hello, me 2014 octavia 1.2 petrol has done 12800 miles and whilst picking it up from skoda service ,the dude said with it being 5 yrs old it would be needing a timing belt change , not knowing much about cars i asked if this is still the case with the car doing low mileage to which he looked on his database,couldnt find any info and said not to worry about it.As you all know  boat loads about this stuff could anybody give me any info on what i should do.cheers

Timing belt change is a recommendation rather than something set in stone. That said, it doesn't matter how many miles your engine has covered, the condition of the belt is affected by other factors. Given your car has covered approx 2000 miles a year, I'd have thought there's a greater need to change it than a car that's spent most of it's life on a motorway. Entirely up to you but given a belt failure could well wreck your engine, I personally would have it changed.

Not sure on timing belts for petrol but I presume it's the same as a diesel and the recommended change is at xx miles or five years so whilst you are on a low mileage it will be due a cambelt change because of the age.

they say that the belt degrades with both mileage and age.

Mines having the belt done tomorrow at an Audi specialist who I've used a few times before.  When I booked it in I was told it's 140k or 5 years.  Mines only done 125k but I'm not comfortable waiting to 140k so am throwing caution to the wind and getting it done a bit earlier - This is on a Octavia Scout.

12 hours ago, captainklutz said:

hello, me 2014 octavia 1.2 petrol has done 12800 miles and whilst picking it up from skoda service ,the dude said with it being 5 yrs old it would be needing a timing belt change , not knowing much about cars i asked if this is still the case with the car doing low mileage to which he looked on his database,couldnt find any info and said not to worry about it.As you all know  boat loads about this stuff could anybody give me any info on what i should do.cheers

 

Think Skoda suggests 5 years or 140,000 miles. For piece of mind i'd get the belt changed at 5 years on your mileage. I'd also get the water pump changed as well as it'll save a bit of money!

cheers mate, thanks for quick reply

thanks all for replies

For a low mileage car, if it was me would defer it 6-12 months.  

Slight risk of it failing, but it’s not suddenly going to perish at 5 years plus a day

 

Reality is most people don’t justify a second change at 10 years and the (second) belts happily continue until car dies, so many are running around with 6-8 year old belts in them.   But if they fail on old car, the repairs will exceed value.

 

Just have it inspected as per instructions in the Skoda workshop manual. Its no more than a half hour task. AFAIK, in official Skoda factory workshop manuals/schedules for this engine there is no requirement to change before well over 100,000 miles, unless inspection shows wear/damage/contamination/defects.

 

Compulsory 5 year change is a Skoda UK dealer legacy thing, some might say its an upsell thing.

Edited 31 March, 20197 yr by xman

I relied on inspection to decide when to change the cam belt on my MK1 1.9 TDi, I changed it at 8 years old 225000 miles, that was on the very first indication of wear, it coul well have gone on a lot longer, I retained the original tensioner, idler pulleys etc on the basis that they were more likely to cover that distance again than any aftermarket replacements.

 

I finally scrapped the vehicle 9 years later with another 100K miles on the clock, the cam belt was showing no signs of wear. Still on original water pump as well.

 

They dont make em like they used to.

4 hours ago, xman said:

Just have it inspected as per instructions in the Skoda workshop manual

 

Never, ever, assume a timing belt doesn't need changed because the belt "looks fine".

 

Belts almost never break. Its usually a tensioner or pulley that fail, neither of which can be inspected without removing the belt.

 

The cost of a belt and tensioners, on the OPs car, will be a fraction of the price of the car. Makes sense to just get it done and it's one less thing to go wrong.

Edited 31 March, 20197 yr by Saints92

4 hours ago, J.R. said:

I relied on inspection to decide when to change the cam belt on my MK1 1.9 TDi, I changed it at 8 years old 225000 miles, that was on the very first indication of wear, it coul well have gone on a lot longer, I retained the original tensioner, idler pulleys etc on the basis that they were more likely to cover that distance again than any aftermarket replacements.

 

I finally scrapped the vehicle 9 years later with another 100K miles on the clock, the cam belt was showing no signs of wear. Still on original water pump as well.

 

They dont make em like they used to.

 

Well done on being so lucky, it's not fair on other people to be suggesting they should do similar, though.

I am not aware that I did, can you see something that I cannot?

43 minutes ago, J.R. said:

I am not aware that I did, can you see something that I cannot?

 

I misread the start of your post, tbh.

 

Apologies.

No worries and no apologies required but appreciated all the same.

 

Now my apology! I am so conditioned by an obsessive cyber-stalker on another forum who for over 5 years has regularly twisted whatever I say that I have become oversensitive

 

All the best..........

Edited 31 March, 20197 yr by J.R.