View Full Version : 1.4 servicing
just been phoning around SEAT dealers to get my girlfriends 1.4 (N reg)booked in for ts 60K service and an mot. Its cambelt time unfortunately, but so far the price has been from £350 - £370. is it just me or is that a tad high for a model that has an easy cambelt to change? or am I just being stingy?
:cheers:
that's what I got quoted for mine from a main dealer
Belt costs £7.50+vat from german & swedish (golf III ABD engine) and then £35+vat labour to have it fitted.
although, it was easy to change I got stumped at the last hurdle when I ran out of spanners.
M
is that all??!! there's some mark up going on there! The only pain is its got full seat service history and it would be a shame to lose it - damn!
:cheers:
hopkinsgm
01-12-2003, 12:44
Try Holders in Congresbury (SEAT dealer) - they're still fairly close to you. They did a 50k service plus cambelt (at my request) and an MOT for about £200 plus VAT last year. I was quoted over £400 by at least one other dealer in the south west...
aha! mr Hopkins :)
thanks, I'll give them a try
:cheers:
IMO a dealer service history on a car of that age and type is going to mean not a lot. If it were a Merc or a Porsche then I would continue to service it at a dealer or specialist.
tomgoodfella
02-12-2003, 09:57
sorry to hi-jack the thread!
i've got a '97 1.4 at 37k which was due for its year service last month.
i thought the cam belt needs changing at 40k?
those prices are a bit scary........ (student hardship and all)
i think my dad would be competent at changing it but i also have a FSSH so far... hmmm
whatcha reckon?
tbh the difference between what FSSH & a FSH will get you when your car is with sub 2k (which it is) is going to be negligible.
why pay 10x more for something? It's a straight forward job to do tho.
Exactly as Haynes says.
Mark
hopkinsgm
02-12-2003, 11:18
Originally posted by tomgoodfella
...i've got a '97 1.4 at 37k which was due for its year service last month.
i thought the cam belt needs changing at 40k?...
Cam belt is due at either 60k or 6 years. 40k is suggested if it has been tampered with or removed for any reason. I had mine done at 50k for a bit of peace of mind - whilst many of the miles have been fairly easy motorway cruising, some haven't. Track days, road rallies, autotesting and solo's, along with the odd "spirited" (ahem! :D) backroad thrash just because i fancied it all takes its' toll.
Value of dealer service history? As m0rk states, not a lot on a sub £2k car. As my '99 Cupra Sport is fast approaching that level (offered £2.2k trade in recently), I dare say a '97 1.4 - albeit one with about half the miles mine has - can't be too far off either. I may entrust the next one to a dealer and pay the premium or I may go to an unfranchised VAG specialist. TBH, the dealer i've been using (Holders, as mentioned above) actually have pretty sensible labour rates for a franchised dealer, so may continue taking the car there.
The upshot of this means tomgoodfella, your cambelt is ovedue. I had my '97 car cambelt changed at the recommended (by SEAT) 60k interval or every 6 years but will now change every other year.
I think Haynes recommend a change every 40k/2 years ???
RadCordy
02-12-2003, 11:39
Think of it like this.
Local garage would do the same job (if not better) for around 100-120 quid. You will be saving £250! Your car wont be worth £250 more when you sell it due to one of the services not being from Seat will it?
Makes sense!
I'm proud my car has never seen the inside of a Seat dealer since ive owned it. This way i know stuff has been done and i'm not being ripped off!
My dad a mechanic and reckons the cambelt would be done in under 1 hour anyway! ;)
hopkinsgm
02-12-2003, 12:34
Whilst on the subject of cambelts...
I read recently that with VAG motors, it's generally actually the cambelt tensioner that fails, and as a result these should always be changed when the belt is done. All the Seat dealers i've spoken to about this have said either "every other cambelt" or "there's a cambelt tensioner?"... Anyone care to comment?
Originally posted by hopkinsgm
Whilst on the subject of cambelts...
I read recently that with VAG motors, it's generally actually the cambelt tensioner that fails, and as a result these should always be changed when the belt is done. All the Seat dealers i've spoken to about this have said either "every other cambelt" or "there's a cambelt tensioner?"... Anyone care to comment?
Not heard this before. But I did have the tensioner changed at the same time as the belt: £26 for tensioner, £11 for belt, hardly breaks the bank and adds about 10 mins to the labour cost if that. A set of NGK plugs was less than £12 - with the consumables this cheap you could change them every year if one was a car-hypocondriac:p
As an aside, not sure what exactly breaks on the tensioner but I still have the old one in the garage and it seems a hefty lump of metal.
Had my cambelt done about 4months ago, at my local dealer (County Garage - Teignmouth) cost me about £120. Aparently the APQ engine is a bit fiddley to change the cam belt on.
They also changed the tensioner at the same time, so G, your comments above are quite true.
tomgoodfella
03-12-2003, 14:57
i'll probly get my dad to do it if he thinks he can do it over the xmas break.
i hardly use my car nowadays being at uni. :(
i go home once a month which is a 150 mile round trip
and use it once every saturday or every-other saturday to go shopping which is about 10 miles.