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I'm in shock

3K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Crasher 
#1 ·
I took my car in for a service this morning (60k) and to get the cam belt replaced.

I've just been told what's wrong with it...

Tyres - apparently one of my tyres is bald and all the other 3 are illegal. This is rubbish. All of them are well within the legal limit.

Brake pads and discs - all are badly corroded and need replacing. The brakes seem fine to me.

Something on the roll bar suspension on the front axle needs replacing. When he first mentioned this he actually asked me if I knew what it was (gauging my knowlede to see how much he could rip me off for no doubt). Apparently this is an MOT failure.

The pipe to the exhaust is apparently worn and ready to blow.

Total cost with the service and cam belt is over £2k. :shock: :shock: :shock:

There's no way I can afford this. What the hell can I do?
 

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#2 ·
Well from what you describe, that lot is nothing unusual for a Golf 4 and around £2K is nothing uncommon for a major service and cam belt with all round discs and pads plus what sounds like an anti roll bar link. If you are worried, I would take the car away, but make an appointment for a later date, saying that you need a week or so to get the money together and need the car running until then. In the meantime, take the car to a VW specialist (not a dealer or a normal garage, it must be a reputable VW specialist) and get a second opinion and get the tires checked and if necessary replaced yourself, rather than paying a garages premium. Just because a tyre looks OK to you, doesn’t mean they are OK and just because they are above 1.6-mm is no cause for comfort, I replace my tyres at a minimum of 3-mm as my life is worth more than saving a few pounds. Anyway, why are you having the cam belt changed now, it is an expensive job and they aren’t due on these until 100K unless a visual fault (such as cracking of the belt, tensioner or water pump failure) necessitates renewal. They were quoting for a new water pump weren’t they? What is your engine code, AUS?
 
#3 ·
I took the car to a VW garage and had it serviced there.

There was no mention of changing the water pump. I was led to believe that the cam belt needed replacing every 60k miles or every 4 years.

The tyres are OK. No way is one of them bald. I will get them checked elsewhere though.

In the end I told them just to do the cam belt and the service. I want a 2nd opinion on the rest!

No idea what the engine code is.
 
#4 ·
The new VW way of thinking is every four years on the cam belt, I think that can be OTT on certain cars, especially non TDI models. The water pump MUST be replaced, it is vital, as it is THE weak point. If it hasn't been changed, the job hasn't been done properly and any proper VW garage now knows this as it is common knowledge and at £25 + 2L of G12 coolant, negligent not to change it. For every cam belt problem we see on the 1.4 and 1.6 16v, 90% are water pump failure and the rest are lower tensioner outer runner failure.
 
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