Advice needed on snapped cambelt, clio 2010 1.2

[LCA4783]

I'm seeking some realistic and helpful advice please.
The cam belt went last weekend on my 2010 Clio whilst driving on a dual carriageway and due to the nature of this I have been told there could be serious and costly engine damage due to the interference engine, valves, pistons, etc.
I am not mechanically minded at all but after recognising the engine was louder than normal I did reach out to a mechanic I have regularly used over the years, multiple times the last month seeking advice on the issue requesting to have it looked at however he only replied a few days before it was too late! Totally my responsibility I know as I should’ve taken it elsewhere and I am now kicking myself as I have been left with the consequences and in a worse position.
Without a car I am pretty stressed out and in a real bind about what to do based on the age of it, financial constraints and everything else. I have only had the car 3 years- got a fairly good deal and it has relatively low mileage around 60k. I haven't had many issues at all with it up until now but I also scraped the passenger side so body work is not clean. Mentioning all this as it factors into the overall market value when looking at alternatives or a replacement!
I have spoken to a few mechanics who have said scrap it, it's not worth the cost. The mechanic who let me down has quoted £680 parts and £500 labour. Others have suggested looking at sourcing a second hand engine as an option rather than the effort and cost to replace the cam belt and all the other parts that may pop up however this also comes down to labour costs? Is it worth it? Any advice, greatly appreciated.

[GreenV8S]

A lot of that information is irrelevant.

What's the car worth in its broken state?

What would it cost to buy a similar but unbroken car?

What's the maximum you would expect to pay to fix it back to the state it was in before this happened?

With those numbers you can see immediately whether it's financially better to fix it or replace it.

[njw1]

It's a fifteen year old car with a broken engine and bad bodywork that would be cheap even if it was A1.
I'm inclined to agree with the people that have said to scrap it.
You've had three years use out of it which isn't bad.

[johnsmith222]

Either replace the engine or scrap it. You could also try selling it spares or repair, but may not be worth the hassle.

It is possible to fix your engine but it is a complete time sink, and not really worth doing unless it was something special.

Edited by johnsmith222 on Saturday 26th April 17:37

[Richard-D]

LCA4783 said:

I'm seeking some realistic and helpful advice please.
The cam belt went last weekend on my 2010 Clio whilst driving on a dual carriageway and due to the nature of this I have been told there could be serious and costly engine damage due to the interference engine, valves, pistons, etc.
I am not mechanically minded at all but after recognising the engine was louder than normal I did reach out to a mechanic I have regularly used over the years, multiple times the last month seeking advice on the issue requesting to have it looked at however he only replied a few days before it was too late! Totally my responsibility I know as I should’ve taken it elsewhere and I am now kicking myself as I have been left with the consequences and in a worse position.
Without a car I am pretty stressed out and in a real bind about what to do based on the age of it, financial constraints and everything else. I have only had the car 3 years- got a fairly good deal and it has relatively low mileage around 60k. I haven't had many issues at all with it up until now but I also scraped the passenger side so body work is not clean. Mentioning all this as it factors into the overall market value when looking at alternatives or a replacement!
I have spoken to a few mechanics who have said scrap it, it's not worth the cost. The mechanic who let me down has quoted £680 parts and £500 labour. Others have suggested looking at sourcing a second hand engine as an option rather than the effort and cost to replace the cam belt and all the other parts that may pop up however this also comes down to labour costs? Is it worth it? Any advice, greatly appreciated.

The price you have been we quoted is an absolute steal for the work required. To the extent that I don't believe it can be done so cheaply (DIY aside).

A replacement engine will likely cost a good deal more and always has risks involved (I always go this route but only because I can do the work myself).

Also think it important to point out that the mechanic didn't in any way 'let you down' in the situation you describe.

[White-Noise]

I would add that I had an engine go on my 406 many years ago I sourced to replacement which should have been identical but it really wasn't and it became much more complicated and this side of it isn't to be underestimated if you are replacing it.

[Super Sonic]

Scrap the car. Don't throw good money after bad fitting a s/H engine of unknown condition.

[littleredrooster]

The repair costs sound about right. Cost of a used engine + labour for fitting will probably be in the same area, but then you have an engine which may be just about to snap the cambelt again unless you replace it before use, so add another £300-£500 for that (total guess, I don't know how complex the engine is).

Net result, I would suggest, is just to bite the bullet and scrap it now for whatever you can get for it - ebay as a non-runner may be a starting point.

Life hurts, sometimes - been there, done that with exactly the same problem.

[brillomaster]

TL,DR - cam belt snapped on a 2010 Renault clio with 60k on the clock - should you try and fix it, get a replacement engine, or scrap it?

I'd probably sell it as spares or repair. Clios are pretty common, and not particularly special, so rather than throw money at it with an expensive repair, I'd just put repair money towards a new car.

Sorry for the snapped belt, that sucks. Be sure to check the servicing of the next car you buy and keep up with the maintenance.

[paul_c123]

Its the age which kills the value/worth of it. That and being a cheap small economy car to start with, and it being a known weak engine (if its fixed at £1000+, something else might go wrong on it). Definitely not worth fixing.

[blue_haddock]

100% not viable to repair.

Stick it on an eBay auction 99p start and no reserve.

It sells for whatever it reaches and then you buy a new car.

[Smint]

Only you as the owner knows truly how well maintained or not your car is, if apart from a side scratch and the obvious current engine damage its an otherwise A1 condition car then it might be worth the expense, its monetary value to another buyer only comes into the decision if you intend to sell it, if its just another neglected mass market car then probably best to flog it as it is and move on.

Cambelts and all other must do servicing most of us have learned the hard way to make sure these things are done on time/mileage, if lucky and i was 40 odd years ago it was a non interference B20 engined Volvo which proved a simple DIY repair at the side of the road.

If you replace the car suggest don't buy a car with a wet cambelt, design lunacy.

[stevieturbo]

Smint said:

If you replace the car suggest don't buy a car with a wet cambelt, design lunacy.

Very sound advice. Or indeed almost any cheapish car with 3 cylinders. They just do not work.

[LCA4783]

Thanks all for your suggestions and advice. I do accept that given the cars age and repair costs it makes sense to get rid and find another car.

My next question would be what would be a reasonable price to list it at or expect for it given it is a non runner? I obviously would like the best I can get. Some scrap companies have already quoted way lower than expected around £100-£150 and WBAC £250 however this is before they have inspected it and I also have no way of getting it to them. (This is where I usually offload mine). I'm thinking to list it on EBAY, FB marketplace. I'd like it gone asap without any complication.

Another question would be what's a reliable cheap economical small second hand car to consider right now? I'm looking at Toyotas, Hondas, Citroens?? Ideally low tax, insurance and no cam belt! After such bad luck with 3 Clios I think it's time to steer clear!

[E-bmw]

LCA4783 said:

Thanks all for your suggestions and advice. I do accept that given the cars age and repair costs it makes sense to get rid and find another car.

My next question would be what would be a reasonable price to list it at or expect for it given it is a non runner? I obviously would like the best I can get. Some scrap companies have already quoted way lower than expected around £100-£150 and WBAC £250 however this is before they have inspected it and I also have no way of getting it to them. (This is where I usually offload mine). I'm thinking to list it on EBAY, FB marketplace. I'd like it gone asap without any complication.

Another question would be what's a reliable cheap economical small second hand car to consider right now? I'm looking at Toyotas, Hondas, Citroens?? Ideally low tax, insurance and no cam belt! After such bad luck with 3 Clios I think it's time to steer clear!

Personally, if you can get £150 for scrap, to save the hassle, I would bite their hand off.

Do you have a COPART auction site near you, they can sometimes be a good bet.

Anything by Toyota/Honda/Citroen will be OK, but beware of Citroen 1.2 wet belt engines.

I think anything in that category is cam-belt unfortunately.

[Smint]

If you can manage with a supermini, Aygo and its clones with the 1 litre engine are as good as anything, chain cam too, parts cheap as chips, ie front pads and discs from £50 up to £80 for well known brands, doddle to fit.
Yaris and Diahatsu Sirion (Yaris in a dumpy frock) are good bets too, not sure which will have cam belts.
There's nothing wrong with well designed engines with (dry) cambelts, just make sure it gets changed on time and do the water pump at the same time.

Look for evidence of an annual oil change on anything you consider and have a butchers underneath at the subframes, you ought to be looking under every possible vehicle, cars that lived in Scotland suffer especially badly from the salt fetish.

[catso]

My Son had a 2007 Clio 1.4, cambelt snapped (actually it didn't break, rather it sheared off the teeth around the crank pulley - same result though).

Doom and gloom from Garages, engine likely finished, if repairable minimum a grand etc. so with, effectively nothing to lose I decided to have a look.

Pulled off the head to find all the exhaust valves bent but other than a few marks on the piston tops all looked to be OK.

I bought a complete valve 'kit' plus a new belt, water pump, tensioner pulley and the cambelt alignment tools and did the job myself. Maybe not for the faint-hearted but not that bad either, total cost for the parts came to £250 - the cheeky sod then said he'd leave it until it broke again rather than change it next time as he'd been quoted £300 to change the belt not long before it broke!

Obviously a garage would charge a lot more for the labour but what I'm trying to say is the damage might not be as bad as you think.

Otherwise a replacement used engine might be cheaper than a repair? Coincidentally this was a replacement engine as a couple of years prior to the belt breaking it was driven through a flood which completely seized the engine, IIRC it cost about £750 done by a local garage (shame he didn't fit a new cambelt at the time).

With regards to scrapping, this very Clio went to the breakers last year - they gave me £350 for it, running or not.

Edited by catso on Thursday 8th May 16:24

[LCA4783]

Thanks. I’m going with the mechanics conclusion that the repairs are severe and not worth it however it has been niggling away at me what if the damage is not as bad as suspected? He carried out a diagnostic test and lifted off the engine casing for other checks but said further inspection would be needed and this would mean losing money to be told the same thing? A few other mechanics over the phone have agreed and said he is likely correct about the level of damage as it’s often easy to tell these things from a few checks without further investigation.
A second hand engine has been suggested but again costs start to mount up.

[E-bmw]

Having done both jobs on 2 different cars over the years I can tell you that (pretty much) ONLY if you can do it yourself is it worthwhile.

Had a BMW 6 cyl several years ago with a full set of bent exhaust valves (no idea how) that I only found when changing the head gasket & deciding to lap the valves (while I was in there) that I did all on my own.

Around £200 in parts, £1000 car.

Then a 1.6 volvo diesel which I changed the engine on as I didn't know if the issue was block or head gasket (turned out I was glad I did it that way as 2 of the head bolts WOULD NOT come out when dismantling the engine to scrap the metal) and both are doable with a little space & time to do it carefully.

Around £1100 in parts, £8000 car.

Edited by E-bmw on Friday 9th May 08:29

[JONATHAN_11_80]

These are simple engines dating back years and really easy to work on. Find a decent garage should be up and running for under a grand. Yes it will have bent valves and a few marks on the pistons but it will be fine with a new set of valves.