Cam belt replacement due. Do I get water pump as well? (5 year old low mileage)

[marballs]

Hi

My Audi is soon due a service and MOT. It's a 56 plate Audi A4 Avant Sline SE 2 litre petrol.

My service and MOT is due in August 2011 and as part of the deal I'm in I get it for £99.

However, although only done 43000 miles or so, it's 5years old and so is now due a cam belt change. Although sure it would be fine,I do have an AA warranty (for what it’s worth) and therefore would rather do what I have to and Audi say the cam belt is due in Sept 2011.

They have offered me £399 price to do this which I am told is good for a cam belt from a main dealer. However they have also recommend I replace the water pump at the same time. They say this would normally cost a lot more as engine needs to be removed to get access, but they would do this at the same time for £520 in total.


My questions:

1. With my mileage, can I delay the actual cam belt, or just do it now anyway?
2. If I do the cam belt, should I do water pump at the same time for the extra £120?

1. They also mentioned about removing bacteria from my air com. They say normally £120 but will do for £35. Worth it or gimmick?

I welcome opinions on this. Thanks

 

[drmole]

sort answer for water pump Yes worthdoing while its all striped
as a rule cam belts should be changed after 5years even if low mileage
also try tps for the part much cheaper than audi my water pump was 30quid i think will check tho

 

[benr]

I got quoted the same and its booked in for a couple of weeks time. £399 is the fixed price for cambelt on a 2.0 and below afaik. and £120 on top for the waterpump I didn't really argue as I don't trust many people to do such a job. AA warranty requires servicing to the schedule so make sure its done.

I've learnt the hard way - never skimp on the cambelt you will regret it

 

[B5NUT]

Yes, water pump & thermostat. Understand it's under 10k miles a year however the pump & stat is still 5 years old and if you continue do low miles they I could be in there for 10 years! But I think it would give up after 7 or 8.

£120 is a lot seeing as it's only held in by 3 bolts & the belt is already off for the change! I would phone around and get better pricing.

 

[marballs]

OK I'm sold on the cam belt, annoyed I have to be ripped off on the water pump. I doubt I can use another water impt and give that to Audi to use so even if I found one at £30 it's not good I assume.
I guess at least I'm getting the service at £99 (Although I'm sure there will be some hidden extras)

So so far I would be looking at
£620

(only recently bought 4 new tyres - £700)

Ouch. It aint cheap running this.
Do you reckon I will have any joy haggling?

 

[marballs]

Also what about the air con thing. Another £35 if I go for that - worth it?
They will probably offer me regassing as well. They did last time as they said it could get colder and last time they said I shuld change my cooling fluid ideally (I think that's what it is) all of these were a lot and I did not take them and checked wiht AA who said not taking them would not affect warranty (And I have it in email confirming this)

 

[B5NUT]

On the aircon side the dealers are haing a laugh @35 & taking the pi$$ at £120. it's a simple aircon bomb and can be done at home takes about 20 minutes.

Not my eBay item just an example AIRCON BOMB AIR CON CLEANER FRESHENER CONDITIONING | eBay

 

[drmole]

jus dug my tps reciept out water pump for a 2.0tfsi was 27.00 with a 30.00 surcharge so audi indeed taken the **** big time on tha ask them if u supplied the parts how much to fit they will be genuine parts from tps and ill order them on my account if u like and send them up to u hate seeing anyone pay over the odds n get ripped off

 

[marballs]

I'll investigate the optoin thanks.

 

[jdp1962]

Pretty much everything you are contemplating having done is worthwhile. Like others have said, by the time you have paid the labour to have the front end stripped down to change the cambelt, it makes total sense to renew the water pump at the same time. However, bearing in mind the age of the car, I can see little point in sticking to the Audi dealer network. If you know of a good independent garage locally that you can rely on, you will probably find that they will do all of that work for less money.

 

[sidibear]

After the aircon bomb you will need to clean the inside of your windows a few times afterwards, it tends to put a film over the inside of the glass that takes a couple of cleans.

 

[jaygeezer871]

For cambelt & waterpump AMD want between £312 & £365 depending on what 2.0 petrol engine you have.
I dont think you live nearby but i enclose the link for comparison.
AmD Tuning Products | ECU Remaps | Engine Tuning | Performance Tuning parts for the Audi A4

 

[Rog16]

Replacing the cam belt at just 43k is early but as the car is five years old you need to relate the replacement cost to that of a major repair job if it does fail. Replacement of the water pump seems to be always recommended when renewing the belt and as the pump costing only about £40 it's a cost effect way of having it done whilst the belt is being changed. Don't know why you think it's an engine out job, certainly not on the TDi.
Comparing your dealer cost with an independent, I had a cam belt and water pump change and service for £409 incl VAT.

 

[RMH1A4cab]

I had mine done by these.

VW Volkswagen Audi Seat Skoda Cambelt Replacement - Lichfield Staffordshire Midlands

I know them well and trust them totally, your car is showing at £375 for Campbelt and water pump.

 

[Wrath]

I got my water pump and cambelt done at Teesside Audi for £350.