timing belt replacement (1.6 TDI)

[daniel575]

When should we replace the timing belt? Has anyone had it replaced yet?

My dealer at the last service advised that it wasn't needed yet but I'm getting a bit worried now. I'm at 155k km / 96k miles now.

Doing some checking online I found that for the Mk2 people quote everything from 40k to 120k miles?! But I can't find anything for the Mk3. So what's the guideline for us then?

By the way, I also haven't needed to have any brake parts replaced yet. I focus on using engine braking as much as possible, which works quite well. All my car has needed so far is oil, wiper blades, tyres and fuel filters. Sure am happy I went for Seat and not some Asian brand designed for people who don't do more than 10k km per year!

 

[surrealjam]

When should we replace the timing belt? Has anyone had it replaced yet?

My dealer at the last service advised that it wasn't needed yet but I'm getting a bit worried now. I'm at 155k km / 96k miles now.

Doing some checking online I found that for the Mk2 people quote everything from 40k to 120k miles?! But I can't find anything for the Mk3. So what's the guideline for us then?

By the way, I also haven't needed to have any brake parts replaced yet. I focus on using engine braking as much as possible, which works quite well. All my car has needed so far is oil, wiper blades, tyres and fuel filters. Sure am happy I went for Seat and not some Asian brand designed for people who don't do more than 10k km per year!

It seems VW themselves just go with a vague "every 5 years" but do state that it could be more often "for high mileage drivers" without stating what high mileage means. If you plan on keeping the car, perhaps it might be worth doing sooner rather than later.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why/cambelt-change

And you've done 155k km without changing any brake parts? I presume you're excluding brake pads!?

 

[daniel575]

It seems VW themselves just go with a vague "every 5 years" but do state that it could be more often "for high mileage drivers" without stating what high mileage means. If you plan on keeping the car, perhaps it might be worth doing sooner rather than later.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why/cambelt-change

And you've done 155k km without changing any brake parts? I presume you're excluding brake pads!?

Thanks!

And yes, 155k km without any brake parts (pads), indeed. As I said, I rely on engine braking a lot. Even with that, I'm extremely impressed. Previous two times I took it in for servicing, I was incredibly surprised to hear the brakes are still absolutely fine and don't need replacing at all. Now (from 100k km) I really started to make it a point - I'm wondering whether I might be on the road to become the first driver in the world to reach 200k km without needing new brake pads. That would be nice!

I have it serviced at a very well known, high-level combined VW/Audi/Seat garage that serves mostly business users (including the police), so they're pretty reliable - they know what they're doing.

 

[daniel575]

Got the official answer from the local official Seat/VW/Audi/Skoda dealer: 210,000 km (130,000 miles).

 

[CRNeo]

Well I'm coming up to 4years and 37k miles on my mk2 1.6TDI and am planning on getting mine done in the next few months just to be on the safe side.

I've had a belt snap on a previous car so I'm going to get it done early, how you finding the 1.6TDI lump with a few more miles on?