Karoq 2020, 4x4, 2l diesel, fsh and c50,000mls, no warranty.

Cam belt shredded / frayed recently at 70mph on M4 middle lane, engine stopped effectively seizing as was now mis-timed. I made the hard-shoulder safely.

Not a pleasant experience.

Skoda Customer Care defending their position with little concern over the incident and possible consequence. They require the car be taken to a Skoda main dealer for analysis and diagnosis before any consideration. They will not consider a 3rd party independent report.

Not for me at their main dealer labour prices plus they'd throw the book at the car wanting a total belt and braces renewal of most ancillary components.

Frayed / shredded cam belt thought to have snagged causing belt to jump / slip causing mistiming event, what else could it have been ?

A complete top end of engine required which I've instructed a local firm to undertake.

Financially most painful.

Replacing cam belt is no longer a service item beyond changing at 140,000mls.

Any advice is battling uphill against the mighty Skoda / VW Group please for what can only be a faulty, defective and not fit for purpose belt ?

Thanks

Fred

Oh that’s an awful situation. One thought, has the water pump siezed, as I’ve read reports of water pumps and belt tensioners failing causing damaged cam belts.

Thanks

The water pump turned freely but is being replaced regardless.

The bottom end turned freely too. Tensioner was functioning.

1 hour ago, PhillipAA said:

Any advice is battling uphill against the mighty Skoda / VW Group please for what can only be a faulty, defective and not fit for purpose belt ?

Just bear in mind that legal responsibility rests with whoever you bought the car off.

What's the car's history - how long have you owned it and where has it been serviced?

It's tricky really - there's still a school of thought that the diesels should have the cambelt done at 5yrs, interestingly at the time the interval changed a couple of people popped up on the mk2 Tiguan forum saying theirs had gone at just short of 5yrs. It really grated having our Tiguan diesel done a few yrs at 5yrs and just 30K miles - VW Germany was insisting it'd be OK for 210,000kms with no time limit.

The SEAT dealer we use for our petrol Ateca was at pains to point out that if the belt wan't changed and it fail then repairs wouldn't be coverd by extended warranty, and SEAT UK confirmed that. I still that's wrong, but never tested it and the warranty has finished now.

Thanks Rory

I purchased the car 2nd hand from a Skoda dealer mid 2024.

It came with a years, now expired, warranty.

The fsh was with the dealer. My local Skoda dealer is some 25mls away so since I've had the car I just has it serviced with local garages although they're closing one by one.

I still do mine every 50k or 5years. Mine are old cars plus the length of interval that skoda group are stating I think is asking for trouble. Belt may be ok but with my diesels to expect a water pump and tensioner/idler pulley to last 130k is asking a lot. Have had one that the tensioner was failing and belt was badly worn down one side at 60k Wonder if its all vw group or just skoda. As you bought from skoda dealer but have had it serviced via non dealer it may cause problems. I am sure there is a lot of very small print involved. Still worth taking it up with skoda though.

Good luck.

Unfortunately, I can't see you having a leg to stand on with this against any third party.

Yes, it has a service interval far in excess of the mileage, but it is considered a consumable part.

Engines have no replacement interval on pistons, bearings, crank etc, they are 'until scrapped ', but if they fail (and they do) outside of warranty, it's a repair and no marching back to manufacturer is going to have any success.

That's why its worth observing a service interval well inside the recommended interval, and warranties can prove well worth the outlay, unless you have some mechanical ability and a financial reserve for the worst scenario (basically self insurance).