They said £250 fitted, which sounds very cheap

They said £250 fitted, which sounds very cheap

I'd take it to a more specific garage. I thought kwik fit were tyres and exhausts?

I wouldn't trust Kwik-Fit to put tyres on a scalextric car and, as for them going anywhere near the bonnet, let alone lifting it and doing some work under there NO CHANCE.

I won't get it done there I was just curious I was expecting them to say £500 lol

I don't trust Kiwk fit with a screw driver let alone a car. For that i would go to a proper garage.

I won't get it done there I was just curious I was expecting them to say £500 lol

*wipes sweat from brow*

Any VAG specialist should give you a decent price for the cam belt change. Have a look in the traders section of the forum and on SEAT CUPRA. net.

You'll probably find it ain't that much more elsewhere and you'll have the peace of mind that a proper job has been done too!

A friend of a friends doing it for £250 and he works for skoda

Paid £300'from my local dealer. For the £50 difference I'd rather let skoda do it.

A friend of a friends doing it for £250 and he works for skoda

Well, you can't get a better offer than that.

I've booked in for my cambelt and service for the 29th at west end garage

I just had mine replaced with the offer, paid the extra £50 and got the water pump replaced, this eliminates the 5yr coolant change, so going to save me the £36 for coolant rep next year, £249 all in inc vat, even did it while I waited, well worth the drive from Elgin, local dealer quoted me £360 inc vat, big thanks to West End Garage, will definitely return there in the future.

Just found out my belts were done 14k ago but book wasn't stamped Skoda in Aberdeen will stamp the book for me

Great price though £199

My dealer is doing cambelt for £199 inc VAT. As for Kwak Fut, well, no comment.

Kwak fit price is probably belt only change, and not tensioners + water pump etc. I doubt anyone in Kwik fit understands the concept of timing on a car engine though.

Edited 18 October, 201015 yr by anewman

My 182 belt change was around £600-£700 lol

i've just plastered West End Garage's windows with their offer of a cambelt from £199 inc vat.

very good price IMO

My wife had her cambelt done on her old 1.6 16V done about 6 months ago.

Cost was £262 (inc Vat) at the local VAG independent who we have used for years. This included the timing belt, tensioner rollers, water pump, fluids etc. I also gave them an extra £15 to change the alternator belt at the same time.

Does the £199 price quoted by others include the tensioners (I assume it excludes the water pump)?

As for Kwik Fit.........well do not start me off on that one !!!

Edited 18 October, 201015 yr by Minimoke

Cautionary tale ,gents . While ago , I noticed that I'd put a bit of miles on since last service and an oil change service was due . Down at KF ,I noticed their oil change special ,and i joked with the manager about the cost ,since I needed special oil .But then I was a "special and regular customer" -so I got it discounted . First sign of problems was after refitting the oil filter -"bit of an oil leak" from the top of the filter . OFF it came -back on ,same problem . Eventually manager ( old time served fitter)had a look- and they found that it needed another sealing ring .( As Haynes says -replace ALL seals) .

In all my motoring years ( circa 44) ,I've never had a leak after any fluid change ( on my car )

It was only price of filter ( it was a decent quality one) and oil that suggested a "bargain" -as it was less than I ( at that time ) could have git the oil for .

Personally now - they can change my tyres ,or fit an exhaust - but I wouldn't now trust them under bonnet . And their MOT @ £35 -- IF car passes - OK -if not ,then they'll do the work ( at a price, and having seen the quality -no chance) ,or if you prefer to have it done where you can trust the work - retest =£24 .

And on the topic of changing tyres - last work Transit I drove had had a recent tyre change by KF before we got it . On the motorway , anywhere up to 55MPH - everything ok . After 55 , and up to 70 - , the ABS warning came on after a time .(dependant on the speed) .

Turned out some tyre fitter had fitted the tyre size for a smaller Transit to the rear of this one . Again ,thanks to my old manager mate ,problem was solved .

PLEASE PLEASE Google 'kwik fit problems' - leave your self a few hours free before doing so!!!!!!!

PLEASE PLEASE Google 'kwik fit problems' - leave your self a few hours free before doing so!!!!!!!

DID THAT - first one up - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2010/09/kwik_fit.html

Say no more .

Edit - had a MOT at Kwak fat , recently - failed -

on " fog light being interfered with side light " - genuine fault- kids had put new bulb in fog/sidelight, but with wrong pin config .

"REAR INDICATORS ,NOT CORRECT COLOUR"- bulbs were showing bits of white- where the orange paint had worn off -but the light given off was mostly orange .

Rear wheel "seized" - that seized that car still rolls on minor hill . Car still passed brake test ( or at least ,no mention was made of brake efficiency test failure) .One other brake anomaly - a judder in front wheel - something I've never noticed in normal braking -so did he abuse brakes -my view of car saw it almost jump off test jig .

Oh - one advisory - was that I'd got a nail in my rear tyre - and whilst waiting ,I 'd noticed that a few folks had also had a "nail in a tyre " - a "dangerous fault " in the view of the tester - but my tyre hasn't decided to deflate yet . I'm tempted to take tyre to another kwak depot for a check . Might prove interesting ,to say the least .

OH- retest fee =£24 - so another nice reason to get a fail on a trivial point .

Edited 19 October, 201015 yr by VWD

What saddens me is that there is plenty of work for honest people in the car trade - why do the cowboys try to take advantage?????????

What saddens me is that there is plenty of work for honest people in the car trade - why do the cowboys try to take advantage?????????

It's called greed. :S

I'm all for pure communism (not the form that has often been practised in many eastern bloc countries).

Edited 19 October, 201015 yr by anewman

I would avoid KF like the plague. Their attempt to do a timing belt maybe too complex a mechanical feat for them. Remember they specialise in tyres and exhausts and even that they can’t do properly. I’ve heard so many stories from customers complaining about them.

Always trust a good independent, specifically one that is a VW specialist or works on them a lot. You can always tell a good garage from a bad one by asking them what oil they put in their customer’s cars. If they say 10w40 in everything then you know they haven’t a clue.

here's a bit of a story and slightly OT. I have learnt from experience and once took my car to total motor care in Kent. They are a big garage and offer all kinds of services.They look a bit like Kwik fit. I got the timing belt done on my ford and a week later I had to pay out again(a different garage) to redo the mess they’d made of it. When my timing belt was examined they’d found that TMC had overtightened and sheered the bolts.

They wouldn't know their arse from their elbow and unfortunately its the case with many garages inc KF