Help please. I am thinking of trading-in my 64 Elegance 75 with the auto box; one non-smoking owner/driver (wife does not drive); fewer than 12,000 miles.

Would probably enjoy a new cam belt, & perhaps new battery, & tyres for MOT in October.

Any suggestions as to trade-in value?

Look at what similar cars have as asking price from dealers or traders on Autotrader. It will less than that.  Get WBAC offer and want more than that from the dealer as they will be offering less than WBAC knowing they can punt your car to then if needs must.     ? Is it not worth advertising on Briskoda for a private sale?

Edited 19 April, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Look on ebay for typical prices as well. Not a bad place to sell, either. Or try facebook marketplace.

Thanks for all the advice, very helpful. WBAC suggest c£5000, but I think that deserves a large pinch of salt.

In the region of £3500 I'd imagine.

1 hour ago, devguy said:

Thanks for all the advice, very helpful. WBAC suggest c£5000, but I think that deserves a large pinch of salt.

 

If they offer that, bite their hand off!

 

I'm thinking £2,800-£3,500.

Citigos are worth more than you would think as there is now no new equivalent of it from VW group.

We got almost what we paid for a prereg car 18 months later in part exchange for current car. We went from a Citigo and Yeti to a single Karoq as no longer need separate cars last August.

>"Would probably enjoy a new cam belt...".

 

Not at 12k miles it wouldn't.  VW recommend inspection at 160k miles, there is no required time limit specified.

 

Could save yourself £'s by sticking to manufacturer guidelines.

 

 

 

Snaefell,

Thanks for the advice. There is so much speculation about cam belts, it difficult to decide which is the definitive version.

I shall probably just trade it in if I can find a new car which I can get into, & out of more easily with an arthritic knee. Not to mention sit more comfortably too, needs to be a small SUV type with sit up seating position. Best wishes.

Get yourself on Autotrader…on the top menu bar there is a “Value your car” tab, click on that and follow, it gives a good rounded value based on either selling or buying and no personal details required  

 

I use it all the time when browsing cars, gives a quick n easy snapshot for guide purposes and it is pretty accurate.

12 hours ago, Snaefell said:

>"Would probably enjoy a new cam belt...".

 

Not at 12k miles it wouldn't.  VW recommend inspection at 160k miles, there is no required time limit specified.

 

Could save yourself £'s by sticking to manufacturer guidelines.

 

 

IMHO Don’t really care about mileage,  it’s s 64 plate, so on time alone I would have changed it around 5/6 years for peace of mind.

 

wife's Citigo is a 62 plate with less than 20k miles but I had the cam belt done at 5 years old at £280 it was worth doing for peace of mind. Some of these rocket ship mileages they quote scare me.

BTW, if you need a small and economical car for local driving, and is very easy to get in/out of,  try a Smart for size.

 

My Dad liked his mid-size Peugeot, but he was portly, with two very bad knees - he loved being driven in my wife's Smart (at the time), finding it very easy to get into!

 

 

Thanks for all the replies. I really think I shall need to get a small SUV where i get to climb into it, & out, rather than putting a leg out first, then finding nothing to hold on to for support while the other leg gets out. A Smart would be very backward step I think. Best wishes.

Why a backwards step? Smart's seats are as high off the ground as many SUV's and have very wide door apertures.... Don't dismiss the idea unless you've actually tried one for "fit"!

 

I do appreciate you may need to carry fridges or dogs in the boot though, and a Smart won't do for that.

 

The Smart seats were near to the floor and legs were out kind of horizontal. Just like a Dacia Duster is.

Very wide door apertures / big long doors are not great unless parking in disabled bays with room to open that door to get advantage of the aperature.

 

This was why i had a Toyota iQ and a Jimny as daily drives.   The iQ's doors were rather long.

Both were easy in and easy out but the Jimny more cramped in the front for 2 not thin people compared to they IQ .

A Yeti's sill i found to be a problem which was a pity as i like the seat height. 

Edited 28 June, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Thanks, but the Smart has a terrible review record, & anyway is now only available as an electric car, & they are not green in my opinion, just expensive.

Great ! Go for a planet-buster SUV.

Just don't expect to get let out at junctions. People hate them!

Just sayin'

 

 

Please, no more! Topic now closed, thanks for all the comments.

On 27/06/2021 at 11:55, Defenderben said:

IMHO Don’t really care about mileage,  it’s s 64 plate, so on time alone I would have changed it around 5/6 years for peace of mind.

 

wife's Citigo is a 62 plate with less than 20k miles but I had the cam belt done at 5 years old at £280 it was worth doing for peace of mind. Some of these rocket ship mileages they quote scare me.

 

VW don't specify a time limit, only mileage; but at an average 15k per year (approx.) it's good for 10+ years.

 

The cambelt is PTFE reinforced, not rubber like the 1970's Cortina.  And the cam gears are trioval in design.

 

All this research and development allows the 160k mile extended service schedule as listed above.

 

It's perfectly acceptable to change the belt prematurely for 'piece of mind' - and if the owner has the money, but it's totally unnecessary from an engineering point of view.

 

My 2016 Citigo Colours recently passed 71k miles on the original belt and I plan to inspect it in late 2023, I'll report back with my findings at that time.

 

 

As it says there, the PTFE is a coating for friction/wear reduction, not reinforcement.  PTFE is very soft, you couldn't reinforce anything with it.

The 'tension cables' are the reinforcement. Sorry if this seems pedantic, but it just sounds so wrong to my ears to hear 'PTFE reinforcement'.

It's also a major process challenge to get PTFE to adhere to anything for long!

 

Edited 5 July, 20214 yr by freemansteve

>Sorry if this seems pedantic, but it just sounds so wrong to my ears to hear 'PTFE reinforcement'.

 

The PTFE coating reinforces (i.e. strengthens or supports) the cambelt.  The reduction in friction allowed by the PTFE coating gives a cooler running belt which lasts longer as a result.

 

Similarly the trioval cam gears reduce belt tension when it isn't required.  And the powder metallurgy cam gear production process gives a smoother surface finish without the sharp edges found on hobbed gears.

 

VW have done their development and recommend the service schedule accordingly.  As previously mentioned the CHYA/B belts aren't to be associated with the rubber cambelts of say the 70's Ford etc.

 

All that said, if owners wish to choose a different service schedule than specified by the designer/developer/manufacturer, that's their choice and one I respect.

 

But, there's no engineering reason to do so.  So all the single parents out there on a very limited motoring budget (myself included) can rest easy knowing the cambelt doesn't need replacing at 60k/5 year intervals as advised by some Skoda dealerships.

 

Respectfully yours...Snaefell  (2016 - Citigo Colours currently at 72k miles on the original cambelt).

Elephant in the room is that Full Time VW Group Reps or Employees in Dealerships or Customer Services find it very difficult to give customers a clear answer in the UK or other Countries the actual Service Schedule or Guidelines for the different engines and different build dates.

 

This leads people to ask on Forums / Social Media, then the answers are also all over the place and even km or miles gets mixed up.

Edited 20 July, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Yeah but I read (on the internet) that everything on the internet is true, opinions are always facts, anyone who can turn on  PC is a computer genius, anyone who has used a screwdriver is PhD engineer, and that "your call us valuable to us"!  

 

 

I'm just glad that I'm really not going to change my cambelt for quite a few years, and my fossil-fuel dinosaur does not have rapid battery charging issues, which ought to be trivial to sort out by so-called Skoda Customer Service et al...

 

On 27/06/2021 at 11:40, devguy said:

 

Snaefell,

Thanks for the advice. There is so much speculation about cam belts, it difficult to decide which is the definitive version.

I shall probably just trade it in if I can find a new car which I can get into, & out of more easily with an arthritic knee. Not to mention sit more comfortably too, needs to be a small SUV type with sit up seating position. Best wishes.

 Perhaps consider an electric Citigo/Mii/Up!

 

Or throw yourself at the mercy of Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon, Mr Hutchinson (Nobles Hosp. Isle of Man) who replaced my knee to very good effect; slightly north of £10k at current market rates.  But saving a fortune on ibuprofen tablets.