Cam-belt replacement period

[RedDave]

I've just received a letter from the dealer who sold me my Polo to say that the cam belt's now 4 years old and hence needs replacing. However, the service part of the car manual says that it should be replaced at 60,000 miles. I've done 56,000 miles.

Can I leave the cam belt safely for another 4,000 miles (which should take anther 6 months or so at the current rate), or should I go for it now?

Also, my brother-in-law's offering to do the change for me. He's a qualified mechanic (now lorry driver!), but hasn't done a VW Polo cam-belt change before. Are there any pointers he should be looking out for? I hope to get the parts from www.eurocarparts.com (http://www.eurocarparts.com) www.gsfcarparts.com (http://www.gsfcarparts.com) or Maccess, if I can ever work out the parts list (it was hard enough sorting out windscreen wiper blades!!!).

Thanks in advance,

RDD.

[dukla2000]

My reading of cam belt changes is it is like insurance: who knows when you will need it but for sure you know when it is too late.

The Haynes manual suggests every 20k miles in full knowledge of the VW recommendation. Your dealer is being very professionally correct: the 'rule-book' is 60k or 4 years, whichever comes first. So good on them. If you have done 56k in 4 years then it is only a couple of months till 60k anyway - I would reckon get it done as soon as you can within reason.

[RedDave]

Thanks for the advice dukla.

Any tips (or part numbers!) for my brother-in-law?