I will shortly be replacing the timing belt and water pump on my Polo.
Question is should I stick with genuine VW parts or pattern ones? If I go the pattern route I would use someone like GSF.
The parts in question are 1) timing belt, 2) tensioner, 3) water pump.
Price from GSF is circa £65 and from VW circa £85.
I would prefer to use genuine parts, but if there is no difference then I would also like to save £20!
The car is a 'bangernomics' project and I want to keep it going for as long as possible, for as little as possible.
Advice please.
|
|
If you give me the year & engine code I will give a rough price for a Gates kit & SKF Water Pump, which are about the best on the market. Regards
|
|
Hi - it's a 1996 1.4 - engine code AEX. Thanks.
|
|
At Euro Car Parts, an item with a zero at the end of its number is essentially an OEM part. They are normally cheaper than main-dealer OEM parts, but sometimes not by much. I always check Euro and GSF against MB main-dealer prices; if the difference isn't that great, I default to MB main-dealer parts, partly because I can get a good discount on them and also because I keep my cars for a long time, so spread over years the extra cost is trivial. Sometimes the difference is too much to ignore, e.g. radiators that from GSF (made by Nissens, a Danish company) are one third of the MB dealer price.
|
|
|
|
Much of what GSF does is sourced from the same OE manufacturers so it should be of the same quality as main dealer although it would be wise to check before you buy.
|
|
VW Parts carry a 2 year parts and labour warranty, even if fitted by a non VW garage, I don't think that includes DIY, but not sure. As long as you get Gates, Contitech or something used by car manufacturers, I'm sure they'll be fine.
|
VW Parts carry a 2 year parts and labour warranty, even if fitted by a non VW garage, I don't think that includes DIY, but not sure. As long as you get Gates, Contitech or something used by car manufacturers, I'm sure they'll be fine.
There is a sting in the VW warenty for them to honour it even if fitted by DIY or independent VW want the vehicle ispected with the faulty part still attached then they will dismantle ,inspect then if they agree its faulty will replace free of charge.They will not just supply the part.
--
rustbucket (the original)
|
|
|
|
|
|
I have used GSF BQ (best quality) parts on my Golfs for at least the last 20 years and I have no complaints at all, just make sure they sell you the right part for your model.
|
|
I would have thought that the GSF parts would be fine, especially if it is partly a bangernomics project.
|
Hi. The Gates number is K015427XS look to pay around £45 +vat, & the Water Pump number is VKPC81210, pay around £25ish + vat. Obviously these is only a guideline, based on a member of the public coming into my work (motor factor) & getting a bit of trade discount. It will depend on the make of parts used but I can tell you we don't get any problems with Gates of SKF product.
Regards.
|
|
Gates supply a lot of the car manufacturers with cambelts/pulleys/tensioners so as has been said there is absolutely no problem with their parts.
|
I fitted SKF timing belt kits to both our current cars (Fords). The kits contained Gates "PowerGrip" belts with SKF tensioners, and the kits were recommended by several mechanics I spoke to. The parts fitted perfectly, and came with everything required, even down to new bolts for the tensioner pulleys. They wre around £10 cheaper than "Ford" kits from the local dealer.
As Ian says, a lot of factory installed cambelts are made by Gates, and they do have a superb reputation. The factor where I bought the kits said they standardised on these kits a few years ago because they are trusted by the trade, and it's almost unheard of for one to fail prematurely unless it's been incorrectly fitted.
That and the various recommendations on here were good enough for me to entrust them with two engines.
Cheers
DP
|
|
|
|
