Advice needed VW dealer. Cambelt dilemma..

[CamperBadger]

It’s not been widely publicised and has only been policy for a matter of weeks

 

[Sioux101]

Thanks, I knew they changed the mileage interval to 120k, didn’t know that they’d removed the 4 year limit though.

We here in NI found that as plumbers hopping around town with occasional longer runs members were suffering premature cam belt fails. We found that a belt change around 70k saved the purchase of a base engine. At 140k belt again and water pump. We had members who did longer runs more often and their cam belts lasted longer. Seek frequent starts shorten their life.

 

[Spaghetti]

We here in NI found that as plumbers hopping around town with occasional longer runs members were suffering premature cam belt fails. We found that a belt change around 70k saved the purchase of a base engine. At 140k belt again and water pump. We had members who did longer runs more often and their cam belts lasted longer. Seek frequent starts shorten their life.

Another reason to turn off ‘start/stop’

 

[roadtripper]

To be fair to VW the advice isn't "don't look at the belt until you've done 120k" it's "inspect the belt every service and replace by 120k"

Now whether you trust your UK dealer to do a good inspection (given they are not used to it) or you wonder how well this plays with near 2 year extended servicing is another matter.

 

[cgtmiles]

As a leisure vehicle only I think 120k is a long way off! Mine is 4 years old now and done just over 20k at the 4 year mark so (quick maths) that means the belt will require changing when the van is 20+ years old (accounting for lower mileage in covid years + extra use) which is surely more than the expected life of the vehicle. So are VW saying that the belt, pulleys, water pump etc are all not requiring of service? (Checking the belt is surely only preventative check for premature wear)