Cam belt change

[shafton red]

Need some help... my FR TDI (56plate) Leon is approaching 60,000 miles and i am due to have the belt changed. I have spoken with the local dealer who gave me a price and told me that the tensioner may need replacing and that it would cost a bit more if this was the case.
So i then called a VW/Seat specialist garage who told gave me a cheaper price but said they may need to change the water pump but wouldnt know until they took the belt of. Now i am no mechanic but it sounds like they are talking .

So my questions are;
1) Would you take to a independent garage for this to save on the rip off dealer prices?
2) What have they had to change on yours when doing this work?
3) Whats the average price that you have been charged for this work?

Cheers

 

[DanGB]

Need some help... my FR TDI (56plate) Leon is approaching 60,000 miles and i am due to have the belt changed. I have spoken with the local dealer who gave me a price and told me that the tensioner may need replacing and that it would cost a bit more if this was the case.
So i then called a VW/Seat specialist garage who told gave me a cheaper price but said they may need to change the water pump but wouldnt know until they took the belt of. Now i am no mechanic but it sounds like they are talking .

So my questions are;
1) Would you take to a independent garage for this to save on the rip off dealer prices?
2) What have they had to change on yours when doing this work?
3) Whats the average price that you have been charged for this work?

Cheers

I doubt there is anyone else who has really done that milage on here yet...

but to answer question one, I would much rather take it to an independant garage, than a dealer.

 

[shafton red]

Wish i hadnt mate but due to the job i eat miles up everyday. Usually get rid just as it gets to 55,000 which is about 18 months but can't really afford it this year. Had a few ideas of ways to use my Gap Insurance but decided to stick with it and get it done but wasnt sure of some of the things being said to me.
Think i will be going independent though, dont trust my local dealer one bit after all the hassel i have had with them.

 

[davemotor]

buy a genuine VAG timing belt kit (ask for and expect up to 30% discount) and as long as long as you have an invoice from whoever fits it (stating reg, mileage, date etc) then the 24 month unlimited mileage warranty on parts and labour still applies. It is best practice to repalce water pump while it is stripped - expect £25-£40 depending on engine code for a genuine one. Hope this helps

 

[shafton red]

buy a genuine VAG timing belt kit (ask for and expect up to 30% discount) and as long as long as you have an invoice from whoever fits it (stating reg, mileage, date etc) then the 24 month unlimited mileage warranty on parts and labour still applies. It is best practice to repalce water pump while it is stripped - expect £25-£40 depending on engine code for a genuine one. Hope this helps

Cheers mate, but i thought that the warrenty was for 60,000 or 2 yrs whichever came first?

I have also spoken today to a cambelt specialist who told me that the engine number was the same as the Audi and Skoda cars both of which required the Cam belt changing at 70,000 and 80,000 miles..... i reckon Seat are just trying to make some extra money by getting it done at 60,000 and may now wait until i am touching 70,000 before changing. Anyone else tried this on the old leon fr?

 

[johnbev]

It says in my handbook 80,000 miles for diesel engines with injector pump and 60,000 miles for petrol cars??? Check your service/maintenance book yours may be the same

I know it used to be 60,000 but not anymore

 

[saintsfanno1]

Need some help... my FR TDI (56plate) Leon is approaching 60,000 miles and i am due to have the belt changed. I have spoken with the local dealer who gave me a price and told me that the tensioner may need replacing and that it would cost a bit more if this was the case.
So i then called a VW/Seat specialist garage who told gave me a cheaper price but said they may need to change the water pump but wouldnt know until they took the belt of. Now i am no mechanic but it sounds like they are talking .

So my questions are;
1) Would you take to a independent garage for this to save on the rip off dealer prices?
2) What have they had to change on yours when doing this work?
3) Whats the average price that you have been charged for this work?

Cheers

To my mind it makes sense to replace a tensioner/pulley. This is common practise on ZETEC engines from Ford due to wear and bearing noise. Water Pump?? Wouldn't like to comment.

 

[davemotor]

every part purchased has a separate warranty over and above the vehicle warranty so no worries there. to be honest, timing belts are a talking point in every franchise. i come from an alfa romeo background where cars broke belts at 20k despite an interval of 40k or 60k. rover and ford say 100k ????? for the sake of a couple of a hundred quid once in your ownership i would be doing a belt at 60k at the very latest on any car. manufacturers stretch the recommended interval as far as possible to keep the pence per mile down in order to attract leasing companies - its not all based on mechanicals, money always comes in somewhere

 

[Teasy]

Some excellent advice here.
My dealer has just reminded me mine is due for renewal, it is 54 reg with 38,000 miles.
Special offer price of £200 but tensioner & water pump extra of course - knowing my luck it wont last 60k miles

 

[Jace]

I'd get the water pump & tensioners done, oh I do

I had a new belt fitted on my Golf, along with pump & tensioners, 13k down the road the propeller on the pump failed, lucky for me the guys at the garage did it all under warranty, & even fitted another new belt as they didnt want to refit the used one

 

[andycupra]

FYI,

the water pump advice is due to some water pump failures in the past. - if they do go then its a strip down job and ends up costing as much if not more than a cambelt change, so many people opt to pay a little more when changing the cambelt to reduce the likelyhood of a later bill.

 

[Al]

Do it all at one time IMO.

 

[IndigoBoy]

Change @ 40k miles !!!!

Greetings good people of the forum.

I'm due to put my '07 Leon MkII 2.0 FR TDi in for its 50k miles service in a couple of weeks time and when booking it into the dealers was horrified to be told that the cambelt change is now recommended @ 40k miles

What gives here ?

Back in October '08 I was told by the same dealer that it was due for a change @ 60k miles.

When I questioned the decrease in mileage I was told that the head of servicing had just recently returned from a meeting with SEAT with the new figure "and it was much better now because all the intervals for the different models were now standardised" or whatever that means !

Call me suspicious and cynical, but this smacks of SEAT attempting to extract additional revenue from existing owners at a time when new car sales must be plummeting.

Anyone have definitive information what the cambelt change interval for this model should be ?

Anybody else been given the 40k 'time for a belt change' story ?

Incidentally, I've been quoted £391 for belt and tensioner change (fully inclusive inc. VAT) by the dealer. Does this figure seem reasonable ?

Many thanks

 

[/dev/null]

Incidentally, I've been quoted £391 for belt and tensioner change (fully inclusive inc. VAT) by the dealer. Does this figure seem reasonable ?

Many thanks

I'm guessing that doesn't include the service as well? Ask them if they will discount the service for you if you have it all done at once.

 

[IndigoBoy]

I'm guessing that doesn't include the service as well? Ask them if they will discount the service for you if you have it all done at once.

Correct, that price is just the belt and tensioner. The 50k service is coming in at £222.23

The dealer runs a 'Commitment Card' scheme so I'm looking for a additional 10% off the total, but worth asking for a combo price as well.

Cheers

 

[/dev/null]

You can usually get 10% off by just arguing a bit anyway - tell them someone else has offered it cheaper and they usually will give you the 10%. Bear in mind though, this is just on the service labour cost and not the parts cost, so what you think might be a £22 discount might end up only being a £10 discount!

I'd ask them to do it for £500

 

[langy]

It says in my handbook 80,000 miles for diesel engines with injector pump and 60,000 miles for petrol cars??? Check your service/maintenance book yours may be the same

I know it used to be 60,000 but not anymore

That's how I read it as well. My next service is the 80k cambelt change and I got a rough price from the dealer in Letchworth and it was circa £800 (£400 cam belt + £400 service)

 

[Teasy]

Although mine is a MKI, I took the advice of a previous thread by various members......4 years or 40,000 miles whatever comes first, so I thought.....better safe than very very very sorry !!!!!!!

I asked for the old belt back and it did have some cracks but not engine threatening......but you never know

 

[moz-1593]

Correct, that price is just the belt and tensioner. The 50k service is coming in at £222.23

The dealer runs a 'Commitment Card' scheme so I'm looking for a additional 10% off the total, but worth asking for a combo price as well.

Cheers

Hi, this is my first post on this site. I recently bought A leon FR TDi on a 58 plate. It's on 39k now and I took it in for a problem with a radio speaker, asking at the time for a service price. £325 for a 40k service which includes all filters. I know a VW specialist who will do the same service for £155
I was told at the same time that I need a new timing belt at 40k (VW was generally 60k) I didn't ask for a price as my jaw was on the floor. I think it's a bit of clever marketing, there will have been the odd one (as with any car) that had a belt go before the recommended mileage. I imagine I will be waiting til 55k before I part with my hard earned.

All the best.

 

[dieselface]

When I questioned the decrease in mileage I was told that the head of servicing had just recently returned from a meeting with SEAT with the new figure "and it was much better now because all the intervals for the different models were now standardised" or whatever that means !

Call me suspicious and cynical, but this smacks of SEAT attempting to extract additional revenue from existing owners at a time when new car sales must be plummeting.

Anyone have definitive information what the cambelt change interval for this model should be ?

Anybody else been given the 40k 'time for a belt change' story ?

This is not very clear and I hear all sorts of 40k, 60k, 80k from different people/dealers and VAG brands... Going from the Seat maintenance schedules makes it no clearer than whats said on here.

According to the maintenance programme (2011) under general programme for inspection services it has:


At 60,000 then every 20,000 miles: Timing belt check condition and replace if necessary (only petrol engines, except 2.0 TSI and 2.0 TSFI)

Every 100,000: Timing belt for camshaft: Only TDI-PD engine.

Every 120,000: Timing belt for camshaft: Replace (2.0 FSI engines).

Every 130,000: Timing belt for camshaft: Replace (TDI Common Rail engines).

Every 200,000: Camshaft timing belt tension roller: Replace (TDI-PD engines).


Under the every 3,4,6 year intervals it has no mention of cambelts..

So what do I/we make from that?! - not very clear or helpful.

Personally from having a TDI-PD140 Golf mk5 which was replaced at 80,000... I'd get my TDI-CR checked at 60k and then checked every 10k after that and if it needs doing then it needs doing...