LightlySalted

If I had any ability to do this myself (skill/knowledge/tools/time) I'd enjoy giving it a go. As I don't I rely on a local mechanic and hope I'm not getting screwed for it. With that, I've had the car back from the garage now so I can answer your question and I can find out how much I've been fooled - just shy of £800: Cambelt kit £184.00 (04L198119K) Water pump £132.50 Aux Belt £29.45 Anti-freeze £18.00 Labour £300 Plus VAT.

Alasdair, I will post (if I remember) at the end of March what it cost me and then it will be fun to speculate. It's one of those things, isn't it, where you can keep eeking out a £700 bill (or whatever) that one keeps delaying, until it becomes a £3+K bill because you chanced it but there was no way of knowing when it would all go teets up and you gambled wrongly on this occasion.

I've just bought a 2019 Octavia estate with 90K miles on the clock and I have since put another 1K on. Service history offers no indication that the cambelt has ever been changed (ex lease) so I have it booked in for next month to be on the safe side. This was reflected in the purchase price. I've read that some countries suggest 210k km as a lifespan for the cambelt, while the UK recommendation is 5 yrs or 60k miles (I think). I am unsure if this offers anyone reassurance to anyone. I'm moderately sceptical of past service histories, so would likely get certain things like this done fairly sharpish anyway.