Stafford major service +cambelt worries??

R

Red_A2

Member
Hi all - so I've just got my A2 1.4 petrol back from Stafford Audi after having their £235 major service and am pleased to say the car feels sooo much better for it. :D

Anyway, as it is a 51 reg and covered 32k miles, I was expecting to be told the cambelt was the next thing to be done, however when I asked about this, the service advisor pulled out a chart stating that Audi's policy was that the cambelt on the 1.4 petrol has no requirement to be replaced at all?!!??

Now I'm confused because I don't want to spend £300 odd if I don't need to, but if it does snap, then does this mean Audi would be liable for repairs as they advised me not to replace it??:confused:

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gaz
 
I think because your car is 6-7 years old it is advisable to have it changed after that long even though the mileage isnt that high. It should say in your book when to have it replaced. Not sure if it 60,000 mileages or every 5 years which ever comes first for petrol engines :)
 
Hi Gaz
Last time I asked Audi they said there was no mileage limit on the 1.4 petrol cambelt but the recommendation was to chaange it every 4 years. I subsequently heard they now advise the belt is just inspected after 4 years. This puts the onus on you to ask for this and the dealer to make a judgement on its condition. If the cambelt did fail I suspect you would have great difficulty in getting the engine fixed FOC.
I agree with Richard and if it were my car I'd have it changed now. If you'r not convinced, best thing is to ask if they inspected the belt as part of the service then find out who pays if it fails.

Cheers Spike
 
Change the belt!

We had a VW Golf Mk 4 1.4 (same engine) and at every service (40k, 50k, 60k) I was blithley assured by VW that it did not need changing, despite me repeatedly asking.

At 65k it let go, and caused £1,000 of damage to the engine. A HUGE arguement ensued with VW who eventually paid half the cost. I was not pleased, they should have paid the whole lot. I was even more annoyed to note that they subsequently changed the requirement to change the belt.

Like I said ... change the belt.
 
i recently purchased my 03 1.4 64k miles with audi fsh, the owner said the dealer had never advised a cambelt change, they were told "it didn't need doing"
lets just say the 1st job i got done was the full cambelt kit at a local independant garage £270.
 
Thanks for the advice all. I'll have to get it done later in the year then, but am annoyed that a dealer could give out such bad advice!

I did ask specifically about the condition of it, which should have been part of the major service, but was told its condition would not have been checked as part of the service??!?! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but even on their £80 bronze service, the following is checked, "07: Inspect condition of drive belts".


Gaz
 
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