cam belt

[chris954]

im sure its probably been asked a hundred times but the cambelt on my golf gttdi 115 pd is due for replacing and ive been quoted £275 not including the water pump which i want replacing at the same time is this a reasonable price?im expecting about another £40 or so for the water pump, would that be about right as well?

[Eshrules]

is that an independent or a main dealer quotation?

water pump will be around £40 more yes, you shouldn't get charged any more for labour, as it's all done on the cambelt change already, the water pump is a simple bolt on, bolt off, although you may need to pay a little extra for the replacement coolant.

[chris954]

its an independant. i get the feeling its a bit steep

[paul b]

It's probably the norm these days, to be honest.

Paul

[Eshrules]

its an independant. i get the feeling its a bit steep

I wouldn't say it's steep, when you consider the parts will probably cost around £150/200 alone....

if you're having a service at the same time, factor that into it and you're actually getting quite a bargain

[herby0001]

im sure its probably been asked a hundred times but the cambelt on my golf gttdi 115 pd is due for replacing and ive been quoted £275 ...

Nothing wrong with that price. Was quoted £288 which included the water pump. Try a VW $tealer...they'll charge you around £400. How's THAT for steep!

[Eshrules]

Nothing wrong with that price. Was quoted £288 which included the water pump. Try a VW dealer...they'll charge you around £400. How's THAT for steep!

£400 from a dealer? which dealer did you get a quote from?

I got a quote from smith knight fay for a full timing belt change (inc all tensioners & aux belts), water pump, full service and check, all for £450 (around about)

you're forgetting main dealers complete a lot more checks than indy's will. Whilst I don't use main dealers myself (pointless with a mechanic in the family), It does annoy me a little when people refer to them as ********.

[adamss24]

its an independant. i get the feeling its a bit steep
Actually thats a very good price ! Its a pain to remove the engine mount on these cars and the parts cost over 150 quid on trade...There are quite a few things to remove from the car and there is not enough room to work on these due to the way the engine sits. I did a lot of these and every time i got a mk 4 golf/seat or audi a3 i dont wanna take it... I do the rest of VAG range from 220 quid all in. Ad 5 litres of coolant (£15) and the time it takes to refit the quick release(!) spring clips from the intercooler/turbo piping and it will take waay longer than the listed 2.5 hours. The last one i did on a 110Bhp seat toledo was a full day in 30 degrees heat !

[herby0001]

...It does annoy me a little when people refer to them as ********.

Don't let it annoy you ;) It's just an opinion that some people are entitled to have, just as you're entitled to have yours.

I'd expect that a main dealer may be putting in the extra checks and change another belt or two in order to somehow make you feel you're getting value for money. In my experience, the independant garages are just as professional as the dealers and will carry out work to the same high standard, but for a substantially lower hourly labour rate. I think this could be something that irritates... I don't know if independants do any extra checks as a matter of course, but ultimately, I tell them what I want doing and speak to people about the work who actually know a lot about VW's. In a dealer, unless you have a middle-aged chap to talk to, there is no indepth knowledge... and as for being able to speak to someone on a reasonably technical level, you can forget that! If people are: a) clueless about cars, and b) have too much money, the $tealers are the best place to go and entrust your car to them. (Damn, it's that word again!) :D

Oh, as a side note, I went into my local-ish VW Service Dept and asked about getting a code for a Gamma radio for my Mk4 Golf. The young suit asked me what a Gamma radio was and who made it. :o Arrrgh! Am I being too harsh?