So what are the odds

[Armchair Expert]

Booked my car in for an MOT and cam belt change, an Alfa 156 1.8. Cam belt should have been changed in April but it has only done about 12,000 miles since its last cam belt change and only about 500 since April.

Now according to the garage while it was having the MoT the cam belt shredded, but they went ahead and put the new timing kit and water pump on in the home it would work.

When I got the phone call I was disappointed, the car still ran perfectly, leaks, no smoke, but now wondering if the garage screwed up in some way?

The garage want me to pay £400 for them doing the job.

Some years ago I had a Mercedes van and the garage put the belt on the wrong way, the garage, a Mercedes dealership then agreed to replace the engine, I had to pay for the labour

[Armchair Expert]

23.7 said:

Am I getting this right?

To summarise

You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.


Or am I missing something?

OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.

How much does it take to change an engine?

[Armchair Expert]

23.7 said:

Armchair Expert said:

23.7 said:

Am I getting this right?

To summarise

You booked car in for mot and cambelt
The garage did mot and cambelt
It works perfectly
Your disappointed
Garage wants paying.


Or am I missing something?

OK, I mss worded, the car was previously in very good working order, now it runs like an old tractor.

How much does it take to change an engine?

More like this then

Book car in for mot and cambelt
Mot and cambelt done
Car not ok
Garage want paying

Is this what happened?

Yep, your better at describing what happened then I am!

[Armchair Expert]

Thanks for answering

The Guy who runs the garage said something about missing teeth

[Armchair Expert]

stevemcs said:

I assume it failed it’s mot, if the belt failed during the test then the tester would have had to abandon test.

Don't know. Apparently it failed during the cat test! Didn't need a mot until 18 of November, but though I get it done and over with.

[Armchair Expert]

Belle427 said:

Armchair Expert said:

Thanks for answering

The Guy who runs the garage said something about missing teeth

His or yours?

Mine, obviously, not seen the owner of the garage yet, tell you if he has missing teeth when. I see him.

I presume the teeth he is ref to is on the cam belt wheel (sorry not very mechanically mind, illiterate too), he also says the belt shredded, Would that not indicate a seizure of the belt, rather then the belt failing?

[Armchair Expert]

TimmyMallett said:

If what I suspect has happened here happened, the annoying thing is, had you not asked them to change the cambelt, your outcome probably would have been that you had a smaller bill and a car that wasn't broken..

It could be a coincidence, a coincidence so massive that Alanis Morrissette may have picked it up with her bat ears.


Did you drive it there?

Yes, i drove it to the garage

Edit just rang the garage, owner not in or not available, but the receptionist says cylinders 2 and 4 are damaged.

Edited by Armchair Expert on Friday 10th September 09:22

[Armchair Expert]

So anyone guess the cost of repair, a second hand engine coasts £550, how many hours to fit it?

Car is a 2003 model with 86,000, worth £1500 with a good engine, ££250 scrap.

[Armchair Expert]

E-bmw said:

Armchair Expert said:

So anyone guess the cost of repair, a second hand engine coasts £550, how many hours to fit it?

Car is a 2003 model with 86,000, worth £1500 with a good engine, ££250 scrap.

How many "piece of string" questions do you want us to answer without seeing it?

Could be a few £100, could be over a thousand, totally dependent on what is the issue. As you have already been told it could be savable if just a tooth out, it could be a full engine rebuild as you have also been told.

Engine swap could be a few £100 if it goes smoothly, could be £1000 if it doesn't & then you will want to do a cambelt swap for peace of mind.

Not looking for answers, looking for guidance.

I need to make a decision on something I know very little about, and yes it could be between 100 and a 1000 but in order to come to some sort of decision I need to find an approximate likely cost. Someone above has already posted what is likely need to make a repair.

What would you do?