how much is a cam belt change

Post by **spike72** » 06 Mar 2008, 13:56

been quoted £350 by "autofit"to have cam belt changed on a t25 lhd 1988 1.7 d

is this price about right or over priced ????

Post by **wookey** » 06 Mar 2008, 14:01

my 16v golf mk4 was 300 from vw so yeah id say so.

Post by **andysimpson** » 06 Mar 2008, 19:06

Taking the pi$$, i would expect non main dealer to charge about £200.

Post by **Plasticman** » 06 Mar 2008, 19:49

Whilst I can quite easily do these myself I cant be a***d, well really its cos we have a local guy that is mobile cambelt man, thats all he does belts 6 days a week. so just had my golf Tdi done £65 labour, full kit fitted (we supply) so he guarantees the job as well
So like I say why bother at that price, £300 thats a suck
Mike

Post by **fergus77** » 06 Mar 2008, 19:59

I was quoted £360 from one of the Nationwide garages for my 1.9 1Y, did it myself in the end up and saved a fortune

Post by **spike72** » 06 Mar 2008, 21:07

would love to do it myself but not to good at throwing spanners about

did think it sounded exspensive will ring a few other places

thanks for letting me know

Post by **wookey** » 07 Mar 2008, 08:44

just spoke to the vag specialist here about getting my 1y timed up, asked on a cam belt he charges £195 for cam belt change on 8v and thats using VAG genuine bits too.

Post by **meggles** » 07 Mar 2008, 21:04

Metalmickey, any contact details for cam belt man? Whereabouts in East Yorks is he located?

Post by **Plasticman** » 07 Mar 2008, 22:29

I'll go round his house in the next week and get his card, He's near Selby so just down the road from you,

Wookey thats not a bad retail price with genuine bits. Spoke with a mate today who informs me that main dealers work from £80/hr in the provences(read sticks) to £140 in the great unwashed landen, like he said some fool has to pay the £70k salaries of the shinys in the big office!
Mike

Post by **hercules** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:43

how would u no when it need a cam belt change ????? just thought i ask u guys

Post by **lhd** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:51

how would u no when it need a cam belt change ????? just thought i ask u guys

think as a rule of thumb its 50 thou or 5 years.
But I would advise that if you do not know when it was last changed to change it.

Post by **ELVIS** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:51

1 - service records 2 - good preventative measure if you have just bought it and dont have service records/history 3 - old one snaps

Post by **lhd** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:53

Its not too difficult a job to do for a novice mechanic.
To be honest I found the hardest part was removing the cam belt covers.

Post by **hercules** » 07 Mar 2008, 23:56

well iv had the van 2 years now so my be it need a new one i going to my man work shop this week i ask him how much it cost to do it for me thanks guy

Post by **sheffieldcoljules** » 08 Mar 2008, 00:25

this might be a daft question...never seen a flat engine....

do they have tensioners? i know of lots of people who have belts, but dont get tensioners done at same time..then problems

Im used to chain driver engines, so never changed, even after my last engine at half a million km, about 300,00 miles...

Also im not used to people saying never rev high the vw engines, i used to red line my old Celicas (if i blew a head, i would skim and polish n port myself, then get better oooomph and rev higher!!) or bmw's

i belive what you say, so i dont..but its tempting

i drive the T3 like i did with my cars...

just getting used to settling back, and letting the world go by...slowly hehe im used to being first away at the lights and doing 140mph (where legal)