02 Clio Timing belt

sillysocks

Last year I bought an 02 Renault Clio, and yesterday had it in a Renault main dealer for a problem with the airbag. While it was in they did a "25 point check" on the car and everything got a 'green' status except for Timing which they said was 'red'.

I just wonder was this them trying to get some of my hard earned cash off me or would a timing belt need to be replaced on a 4 year old car? There's only 30k on the clock.

Darragh29

sillysocks wrote:

Last year I bought an 02 Renault Clio, and yesterday had it in a Renault main dealer for a problem with the airbag. While it was in they did a "25 point check" on the car and everything got a 'green' status except for Timing which they said was 'red'.

I just wonder was this them trying to get some of my hard earned cash off me or would a timing belt need to be replaced on a 4 year old car? There's only 30k on the clock.

Sounds like low mileage for a timing belt change. It's usually 50K and some clio's have a timing belt that is changed at 72K interval. I'd get a 2nd opinion on this from another Renault garage tbh...

Guy:Incognito

Do manufacturers not say "x amount of miles or x years"? seeing as a car could spend 5 years sitting in city traffic 8 hours a day 5 days a week but only have around 15k miles on it? Cos that'd be 10500 hours of running time for the timing belt

sillysocks

sillysocks wrote:

I just wonder was this them trying to get some of my hard earned cash off me .......

Sorry just one other question....roughly how much of said hard earned cash am I looking at part with to have this replaced if it does need doing?

bazz26

Usually the rule of thumb I go with regarding changing a timing belt is every 40k to 50k miles or five years, which ever comes first.

I don't know really if you can judge or check if a timing belt is about to go other than the above guidelines.

It's risky imo whether to let it be for another 10k miles or so, if it snaps on you then your looking at a bill for a new engine in most cases. If it doesn't snap on you then you get another 12 months before it needs to be done.

If you are keeping the car for some time yet I would consider getting it done as the car is 4.5 years old but not from a main dealer as they usually are expensive. A good independant mechanic with a good reputation from people you know use him would be alot cheaper.

bazz26

sillysocks wrote:

Sorry just one other question....roughly how much of said hard earned cash am I looking at part with to have this replaced if it does need doing?

Really depends who you get to do the job.

The belt, tentioner and other parts are relatively cheap but the labour costs for the job is where the money is made.

Main dealer labour prices (especially in Dublin) are very expensive compared to an independant mechanic. My guess is that a main dealer will charge anything up to €500.

BrianD3

Well first of all if the car was in for work on the airbag no other work should have been carried out unless you authorised it. IF they went and did a "25 point check" without authorisation and then charged you for it that's not on. Now if the "25 pount check" was free then it's fair enough and could be regarded as good customer service. However with a free check I doubt they have given the timing belt a thorough examination as that would require some stripping down. They might have taken a quick look at it and decided that the rubber had deteriorated. Or there might be suspicious sounds coming from tensioners/water pump. Or perhaps there is an oil leak from the cam or crank seal and they are saying that it is getting on the belt and could degrade the rubber.

What I'm saying is I would be asking why exactly is the timing belt a "code red". Is it because of some problem or the mileage or the age etc.

Renault usually recommend 72k or 5 years for timing belts however Renault dealer usually seem to recommend 50k.

You are looking at around 500-550 quid for the change from a main dealer. That's for a full timing belt kit plus water pump. It is a good idea to change the pump at the same time even if it's not gone (and it shouldn't be at 30k)

sillysocks

BrianD3 wrote:

Well first of all if the car was in for work on the airbag no other work should have been carried out unless you authorised it. IF they went and did a "25 point check" without authorisation and then charged you for it that's not on. Now if the "25 pount check" was free then it's fair enough and could be regarded as good customer service.

What I'm saying is I would be asking why exactly is the timing belt a "code red". Is it because of some problem or the mileage or the age etc.

Going on the invoice the check was "free" (although they did charge 100 quid just to weld two wires together under the seat). They did replace a bulb which was gone, which I was surprised at as I hadn't asked them to look at that- would be well able to do it myself - and they charged 8eur for the priviledge, but I didn't argue because it saved me the hassle.

BrianD3 wrote:

You are looking at around 500-550 quid for the change from a main dealer.

Nasty....... I'll check with a local mechanic and hopefully he'll say I'll get another few months out of it cause a new house doesn't really leave 500 quid lying around! I wouldn't normally get work done through the main dealer so hopefully a local mechanic (Waterford) would be cheaper than that.

Guy:Incognito

My mother had the timeing belt ("and a couple of other small bits" that she cant remember what they were) done on a 00 clio last year for €350 in a main dealer in dublin, so it's not quite so bad.

melikebanana

Just had my timing belt done on my 00 Citroen. Cost me 300 euro in total. Used the Citroen / Renault main dealer on Parkgate street, Dublin. Great service from the people in there. You should check them out.