so all i can say to you is find a mechanic you can trust and dont pay through the nose

I can do most work with my eyes shut standing on one leg tbh, I just don't get the time these days or the motivation, but the biggest thing is the stamp in the service book.

I paid £18k for this motor, had it 4 years next week and done less than 15k, if I sell it in the near future, a fsh is the minimum potential buyers would expect and would help me get the best price.

Regarding Service History I have only ever had main dealer services while under warranty but as soon as it is expired I have used a particular local garage and never had any problem. My Accord,which I kept when I finished work went back to Honda when I changed and even they were satisfied with the history.Primarily I think it is as long as the vehicle is serviced properly in conjuction with the service schedule it is irrelevent who actually does it and most of my past cars were all sold at the 80-100k mark at 4 and a bit years old.
The other side of the coin being my wifes Polo, VAG Serviced for 3 years but when we wanted to change it,even with the low milage we were offered no more money as the trade in was based on age and average mileage-----hence we still have it 7 years later

My little 1.2 Corsa doesn't have a cam belt. I feel left out of this thread

Change the for a and be happy

Originally Posted by Dicky Ticker

Regarding Service History I have only ever had main dealer services while under warranty but as soon as it is expired I have used a particular local garage and never had any problem. My Accord,which I kept when I finished work went back to Honda when I changed and even they were satisfied with the history.Primarily I think it is as long as the vehicle is serviced properly in conjuction with the service schedule it is irrelevent who actually does it and most of my past cars were all sold at the 80-100k mark at 4 and a bit years old.
The other side of the coin being my wifes Polo, VAG Serviced for 3 years but when we wanted to change it,even with the low milage we were offered no more money as the trade in was based on age and average mileage-----hence we still have it 7 years later

I firmly believe these days as long as its stamped, doesnt affect things whether its main dealer or not.
Like i said, any gimp can do a minor service, its just i cant stamp my own books or reset my service light albeit i think my neighbour has the equipment to.
On my old passat you could press buttons and turn the ignition on and reset it without a gizmo or pc.