My Octy has only 22,345 miles on the clock, but is only four years, six month old.

Would it be wise to change the cambelt now or wait for the car to reach the 60,000 mark.

I would change it now. 4 years is a good point to change the cambelt even though it has low mileage.

I would rather pay out £350 or less for a cambelt change than have to pay for repairs on a knackered engine!! That could be MUCH more expensive.

when u change the cam belt ask them to look at the water pump its part of the cam belt system if it needs replaceing then its only abot £40 unlike if u do it later will cost u same as a cam belt to get done

Hi, I'd get it done at it's next service. The issue with the water pump is that the impeller is plastic & can fail due to the temperature cycling it is exposed to. Failure would normally result in loss of water circulation then overheating & head gasket if you don't notice it in time but sometimes pump can jam giving same damage as broken timing belt - ouch! I had my Mk1 vRS changed along with the cambelt kit after 5 years when I read about water pump failures & the impeller on the old one had a crack in it. Note - OE replacements still have plastic impellers but I was advised to stick with these & replace the pump along with the cambelt every time. There are alternative water pumps with cast impellers available. I hope this helps.

Cheers wuzz

Get the belt changed, its 4 years OR 60k miles, whichever occurs first. Also as said already get the water pump changed at the same time. DGW had his belt and pump changed at 4 years and 28K miles and the water pump was in small pieces when removed from the engine.

Many thanks for the words of wisdom.

As previous replies, but the waterpump is less critical if the car's a diesel, since they run cooler.

I'd recommend getting a water pump with the metal impeller in any event as I believe they are a similar price.

For what it's worth.

Just booked the machine into Frank Follett Motors at London Colney, independant VAG garage.Priced confirmed was £338.50p which includes new cam belt, alternator belt, tensioner, idler wheel, metal water pump and anti freeze.

Hi mate, all of what your having done I just had done at Impossible performance for 252 pounds!