MK5 GTI - Cambelt

[neg]

Cars have maintenance costs - End of story.

fair enought but I think the point is being sold something under false information so to speak. which is a fair point.  If I did the same to my customers they wouldnt be happy.

difference being vw dont really care

[RedRobin]

^^^^
I must admit I missed the claim of false information in this thread.

The way I see it is that if you care about keeping your car well maintained and running well, then take the advice and enjoy driving the car with more peace of mind.

[ub7rm]

Thing is Robin you could replace your brake pads every year / 10k miles.  It would be preventative mainenance and all that good stuff but I'm guessing you don't.  Because that would be daft.  You would be needlessly replacing them outwith a reasonable replacement cycle. Caveat: assuming no boy racer / granny driving etc etc

You can accept the dealers line without question - and it is the safe / conservative way to go.  But frankly they are asking you to do work which is unnecessary.  In your case i think you had it done at the sensible mileage.  But many of us are no where near 60k after 4 years.  Its the 4 years I have a beef with.

Of course cars cost money to maintain.  But VW, with the 4 years cycle are taking just a little pee out of their more naive customers.

[neg]

Did we say these vouchers are dealer specific?  I have been quoted £414 all in at an independant german specialist, waiting on 2 local the dealer prices

Its not due yet but if I could get it done cheap now I would be tempted

[Caz]

lol this whole thread and some ppls comments and attiudes make me laugh..

if you dont like the maintenance of vw or their cars then go buy something else..

or if you really feel the need to have a vw and still moan, take it elsewhere..
I find it quite rude that someone with such knowledge has answered so many question and in soooo much detail and its still not good enough for some of you..

at the end of the way what you get told by dealers is what vw specify, so all in all, i really think you should get in touch with vw themselves. 

[Trickyboy]

Just to throw a spanner in the works, is it the same intervals on all golf mk5 models including dervs?

[Caz]

cambelt wise yes.
they any acception is passats.
on those cambelts due change at 60k.

[ub7rm]

lol this whole thread and some ppls comments and attiudes make me laugh..

if you dont like the maintenance of vw or their cars then go buy something else..

or if you really feel the need to have a vw and still moan, take it elsewhere..
I find it quite rude that someone with such knowledge has answered so many question and in soooo much detail and its still not good enough for some of you..

at the end of the way what you get told by dealers is what vw specify, so all in all, i really think you should get in touch with vw themselves. 

Caz,

'its what VW says and you must do it otherwise stop whining ' is pretty much what you are saying?

Since I've contributed a great deal (more than I wanted to!) to this thread I'll take this head on.  I think if you read through what TT and I said we are actually broadly in agreement. 120k specified originally by VW is / was ridiculous.  60k is far more sensible and 5 years is a sensible time to change if you don't exceed the mileage in that period.

VW say 4 years.  TT was happy enough with this as prevention is better than cure and its nice and safe.  I think this time frame is based on a sales/marketing decision rather than purely technical / good sensible time.

Its almost like initially VW said 'Our cars are fantastic, they never need cam belts changed' (as good as, most buyers of new cars don't keep them till they hit 120k)

Then all of a sudden its "Yeah we were just joking when we said that, really you need to change them every 60k (no problem there) or 4 years"

It will upset Red that I'm thinking cynically but....come on!

And why is it VW UK thats made this change?  How is not worldwide?

I do of course understand that dealers have been told this and are passing it on.  Some are more proactive at drumming up business than others it would seem.

-----------------------

On the whole I like VW products, doesn't mean they are perfect now does it?  I'm perfectly entitled to moan/berate/praise whatever I want where ever I want thanks very much 

I have a great deal of respect for TT and anyway I think he likes arguing.  A lot of usefull information has been wheedled out of him in the course of this that might otherwise not have come out.

Calling VW will achieve what?  I'm not doubting for a second that this is the new policy.  I just don't fully agree with the new policy.

If it upsets you so much perhaps you'd like to stop reading after this 

[Brian_GTI]

A very interesting read. My Dad has a 2005 1.4 16v Polo which he has owned from new, his local dealer has mentioned a cambelt change, however the cover has only covered 14k. Should he get it changed or risk leaving it a while longer ??

[No Golf Clubs at all]

Can we take it as read that the following is understood and concentrate on the matter in hand. 

1. VWs need servicing - yay 
2. All servicing/ maintenance costs -yay 
3. We care about our cars. - yay 
4. We want to ensure our cars are maintained correctly. -yay 

now what has been not answered is this.,....

WHY have VW UK changed the intervals and we apparently are the only place on the planet (ok exaggeration maybe) that have to change the cambelt at 4 years? Is this rip off Britain and if there is no empirical data being provided then why are those who are experts accepting what VW UK say as fact? (ALL, please.....lets move on.....we know cambelts can break, we know when they do there is major damage, get over it)...now why oh why are we,in the UK, having to change them more than any other VW owning person in the solar system?