Hello Sean,

Have to be out and about today, but if you can wait until this evening, I will knock something together which should help you to come to a decision.

Regards,

Gareth.

10 hours ago, Sean1972 said:

I really appreciate every body who took the time to read and reply to my post.thank you,

im in a bit of a predicament,I purchased the Audi in November last year,with 25.000 miles,

I posted about the timing belt,

I really am not sure what to do (as silly as it sounds)

Audi say my timing bent isn’t due till 140k 

With no year interval,

I’ve heard from lots of people,some saying get it done,it’s not going to be cheap to get done.so my predicament is,I don’t won’t to not get it done for a while and worse case senario it breaks or tensioner issue causing massive issues

on the other hand I don’t want to unnecessarily pay to get it done when it isn’t due,

I appreciate it’s my car and only I can 

 

Hi so we seem to have skipped from the All in Plan which you have paid for covering it with no empirical undertaking in writing that it does that, to oh well if it goes its PROBABLY covered under the plan, have you actually asked them what it covers and can I have that in writing, you are dealing with a dealers here and again on this forum are a multitude of posts for various models where the owner in good faith has taken out a warranty the cars gone wrong and then they inform them the the warranty wont cover that, prime example is the post on here about Alternator Failure due to Mild Hybrid System, some of these vehicles are still within the manufacturers warranty and they still want the owner to pay for the repair if you are stressed about your problem think about how stressed they must be over a three grand plus bill for an alternator, you on the other hand have the option of getting yours done at an outside garage for a fraction of the cost and have the peace of mind of knowing that the item will never again trouble you doing your ownership, you seem to be fixated on the quoted milage for the change but as you say is your choice, oldest saying , short term financial gain, possible long term financial pain, I think as a forum we cannot be accused of trying to coerce members to spend money unnecessarily, ask Cliffcoggin, I for my part wish you luck as I feel I can no longer add anything of further value to your cause.

Steve.

Sean. I realise you are in a dilemma, but I don't have the time to search through the dozens of old posts on the matter to find a specific recommendation for your particular model. That's something you must do for yourself.

What I can say is that the Audi recommendation is wrong. Audi has been increasing their limit for years in an effort to reduce the apparent cost of maintenance to new buyers, which has caused some owners to suffer wrecked engines.

Consider that a new cambelt, with associated tensioner and water pump, cost me a shade over £700 at least ten years ago. That was a large bill that I really didn't want, however the consequence of cambelt failure is often destruction of the engine leading to its replacement at a cost of many thousands of pounds. I had that job done as the car approached 70000 miles in line with normal practice at the time.

Hello Sean,

I’m hoping some of the following will be of use in your decision making. As the insurance companies state ‘ we cannot decide what is right for you, but we can provide you with information that will help you to make a decision that best suits you’.

If this were mine, this is what I would do:- 

Sit down with a glass of wine (or cup of tea) and thoroughly read all the threads on this topic on this forum - enter Cambelt into the search box, and select ‘Everywhere’ from the drop-down menu. 

Then take on board Stevey Y’s points about the value of the ‘All in Plan’. Take it that these  insurance based schemes, are designed to make profit for the salesman and the dealership, and (please correct me if I’m wrong) is effectively a service plan. Does it include any warranty cover? If yes, work on the principle that they are capable of getting under a snake’s belly with a top hat on, to avoid paying out. 
 

Some questions that need answering Sean:- 

You bought the car in Nov 2025 at 25K miles and you’ve covered approx. 1K miles in a couple of months. 
Would 6K miles/a be a reasonable estimate of your ongoing annual mileage? 
How long do you intend to keep the car? 
Pardon the personal questions, but have you bought this with any element of finance? Can you afford to spend some hundreds of £s to get the belt and assembly changed at an independent? 
The answers to these questions will influence whether you can gamble on not getting it done? 
 

I think that’s enough to digest at the moment Sean. Give all this and the earlier threads a good read, and give the whole thing a good couple of coats of thinking about.

You can then come back to the forum and give us some answers and an indication of which way you are leaning at that stage. 
Apologies for the ramble.

Regards,

Gareth. 

 

2 hours ago, Magnet said:

Hello Sean,

I’m hoping some of the following will be of use in your decision making. As the insurance companies state ‘ we cannot decide what is right for you, but we can provide you with information that will help you to make a decision that best suits you’.

If this were mine, this is what I would do:- 

Sit down with a glass of wine (or cup of tea) and thoroughly read all the threads on this topic on this forum - enter Cambelt into the search box, and select ‘Everywhere’ from the drop-down menu. 

Then take on board Stevey Y’s points about the value of the ‘All in Plan’. Take it that these  insurance based schemes, are designed to make profit for the salesman and the dealership, and (please correct me if I’m wrong) is effectively a service plan. Does it include any warranty cover? If yes, work on the principle that they are capable of getting under a snake’s belly with a top hat on, to avoid paying out. 
 

Some questions that need answering Sean:- 

You bought the car in Nov 2025 at 25K miles and you’ve covered approx. 1K miles in a couple of months. 
Would 6K miles/a be a reasonable estimate of your ongoing annual mileage? 
How long do you intend to keep the car? 
Pardon the personal questions, but have you bought this with any element of finance? Can you afford to spend some hundreds of £s to get the belt and assembly changed at an independent? 
The answers to these questions will influence whether you can gamble on not getting it done? 
 

I think that’s enough to digest at the moment Sean. Give all this and the earlier threads a good read, and give the whole thing a good couple of coats of thinking about.

You can then come back to the forum and give us some answers and an indication of which way you are leaning at that stage. 
Apologies for the ramble.

Regards,

Gareth. 

 

Hi no I paid cash for the car,yes I have the funds to pay dealer or independent,

i will if I can find the threads have a read 

There were more questions which need answering Sean, to be able to help you further, so perhaps you can come back on these - if indeed you need additional comments to aid your decision. 

You shouldn’t have any trouble finding the threads if you follow the instructions given. 

I certainly don’t want to push you to make a decision, but equally, I don’t want to spend much more time trying to offer comments.

Regards,

Gareth. 

12 hours ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi so we seem to have skipped from the All in Plan which you have paid for covering it with no empirical undertaking in writing that it does that, to oh well if it goes its PROBABLY covered under the plan, have you actually asked them what it covers and can I have that in writing, you are dealing with a dealers here and again on this forum are a multitude of posts for various models where the owner in good faith has taken out a warranty the cars gone wrong and then they inform them the the warranty wont cover that, prime example is the post on here about Alternator Failure due to Mild Hybrid System, some of these vehicles are still within the manufacturers warranty and they still want the owner to pay for the repair if you are stressed about your problem think about how stressed they must be over a three grand plus bill for an alternator, you on the other hand have the option of getting yours done at an outside garage for a fraction of the cost and have the peace of mind of knowing that the item will never again trouble you doing your ownership, you seem to be fixated on the quoted milage for the change but as you say is your choice, oldest saying , short term financial gain, possible long term financial pain, I think as a forum we cannot be accused of trying to coerce members to spend money unnecessarily, ask Cliffcoggin, I for my part wish you luck as I feel I can no longer add anything of further value to your cause.

Steve.

Steve’s the all in plan that Audi do and that I paid for won’t cover the Cost of the replacement belt and tensioners 

On a 2021 car, you can probably wait until later in the year to get the timing belt changed. That said low mileage is still no guarantee, or is a visual check of the belt.

If you’re keeping the car, get it done is my advice.

As mentioned, VAG are constantly revising timing belt intervals for their cars in order to remain competitive. Ultimately it comes down to your attitude to risk. Audi introduced long service intervals of up to 18k miles which was utter madness, primarily for fleet buyers or private cars on finance deals, so servicing costs would reduce. Of course when 3 year PCP deals ended, the cars were back on the forecourt and it’s usually unsuspecting owners down the line who have footed the bill due to excessive engine wear.

I can guarantee if the belt snaps, the service manager will remark it’s highly unusual. Audi may throw in a goodwill payment in kind, but who knows.

Anyway, we’ve given you the facts. Best of luck to you.

 

Edited January 21Jan 21 by spartacus 68

Thanks to every body who commented I’m booking it in ASAP to have the belt done as peace of mind me 

Who do you intend to book it in with Sean? 
Whoever, change the auxiliary belt at the same time.

If not using an Audi dealer (or parts from them) then I would recommend Gates as reputable aftermarket for this application.

Regards,

Gareth.

Auxiliary belt is that the belt on water pump on opposite side of engine where it has to be timed up from,

 

I work for a motor factors so I’ll if possible get parts from work yes I leats use gates 

Bosch German service garage in a town local to me or Audi who ever csn get me in quickest