Audi A3 1.4TFSI Cam Belt

[dunkley201]

My 2013 A3 is on 60,000 miles and has been recently serviced and MOT'd. The paperwork tells me the Cam Belt was replaced by an Audi main dealer 5 years ago, due replacement 29-09-2023. My reputable second hand dealer who sold me the car tells me that Audi have changed the periodicity of the cam belt replacement to 140,000 miles, no calendar limit. Is this now the norm?

Bob

[Crasher]

Yes and I think they have gone from one extreme to the other and even I don’t know what to suggest now.

[dunkley201]

Thanks for your reply Crasher. I thought you would respond. (Strange, very few responders on this forum) I did find the following on the Audi Sport page:

"In a nutshell Audi UK says change the belt every 5 years or 140k miles, whichever comes first. Audi Germany, the manufacturer, says change it after 140k miles with no time limit, and all their distributors apart from Audi UK seem to go along with this. Audi UK have never been able to justify the 5year change interval, and under pressure agreed that a change after 5 years was only required if an inspection showed it to be necessary. Their dealers, however, have taken no notice of this, and still insist on a mandatory change at the 5 year point."

So there you have it!

[Crasher]

140k miles and no time limit and I would be crapping myself driving my own car, there are so many variations I don’t know what to suggest. I have seen very few cam belt failures over the decades but suspect that may be about to change.