Having tried to find out when my cambelt was due on my 2.0L octy and having several different answers i decided to get it done anyway.

The garage i use instantly informed me it was due at 60k... i had it done at 63k.. even only this small distance over the top my belt was at critical level and had started to break up...

Moral of the story - get it done early

My last car ( vectra) blew its engine when the cam belt went only 6k over its due date i learnt my lesson that time.

Having tried to find out when my cambelt was due on my 2.0L octy and having several different answers i decided to get it done anyway.

The garage i use instantly informed me it was due at 60k... i had it done at 63k.. even only this small distance over the top my belt was at critical level and had started to break up...

Moral of the story - get it done early

My last car ( vectra) blew its engine when the cam belt went only 6k over its due date i learnt my lesson that time.

I wasn't sure to get the belt changed on our 1.6 at 60K, 70K or 80K miles, so you've made my mind up, 60K it is going to be!

The car is nearly 8 years old now, and just coming up to 50,000 miles. How old is your car, just thinking about how age affects it, especially since your's had started to break up.

Had mine changed at 59k, as per the service schedule... It was not in a good way. I think I have some pictures, let's see if I can find them. Yup, I do indeed. Let this be a visual warning! This was on a pd100, and the engine had not gone over 60k! :eek:

I changed mine on my 130 at 70k! Was still in good shape when took off.

I'll be looking carefully at mine from 40k onwards I think, with the new setup. Mentally I'm planning a 50k swap, but thankfully thats still 35,000 miles away.

Can I ask where you got it changed and how much it cost?

Mine is overdue too; the dealer wot did the 60k service (at 58.7k) didnt bother doing it, or any of the other work, and the MK dealer last week put a note on my service for me to check whether they did or not. Guess I'd better get it done then, but they quoted me £380. Friends with fast Hondas and Astras reckoned it was far too high; they have only paid £220ish in the last few years.

The car is 4yrs old - is there any benefit at all getting it done at the dealers?

Cheers, Paul

Can I ask where you got it changed and how much it cost?

Mine is overdue too; the dealer wot did the 60k service (at 58.7k) didnt bother doing it' date=' or any of the other work, and the MK dealer last week put a note on my service for me to check whether they did or not. Guess I'd better get it done then, but they quoted me £380. Friends with fast Hondas and Astras reckoned it was far too high; they have only paid £220ish in the last few years.

The car is 4yrs old - is there any benefit at all getting it done at the dealers?

Cheers, Paul[/quote']

We've had a similar quote from Skoda dealers. Same cost for a 1.8T as a 1.6, which I thought was odd. I now know a bloke who has worked on VWs for the past 20 years, and works out of a unit next to my business, and will do a Cambelt Change for £120. That the whole kit, not just the belt, with labour and VAT.

So we are going to get it done with him, but like I say, only because I have seen him working, and he has done fault diagnosis better than the dealer, so I trust it will be a top notch job.

If I didn't have such trust in a local mechanic, I'd be tempted to get the dealer to do it for peace of mind.

Trust in a local mechanic is good. My cambelt change was less than

That's a superb price.

Would he do mine too? Petrol to Merseyland would still make it under half price!

Always used to take my car to a garage here for work, have a mate who works there. Should get a quote from him.

For the PD130 Superb the service book says change at 60k. but Saltdean Skoda reckoned the mileage for changing it had been changed, and didn't need doing till 80k - I made tham sign a letter stating that when the warranty run out they'd still cover the engine if the belt went below 80k.

Fortunately it didn't but I wont be leaving it 80k before the next one!

That's a superb price.

Would he do mine too? Petrol to Merseyland would still make it under half price!

Always used to take my car to a garage here for work' date=' have a mate who works there. Should get a quote from him.[/quote']

Suppose so, that's his trade afterall

The car is a y reg 2001 2.0l model. I bought it a year ago and it was on 18k... now on 63k... i guess the age may have a lot to do with the condition of the belt... how ever i would still advise getting it done early to be safe.

I had a guy i know locally do it.... quotes were in the range of £200 so he did it for £30... yup £30. belt cost me £15

I thought the recommendation for cam belts was 5 years / 60,000 miles, whichever is the sooner??

Remember to always have the cam belt kit and not just the belt - the tensioner is just as crucial as the belt!! (seen many bent valves from tensioner failures!!)

is there any benefit at all getting it done at the dealers?

Yeah you get me doing it

That price included a water pump (as a precaution) and bolts etc for the mountings.

Yeah you get me doing it

That price included a water pump (as a precaution) and bolts etc for the mountings.

Heya, noticed your name on the service sheet!

Actually the price Linda gave me was

You could have asked for a copy, im sure she would have photocopied it for you.

Yes i liked the sticker, hope you found the service met you needs/expectations.

Yeah I guess I could, maybe too quickly assumed that if it was ok for me to have it I'd have been given it. I'm sure it'll be on file, I'll ask for a copy.

Yeah - I knew it would be a good service, guessed you'd be doing it.

Was expecting you to just change the brake pads rather than just saying they're due, means I have to have another day in MK. Ah well. Was thorogh though. At least you didnt just ignore everything that the manual says to do, like the last dealer appears to!

Forgot to mention too that the door-open light keeps coming on whilst driving, but cant work out which catch is knacked. Ah well, will be in for another service before long

so just when is the 1.8T 4x4 cambelt change recommended then? I tried to decipher the manual last night and it just didnt make sense to me at all! there were lots of different figures in brackets for different models at different intervals. it seemed to suggest the 1.8t needed it replacing at 180,000km which I cant believe.

My car has done 53k so should i get the cambelt done at the next service around 60k?

IMHO a lot of manufacturers start off with really nice, high figures for changing the cambelt. The joke (?) is that over time the 'when to change' advise tends to come down by a tremendous amount.

In any case I'd get it done at 60k miles at the latest, most cars seem to require a cambelt change at 50-70k miles anyway, and as the 60k one is imminent, I'd put up with that extra cost I suppose at the same time.

from what i can make out on the ocatavia VRS, the cambelts not due til 120k??! Is this right or am i reading the manual wrong? Seems an awful long time to me!

not due til 120k??!

No way,im pretty sure it's 60k,and i would personally change it at 55k just to be on the safe side .

from what i can make out on the ocatavia VRS, the cambelts not due til 120k??

From memory looking at the book you might be mixing up kilometres and miles. Will dig my handbook out, think it's at work.

Thanks mate. Im not picking up my vrs til this sat, but i was questioning the cambelt change with the salesman. He showed me the service book and i coud have sworn it said 120k (miles). If not i will get it done sharpish as the car has jsut turned 67k on the original belt.

I noticed when I was checking the oil on the weekend that my Octy has a little printed metal plate stamped in the engine bay that says "Warning! Change toothed belt every 90,000km/60,000m in various languages"

@AndyTurbo - I'd get it changed, including the usual other stuff like tensioners/waterpump. It's much cheaper than a new engine, which could be the alternative.

On SWMBOs car it recommends visual inspection at 40k and definite change at 60k - totally different vehicle, same kinda story. If at 40k it warrants a visual inspection it will get replaced - that way I know it's going to be safe as the labour cost in 'visual inspection' is close enough to just doing the job to warrant it IMHO of course