It's coming to 60,000 and therefore timing belt time. I've fallen out with main dealers and found a reasonable independent close by (done a good job so far). Question is do most people trust cambelts to independents? Also I'm told by a friend that this may be a "difficult" cambelt and could need the VW computer to reset timing afterwards (he only trusts main dealers with his cars!). Has anyone done one/had one done and know whether or not it is out of the ordinary? I hope to use the local guy - not asked him yet thought I'd ask here first.
All help appreciated.
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I've never heard of needing a computer to reset the timing after a belt change. (I'm not very mechanically minded though!)
Our independent is a friend of Dad's so we're quite lucky really but even if we didn't have that, I still wouldn't take my car to a dealer. Dad's bought new and newish cars all his life and they've never been to the dealer either. If you like the independent, and feel happy about it then go there.
Me personally, I can see no advantage of a dealer over an independent - but that's me!
P.S. - I had my Ford cambelt changed last year.......yep - you guessed it - at an indie!
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Have you had a price from them to do the job? Only asking as my A4 with the same engine is due a belt change in 9K and was wondering the same question.
May take it to VW/Skoda as heard they are cheaper as its out of warranty anyway with the mileage.
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No price yet but will post when I get it done. I'm hoping less than about £250 but could be way under/over - I've no idea!
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An indie VW specialist should be able to do this very easily - absolutely no reason to take to main dealer, unless you like paying completely over the odds.
Not sure I'd trust the "general" local garage to do this as the job does warrant a specialist's tools etc, but I didn't think it would need a computer to set the timing. I think the set up on these PD engines is absolutely critical so I really would go for the indie specialist route
I had mine done at a VW specialist and with a full service and the cambelt, tensioner and some sort of dampner changed the cost was something like £250 cheaper than the main dealer, and done on a Saturday morning as well - if you're in the North Midlands I'd be happy to recommend them as I've had great service from them over the last couple of years.
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No but in West Yorkshire area - anyone any recommendations?
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if you look in the yellow pages there are 2 i know of in leeds,1 in gildersome, im sure you won't have a problem finding one. good luck
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An indie VW specialist should be able to do this very easily if you're in the North Midlands I'd be happy to recommend them
Would that be the indie in Cannock? Heard myself they are very good.
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Every town has at least 1 independant VW garage, and at least 1 independant diesel specialist. A job like a cambelt should be childs play to any garage - but take it to a VW or diesel place for extra peace of mind.
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The one I'd recommend is in Norton Canes (they were in Cannock a few years ago). Family firm, very impressive......simple google on VW Midland and you'll get there....
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No votes for the decent independent then? Any decent independents out there who feel differently?
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why not ring around for yourself?? there's plenty to go at!!!!!
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I entrusted a cambelt change to an independent VW garage who made a (possibly genuine) mistake. The result was that the engine blew up in the middle of France on the first day of a 3 week holiday. To cut a long story short, the replacement engine cost over £3000 and the court case took over 2 years which I eventually won and got my money. Would I go to an independent for something like a cambelt again? No thanks.
Keep upright
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We had a car (I wont' say which one) which went into a dealer for a routine item but they managed to supposedly blow the head gasket and then crack the engine block. The court case was fairly messy and we basically cut our losses.
That doesn't mean ALL main dealers are bad - does it?
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I suppose my main point is that if anything goes wrong and it ends up in court it's fairly easy to win the case but it's getting the money that's the tricky bit. I won the case and sent the bailiffs in to the garage but they are not allowed to take tools of the trade. It's the same as the old story about getting knocked off your bike, make sure it's by a wealthy man with good insurance.
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Whether you're going to a main-dealer or an independant, they might make a mistake. Either way you'd be very unlucky - but I'd rather not be paying £70/h labour in the first place. Go to a good independant, it doesn't have to be a VW specialist, just a decent well-priced place with a good word-of-mouth reputation. Better still, go somewhere that services lots of taxis - Skoda Octavias have the same engine as your Golf.
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A good insurance policy with this job is to get all tensioners, rollers and water pump (to a brass impeller type) changed while the belt's being done. One of the rollers doesn't always make it to the 60k....... Ask for all the removed items for inspection. This will make more difference in the future than who actually does the job IMO.
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You are being quite brave waiting until 60,000 I thought there was a recommendation to get the belt and pulleys etc changed much earlier. The belt on this car is no more diffficult than many others, so a good specialist who believes in using quality parts should be ok.
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Interesting - I'm grateful for your replies. I think I'll go for the independent I've used before - but appreciate there are many views. Will certainly get the tensioners/rollers done also - had assumed they got changed routinely? Not considered getting the water pump done - will it add much to the cost? I can see the rationale certainly - presumably as a brass pump is mentioned this is different to that originally fitted?
Regards.
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GSF do a brass impeller water pump for 24 quid plus. Some model, 5 cyl diesel apparently have them fitted anyway, worth checking your car with VW. The plastic impeller type fitted to a LOT of VW's since 1998 and are prone to failure. It's not unheard of for the water pump to fail shortly after the 60k cambelt service. This is a really pain on a ford galaxy owners as ford (maybe VW too) specify that the whole belt system must be changed again, regardless of mileage, two 600 pound services within 3 months leads to some angry bunnies....
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Definately have the water pump done at the same time, and replaced with the brass impeller type - the original in my old A4 went at 80k miles.
S6 1SW
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Had it done today. Chose local independent - seems to have done a good job. Says was a bit of a pain, something about an engine mounting in the way but no real bother.
Total cost £340, including 60, 000 mile service. I'm fairly happy at that - that was belt and tensioners changed. Mentioned water pump, they felt that next time would be reasonable for pump so left it at that, rightly or wrongly. I wouldn't have minded if they'd been keen to change it, got the impression they felt it was overkill. I'll post again if it goes before next cambelt change! Price breakdown was TB kit £114 and labour for belt £104 (ex vat of course).
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