VW cambelt - still regarded as vital to change at 5yrs?

[Sheepshanks]

Turns out VW UK are still insisting on 5yr belt changes regardless of low mileage.

I emailed VW Germany and surprisingly someone answered and said they're good for 210,000kms and they only suggest earlier change in dusty environments.

Wondered if there's a general opinion amongst owners faced with this - do people just get them done?

[Sheepshanks]

DuraAce said:

Will they pay you if it fails before that mileage?

No? Then I'd change it.

That's true, but you could say that about any part of the car once it's out of warranty. Although not much else would have such resultant catastrophic damage.

[Sheepshanks]

This would be the car's first belt change - it's a 5yr old Tiguan, with 25K miles.

The annoying thing is these latest engines - it's the EA288 diesel, but I think the same applies to the petrol version - were stated in various articles as having 'lifetime' belts when they were introduced.

If it needs doing then it needs doing, but it feels like a scam / complete over-reaction by VW UK. It's also a job not without risks - it's not unusual to read of failures not long after they've been changed.


I've kept the VW extended warranty going on the car as the cost was reasonable and its emissions stuff, DSG and Haldex terrify me, so no doubt they'd not be impressed by a belt failure, even though such jobs are not part of the car's service schedule.

[Sheepshanks]

stevemcs said:

We changed one last week on a 1.6tdi like yours, it had covered 16k but had hit the time limit. It was cracking between the teeth. Water pumps leak and fail too. I wouldn't risk it. Its around a £400 job for pump and belt kit fitted.

Thanks. To be honest I was expecting it to be dearer as the I understood the electronically controlled pump on these was quite expensive. VW have a fixed price of £549. Indie we've used before is saying £440 "all in" but they've quoted the 5yr service price ex-VAT, so that £440 could really be over £500.

Your comment is interesting as the Indie said VW's interval is super cautious and he wouldn't do it yet. So now have a dilemma of asking him to do something he doesn't really want to.

[Sheepshanks]

StevenB said:

If you have an extended warranty and the service guide says it needs to be done ……… sorry sir, you didn't service it correctly. I wouldn't take the chance.

I really woudn't fancy getting into that, but it's an annoying point with VW servicing that the schedule is pretty basic - oil, plugs and filters. Everything else is regarded as optional - get a 3yr service package and they won't change the brake fluid unless you pay. You get things like the dealer telling you in their best serious voice that the car is due a 'mandatory' air conditioning service at 2yrs.

[Sheepshanks]

stevemcs said:

Depends, some of the cambelt kits are £100 plus Vat, some are £150 plus VAT taking your time its 3-4 hours from start to finish so at an indi thats £180 - £240 in labour alone, £300 is too cheap.

Does the kit include the pump? I understand the pump on the EA288 diesel is a lot dearer than the basic ones.

[Sheepshanks]

Jimboka said:

My 6 year old Skoda Superb diesel...

Do you know if that's the earlier EA189 or the later EA288 engine?

I'm a little concerned my indie hasn't priced in the more expensive water pump on the later one.

[Sheepshanks]

Burwood said:

I have a Golf TDI Station car which we've owned since new and this is my dilemma. Local indie quoted me £605 for the cam belt/pump which is steep. It should have the DSG oil and a service. Just over 1k all in. the cars worth what, 2.5k. 12 year old 60k miles. I chose to simply change the oil and filter.

£605 is bonkers - do they mostly service Audis so have their pricing more aligned to them?

I wouldn't take a 12yr old car to a dealer but VW have a fixed price of £549 and it's not long ago they'd do it for £349 - some of that £549 is to allow for the newer diesels having a more expensive water pump. You read on VAG forums of people getting even the newer engines done for £350 at indies.

[Sheepshanks]

icepop said:

i've had mine replaced on SEATs three times, all at around the £550 mark, includes the water pump. Generally done at 85k miles after having it confirmed by SEAT UK that the interval is 5 years or 150 kilometers. One thing to remember is that the SEATVW work comes with a 2 year warranty and likely the indy's will come with nowt. There's nothing fraught with the swap, just timing mark alignments and bottom and top pulley locking pins, then an engine mount to be undone, just takes a time.

SEAT guarantee the job for 5 yrs. The indie we’ve used guarantees it for 2 yrs, same as VW as he uses the VW kit.

I bit the bullet and booked it in today with the dealer, there’s nothing in it price-wise and I’m going to renew the VW extended warranty so don’t want to give them a reason to query the work.

It’s very annoying as VW Germany told me it’s OK for 210,000kms with no age limit but then said it’s up to each country to decide.

[Sheepshanks]

fourstardan said:

Cambelt change is such a rip off, missus has a MK5 golf that's 16 years old now, the guy we use to do work on the drive did the cam and pump on that in about an hour.

As best I can gather on the latest EA288 diesel it's a good couple of hours and the water pump is a variable one so more expensive than a basic pump. There's also some special kit needed to refill the coolant system as there are multiple circuits (it gets warm amazingly quickly and doesn't have an electric booster heater).

I know when we had it done on our old engined (not a TSi) 1.4 petrol mk6 Golf by an indie a few years ago he said the VW offer price at the time (£299 belt only, £349 with pump) was lower than he wanted to charge.

[Sheepshanks]

I'm somewhat sensitive to this as I had a Cavalier rep-mobile break its belt three times - once leaving me on the central reservation of the M62 for 30 mins.

As it was a non-interference engine it didn't do any damage but it's not an experience I'd want to repeat, especially as if it happened with the Tiguan there'd be a multi £K bill to fix it.

Even these days I've heard of them failing not long after being changed - I wonder how that compares to those that break because they've been left?

[Sheepshanks]

Had this done now. Not sure why but dealer said they'd made a mistake with the quote (I wasn't aware of that) and 'only' charged the cambelt price of £494 but they did change the pump. Should have been £549 so feels like a bit of a win. The pump (a switchable one on this engine) is itemised out at over £100 so the uplift is odd anyway.

I say "had it done" - the engine bay looks remarkably undisturbed. Not the slightest smudge in the dust on the engine cover and air filter housing etc. The pump does look new as does the coolant. Maybe they do the job from underneath? Or I just paid £500 for a tick in the book.