Advise on buying a timing belt and water pump for a 15 plate Leon 2.0 FR Diesel

[hewittinspain]

Hi.
My car has done 65000 and is now 6yrs old so im looking to get my timing belt and water pump changed.
Firstly how much does a garage generally charge for this (as ill get a couple of quotes) and are there any non Seat garages that can be recommended (such as Halfords, Kwik fit etc) as ive a feeling Seat will charge the earth.

Secondly i could ask my mechanic friend to change it but im confused as to what parts to buy. Some water pumps are switchable and some arn't which is all double dutch to me. Maybe someone can link me to a site and tell me what im supposed to order.

Also is it possible to check to see if it needs changing or will it definitely need changing as I would rather wait 3 months until my annual leave from work. . I know Seat Recommend 5yrs or 80000 miles so with their recommendations its definitely due.

 

[SteveGSXR600K1]

I'm in the same boat, except my 184FR is 5 years old. I won't be looking at Halfords or KwikFit to do the job. It's a bit more specialist than I trust them to do.
One thing you have to bear in mind is if SEAT do the job, you'll have a 5 year warranty on the work. I'll be looking at getting quotes from independent VAG specialists to see how they compare with the SEAT price of £599.

A cambelt isn't going to let go just because it reaches a certain age, several other factors will dictate that. As yours is already 1 year over, I wouldn't leave it too much longer than 3 months. You can only tell the condition of the belt when it's taken off, and bending it the other way to see if it's got any cracks in between the teeth.

 

[hewittinspain]

I'm in the same boat, except my 184FR is 5 years old. I won't be looking at Halfords or KwikFit to do the job. It's a bit more specialist than I trust them to do.
One thing you have to bear in mind is if SEAT do the job, you'll have a 5 year warranty on the work. I'll be looking at getting quotes from independent VAG specialists to see how they compare with the SEAT price of £599.

A cambelt isn't going to let go just because it reaches a certain age, several other factors will dictate that. As yours is already 1 year over, I wouldn't leave it too much longer than 3 months. You can only tell the condition of the belt when it's taken off, and bending it the other way to see if it's got any cracks in between the teeth.

Thanks
Is the £599 the price with the water pump as well?. Ill definitely look into independent VAG quotes

 

[Speedbird]

I had the cam belt and water pump replaced on my 2.0 TDI 184 in December. It was 5 years old and on 58k miles. I got it done by a VAG specialist for £475. I wouldn't trust a garage like kwik fit to do it, I use those kinds of places for tyres and that's it. I could have paid a bit more and had it done by Seat, but I personally think specialists are more knowledgeable and passionate about their work (if you find the right one).

 

[SteveGSXR600K1]

Thanks
Is the £599 the price with the water pump as well?. Ill definitely look into independent VAG quotes

Yep, that's for both.

 

[Mr Pig]

Seat replace the belt and water pump. Where I live they charge £500 for the job and you get a 5 year warranty.

A good independent garage will charge less but it won't be £50! It'll probably be so close to the Seat price that to me it's just not worth it. You know Seat are using the right parts, you've got the warranty against anything going wrong and it keeps the service history looking good.

I got my brake fluid changed while the car was in the Seat dealer getting the timing belt done. I got the brake fluid on my daughter's Toledo changed the week before at a local garage and it was only ten pounds less. Last year we sold our last Leon and the car needed the timing belt changed. I told the buyer this, the car was priced accordingly, and he got the belt done at a local garage. They only changed the belt, not the water pump.

Sometimes getting smaller garages to do things just doesn't make much sense. It depends on the exact circumstances but with timing bets I think Seat are a good option.

 

[stu_m]

I told the buyer this, the car was priced accordingly, and he got the belt done at a local garage. They only changed the belt, not the water pump.

Sometimes getting smaller garages to do things just doesn't make much sense.

The trouble with this is a lot of independents only do the work asked for by the customer and don't try and "up sell" even though it wouldn't be an up sell it just makes perfect sense to change it!

This is where independents think they are doing well by only doing the work the customer asks for and use it as a marketing ploy so they recommend friends and family if the customer doesn't know the reasons why the water pump needs changing at the same time then the indi should be explaining it so they don't end up with a huge bill should it go tits up

 

[rafletcher]

I think it depends very much on the independent. The one I use is a VAG specilaist, and regularly does work on Audi R8's. I'd trust their recommendations.

 

[Mr Pig]

I think it depends very much on the independent. The one I use is a VAG specialist...

I'm sure they'll do as good a job as a dealer, if not better, but do they give you a five year warranty? And how much do they charge?

 

[rafletcher]

No, you won't get a 5 year warranty. But to my mind, if SEAT are willing to give such a warranty it's because they don't expect failures. Otherwise, parts cost will probably be similar, and labour £60/h instead of £120/h. So for jobs with a releatively low labour content there'll be less of a difference, but for servicing etc. they'll generally be a lot cheaper. They also update the online service record. And in my case it's a question of 4 miles away instead of 18.

 

[Mr Pig]

But to my mind, if SEAT are willing to give such a warranty it's because they don't expect failures.

I'm sure that's true. If it's done right you're not going to have any issues. If it does go wrong it's likely to be straight away, not four years down the line. I just think it looks good in the service history and helps sell the car. When I've got prices from my local garage, a decent garage but not a VW specialist, they were quoting not far off dealer prices. If you can save hundreds then fair enough.

 

[SteveGSXR600K1]

Don't know if I've made the wrong assumption regarding the warranty. I thought the warranty would cover any engine damage done by a faulty part in the cambelt/waterpump kit within five years, but after reading this https://www.seat.co.uk/owners/your-seat/servicing-maintenance/cambelt-warranty.html, I read it as it's only the kit parts that are covered. If the latter is the case, then the warranty doesn't seem so important. 'Your cambelt has snapped and your engine's destroyed, but here's your new cambelt'. If a new cambelt had issues, you'd be worrying about bigger issues! As a lot of 184's have/had issues with the squeaking tensioner pulley, then the warranty would be good for this. Had mine done twice during its first 3 year warranty.....

 

[Rusty2k]

Don't know if I've made the wrong assumption regarding the warranty. I thought the warranty would cover any engine damage done by a faulty part in the cambelt/waterpump kit within five years, but after reading this https://www.seat.co.uk/owners/your-seat/servicing-maintenance/cambelt-warranty.html, I read it as it's only the kit parts that are covered. If the latter is the case, then the warranty doesn't seem so important. 'Your cambelt has snapped and your engine's destroyed, but here's your new cambelt'. If a new cambelt had issues, you'd be worrying about bigger issues! As a lot of 184's have/had issues with the squeaking tensioner pulley, then the warranty would be good for this. Had mine done twice during its first 3 year warranty.....

The details in that link specifically say resulting damage is claimable. As you say, it wouldn't be much of a warranty it wasn't.

It's the last bullet point in the Information on the Enhanced Cambelt Warranty conditions section.

note though that the water pump is not considered part of the cambelt kit so that would only carry the standard 2 year warranty on work even if done at the same time as the cambelt kit.

 

[Mr Pig]

I think it's unlikely the cam-belt will fail within the five years. To me it just makes selling the car easier, the fact it has a dealer stamp for the belt and the warranty.

 

[BillyCool]

Secondly i could ask my mechanic friend to change it but im confused as to what parts to buy. Some water pumps are switchable and some arn't which is all double dutch to me. Maybe someone can link me to a site and tell me what im supposed to order.

@hewittinspain ref what pump to go for. The factory fitted pump had an electronic actuator that reduced coolant flow when the car started cold to get it warmed up quicker and provide better cold start emissions. That actuator was prone to fail and cause the car to either overheat, like mine did or kept it too cold. Very similar to when yout thermostat goes wonky.

When mine was replaced I opted for an after-market non-actuator type and the car has been fine since.

Not saying one is better than the other but to me it's another case of VAG over-engineering something and then having to offer after-market solutions when it fails. It was a known issue with CUPA and CUNA engine codes for some reason.

 

[hewittinspain]

Ive had a few quotes for a cambelt and Water pump change including pulleys and antifreeze etc. The part is Gates and comes with 2 yrs Warranty. One garage 10 miles from me came up on whowillfixmy car and has come up at £263. I actually rang and spoke to them after the quote. They seem to get excellent ratings (4.7 out of 5 from over 1000 reviews) . The next quote was £100 more and a unofficial Seat garage came up £200 more.
Someone said the unofficial Seat garage would may not be necessarily better.
Would you be tempted to go for the £263 quote with the two year warranty as I think that is a good price.

 

[BillyCool]

Ive had a few quotes for a cambelt and Water pump change including pulleys and antifreeze etc. The part is Gates and comes with 2 yrs Warranty. One garage 10 miles from me came up on whowillfixmy car and has come up at £263. I actually rang and spoke to them after the quote. They seem to get excellent ratings (4.7 out of 5 from over 1000 reviews) . The next quote was £100 more and a unofficial Seat garage came up £200 more.
Someone said the unofficial Seat garage would may not be necessarily better.
Would you be tempted to go for the £263 quote with the two year warranty as I think that is a good price.

I'm pretty sure that mine was a Gates kit as it came from TPS. £263 sounds like a sensible price (similar to what I paid my local one man band).

Some will argue that if you go to VAG/SEAT and pay close to £500 you get a 5-year `guarantee` but if you read the small print, it doesn't cover everything and may not be as reassuring as they'd like you to think.

I'd go for it - the parts are usually the same and you just aren't paying stealer rates to fit it.

 

[hewittinspain]

I'm pretty sure that mine was a Gates kit as it came from TPS. £263 sounds like a sensible price (similar to what I paid my local one man band).

Some will argue that if you go to VAG/SEAT and pay close to £500 you get a 5-year `guarantee` but if you read the small print, it doesn't cover everything and may not be as reassuring as they'd like you to think.

I'd go for it - the parts are usually the same and you just aren't paying stealer rates to fit it.

Hi Brian. Yes I was surprised how cheap it was. I suppose if the garage had a bad reputation then id have probably stayed away but they get great reviews on the whole. I know when ive been reading about independent Seat Garages ive heard they are not always better than a local garage and they quoted me £450. I think the main dealership is £550.

Ps ill sent you a pm on my update on my matrix (which you gave me advise on)

 

[RUM4MO]

There might also be an issue if needing to claim under the SEAT warranty if that car does not have continuous SEAT dealership circuit service records.

My proper Audi dealership used to charge a slight bit much for MOTs but it included a form of insurance covering anything needed for the next MOT, sounds good - but I was still using them for MOT well after doing all my own servicing, so I'd get zip all help with paying for any work needed to pass the next MOT. When they gave me an advisory for some suspension bushes which typically needed changing at a certain age, I gave them the heave as these bushes were still 100% as the mileage is shocking low! Local VAG Indie for me now after that.

 

[hewittinspain]

There might also be an issue if needing to claim under the SEAT warranty if that car does not have continuous SEAT dealership circuit service records.

My proper Audi dealership used to charge a slight bit much for MOTs but it included a form of insurance covering anything needed for the next MOT, sounds good - but I was still using them for MOT well after doing all my own servicing, so I'd get zip all help with paying for any work needed to pass the next MOT. When they gave me an advisory for some suspension bushes which typically needed changing at a certain age, I gave them the heave as these bushes were still 100% as the mileage is shocking low! Local VAG Indie for me now after that.

My car is a 15 plate now and is 6 yrs old and has been serviced at other places now anyway I dont think that would be a massive issue now for me I wouldn't have thought. I guess if it was a 17/18 plate then I would have probably still taken it to Seat and paid extra but I think it comes a time when the car gets a little older then a reputable garage that offers it a lot cheaper maybe the best thing to do