Timing Belt Change

[kevgiblin]

hello,

I have a 57 plate 1.9 TDI FR Ibiza, i have just recently paid £643.00 for its 3rd service, a lot of money to which i agreed to pay for all sorts for peace of mind.

The Seat Dealer advised that i would need to replace the timing belt in the next 6 months, or 40k miles. My car has 31,400 miles on the clock and after reviewing specific info on the net, a lot of people suggest this should be done at 60k miles, not 40k. is this the case??

I dont really want to get this done if its not really required as its like 300 plus to sort.

Can anyone shed any light??

Thanks in advance

 

[m0rk]

What did the 3rd service include? It should (I think) just have been an 'A' service, so oil, filter & not much more.

Find yourself a local specialist, you do want to think about the cambelt, but not at dealer prices

 

[Viking]

The belt interval is 4 years regardless of mileage, so in a few months time the belt will be 4 years old and need replacing. It should be listed in the handbook what the mileage interval is and you may find it's 80k miles. Dealers like to shorten the interval to make a bit more money though.

If you list your location then someone will point you to a good place to have it done. I shudder to think what Seat managed to dream up as a service schedule which cost you over £600 though. I can't think of anything service wise which racks up that much money unless you got all new brakes or summat.

 

[kevgiblin]

Thanks for that,

Im in the newcastle area and went to an Arnold Clark dealer. The list reades, front pads, rear disc & pads, console bushes, new front num plate, and brake linnings.

The only major cost appears to be the rear disc and pads at £176.89.. So the cost of 643 is pretty steap to me..

So does it not matter that the car will not have 40k miles in september and its more about age of belt??

Also i have read people say they got the water pump changed with the belt.. should i do this?

just concerned to ask the garage as i feel they will just say yes??

thanks for your help

 

[es]

Age as much as anything, still worth getting it done regardless of miles.

May as well get the water pump done at the same time as well, the pump is about £20 and is literally held on by two bolts, so additional parts and labour shouldn't be a lot at all (At least not if you're paying out £250+ in the first place...)

 

[Viking]

Brake linings are more commonly known are brake shoes, fitted to rear drum brakes on lower powered Ibizas. As your list says you had front pads, rear pads & discs, and brake linings, I think they overcharged you by two lots of rear brakes!

Yep, at four years old irrespective of miles covered, the belt should be changed. Water pump is an advisory in some peoples eyes, as the timing belt has to come off to change it. If you're in there already then it's a small job to change the pump. However, most dealers won't bother as there's always a possibility that it'll fail later and they'll get you back again to do it all over. (I'm a cynical git eh...)

 

[kevgiblin]

right that makes sense with the pump.. any idea of how much the belt pump and the labour should cost?

i would be very cynical after my experience today. I work in IT and have no clue about cars and they seem to play on it. They give u a list of red amber and green, but then tell you all the ambers should really get done or risk the car failing. hence the 643 bill.

 

[es]

Parts should come to around £80-£90ish, i'd imagine it should take about 1.5 - 2.5 hours labour.
I imagine my 1.4 is a bit easier to work on, might be a bit more cramped and fiddly on a 1.9 TDI FR so I can't give an exact figure.

So i'd expect £250ish from a local garage, you should be walking away with some change from £300 though.

 

[Viking]

Seriously, I'd check the bill and see how many rear brakes you paid for. If your car has rear drums then you shouldn't have paid for rear discs and pads.

General rule of thumb is £250 for a full cambelt kit, tensioner, rollers and labour. A water pump fitted should be no more than £50. There's an Audi dealer down south (Stafford Audi) who charge just that for and VAG group 4 cylinder engined car.

 

[tyranical]

Its really not worth taking a risk with your belts, if they are due on age but not mileage get them done anyway, they may last another 30k or they may go tomorrow and the damage they do can be very very expensive.

 

[Murray]

I think you would be doing well to get a cambelt and water pump done for £250 all in!! Took me and my ol' man 4 hours on my beeza FR Tdi and I have a couple of years experience and he has over 25...!

I would imagine more around the £350-400 based on parts costing roughly £85 for the belt and £25 for the pump with a surcharge of a similar amount, refundable on return of the old water pump.

Dam charge out rates are so high....

 

[tom_ibiza]

Parts should come to around £80-£90ish, i'd imagine it should take about 1.5 - 2.5 hours labour.
I imagine my 1.4 is a bit easier to work on, might be a bit more cramped and fiddly on a 1.9 TDI FR so I can't give an exact figure.

So i'd expect £250ish from a local garage, you should be walking away with some change from £300 though.

actually i beleive the 1.4 is harder to work on when it comes to the belt.

the 1.9 has 1 belt 2 tensioners and the water pump, id estimate a cost of 100 quid upto 150 with the water pump.

the 1.4 has 2 belts 4 tensioners and the water pump so theres alot more work involved with the 1.4

id expect 2 hours max on the 1.9 to do a belt so where i live that would be about 160 quid labour...

 

[Stiglet]

ive had me belt done 1 month ago. my car is 5 1/2 years old and had done only 23,000 miles. my garage told me really not to bother after just 4 years, it really does depend on milage really and condition of the belt. i paid £288 all in which i thought was excellent!!! i have to add it wasnt a seat dealer !! at the end of the day do what makes you comfortable. my gf focus belt lasts 10 years or 80,000 miles i think..says alot about seats lol. i think they are just after your monet with such a frequent belt change.. just my opinion.

 

[mick-fr]

I got mine changed last month (maybe late Jan, cant exactly remember) and it was £320 for belt, waterpump and 60k service on my 1.9TDi FR.

For the sake of a few hundred £ I'd rather get it done knowing thats it, than risk running it longer and having the belt possibly snap

 

[Razzario]

600 odd quid is nuts! Any tyres in there? FR tdi has discs mine got done at a dealer for £150 but id seriously find a good local garage/ specialist to look after it from now on. Iirc the pd belts are a under a bit of stress and fitted tight maybe explains the 4 year thing (mines due next year)

 

[krussel]

As others have said timing belt at main dealers is expensive.

Here are some quoted prices:

4th year tdi service at main dealer.

Full service inc brake fluid change £353
Timing belt and water pump £458
Mot £55

Total £865



The timing belt without the water pump is £360

I questioned the £458 for the belt and pump and she said its charged at 3 hours labour and thats why it costs that much.


5th year service is a small one at £122

I have taken out the 2 yr up front service plan which cost me £299 and brings the cost of the 4th year service inc the belt, pump and to £513 which is less of a shock but still a wedge of cash.

After that mines 5 yrs old and out of the dealership

 

[joonspoon]

I went with the 60,000 mile bit not 4 years.
So now at just over 5 years and 56,500 miles, quotes for a cam belt and water pump with 2 local independent dealers are £397.00 or £350.00.

Some of the prices on here seem really low to me.

After that mines 5 yrs old and out of the dealership

Why did you tie in to a dealer to begin with?
My car has never been back to the dealer for a service, only warranty claims.

As long as an independent place uses genuine Seat parts the dealer warranty is still good.


Sorry this a very late reply. Not been on here for ages.