VW Up! Dealer recommending cam belt change rip off or not?
Discussion
OK so daughter has had her Up! for 2 years now. It has main dealer FSH on a 12 plate was bought with around 21000 miles and had been serviced a month before purchase. She had an interim service at the main dealer last year. This years it's just on 28500 miles and has had a main service and MOT which it has passed with some advisories for which she has paid £299!
One of the advisories on the Inspection form from the Main Dealer (on the printed form they spell brake - break, fills you with confidence!) is a cam belt change for which they want the princely sum of £399 plus VAT!! So getting on for five hundred quid.
I've been looking into this and there seems to be contradictory information (or maybe lies!). The belt has automatic adjustment so shouldnt need any further adjustment. The belt is apparently Teflon coated for longevity. On the one hand they state the belt is a 'Lifetime' fit and will last 120 to 160000 miles and other advice is for cars built after 2009 that the belt is changed after 5 years. Seems to be a huge disparity.
I'll bet when they are selling the car they push that it's a Liftime cambelt and it doesn't need changing. When it comes to servicing they see it as a nice little earner and are actually taking the pee!
I can't see that a low mileage car that isn't ever driven hard actually needs it. Is there maybe someone that give me unbiased advice on this please?
One of the advisories on the Inspection form from the Main Dealer (on the printed form they spell brake - break, fills you with confidence!) is a cam belt change for which they want the princely sum of £399 plus VAT!! So getting on for five hundred quid.
I've been looking into this and there seems to be contradictory information (or maybe lies!). The belt has automatic adjustment so shouldnt need any further adjustment. The belt is apparently Teflon coated for longevity. On the one hand they state the belt is a 'Lifetime' fit and will last 120 to 160000 miles and other advice is for cars built after 2009 that the belt is changed after 5 years. Seems to be a huge disparity.
I'll bet when they are selling the car they push that it's a Liftime cambelt and it doesn't need changing. When it comes to servicing they see it as a nice little earner and are actually taking the pee!
I can't see that a low mileage car that isn't ever driven hard actually needs it. Is there maybe someone that give me unbiased advice on this please?
A minor update - I rang around the 3 Independents near us. My first question was what is your take on the cambelt change issue. All were understandably derogatory in their comments about the main dealer and their practices but 2 of the 3 just toe'd the line along the lines of the main dealer.
Only one of them gave me what sounded to me like a really honest opinion. He said he's changed hundreds of them and none have shown any sign of degradation nor is the incidence of the belt snapping very common at all. He said he'd leave the cambelt until it's at least 40,000 miles old which is a another 3 years away.
This advice actually cuts off his nose... So I think he's on the money! Ultimately it's my daughters decision but I'll advise not to bother.
Another thing he said was with regard to the front pads - he said if the dealer says they are 80% worn it's likely they'll be 50/60% worn. He also reckons a modern car will have a brake pad warning light and when that comes on there'll still be a few thousand mikes left in them. (Does anyone know whether the Up! Has this feature?). Oh and main dealer price on the pads £175 his price £90 using OE. But he hasn't got a shiny big glass and aluminium dealership to pay for.
Only one of them gave me what sounded to me like a really honest opinion. He said he's changed hundreds of them and none have shown any sign of degradation nor is the incidence of the belt snapping very common at all. He said he'd leave the cambelt until it's at least 40,000 miles old which is a another 3 years away.
This advice actually cuts off his nose... So I think he's on the money! Ultimately it's my daughters decision but I'll advise not to bother.
Another thing he said was with regard to the front pads - he said if the dealer says they are 80% worn it's likely they'll be 50/60% worn. He also reckons a modern car will have a brake pad warning light and when that comes on there'll still be a few thousand mikes left in them. (Does anyone know whether the Up! Has this feature?). Oh and main dealer price on the pads £175 his price £90 using OE. But he hasn't got a shiny big glass and aluminium dealership to pay for.
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