Cambelt and water pump change - Audi A5

TNGL · 5 Sep 2019 at 15:26

Audi are quoting £745. I have rang an independent garage and they are saying they will be able to do it for a lot cheaper than that (they will provide an exact quote tomorrow) but they would not be using Audi parts. Instead, they said they will be using manufacturer-approved parts.

How much should this cost? Should I trust non-Audi parts to be used for this or not?

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 5 Sep 2019 at 16:19

By manufacturer approved I assume you mean OEM equivalent parts
OEM means they are the same, i dont think they ever approve parts other than the manufacturer parts if that makes sense
Often you will fine someone like Bosch makes an "audi" belt marked as OEM, and a bosch marked belt for the same car

If the parts are a big brand Bosch, Lucas etc I wouldn't have an issue personally, but if they are an unknown unless the belt saves a fortune I would ask for better. A lot of the cost is likely to be the fitting itself rather than the belt.

Quartz · 5 Sep 2019 at 16:31

TNGL said:
Audi are quoting £745.

I've just had this done on my Skoda - another VW marque - and the dealer charged me a bit over £400.

Nasher · 5 Sep 2019 at 17:00

I'd always go OEM unless it's a better part. A lot of things will claim they are OEM quality, but when you compare side by side actually no they aren't :/

Big brand stuff who make a lot of the parts anyway are PROBABLY ok. But even then quality can vary from "OEM".

Also if you have a warranty it might be void if you use non-OEM stuff.

xs2man · 5 Sep 2019 at 17:10

You can get the parts from TPS and ask the garage to fit them? TPS sell genuine OEM.

Otherwise, I'd generally buy Gates or Conti belts. Gates give a slightly longer interval than the Audi OEM belts, but I'd generally still stick to the Audi approved intervals.

My guy usually fits the belts for around the £100 mark on VAG motors. And can usually pick up gates kits for £100-150 depending on application.

TNGL · 5 Sep 2019 at 18:52

Thanks for the help.

On the phone, he did say OEM, although he wasn't entirely clear. I will clarify exactly what brands he will be using tomorrow and post back.

How can I found out what brand of timing belt and water pump to go for to match the same one Audi uses?

As a rule of thumb too, if it's Bosch or Contitech, it is likely to be ok, is it?

xs2man · 5 Sep 2019 at 19:02

I'd usually aim for Gates over Bosch. But Contitech are up there too. I'd be finding my local TPS and calling them up for a price, then just get your garage to fit it though. Then you KNOW your getting genuine parts in there. Also change waterpump at same time.

blueboy2001 · 6 Sep 2019 at 09:42

I wouldn't advise supplying your own parts for a cambelt. If you want genuine parts tell the garage you are willing to pay the extra and get the garage to order them from TPS themselves.

I wouldn't be fussed about genuine if the garage uses a belt kit from a decent brand.

If you supply the parts and the belt flies off in 6 months time the garage will have a get out of jail free card and blame the customer supplied parts.

TNGL · 22 Sep 2019 at 13:55

After speaking to a few friends, I was able to get the cambelt, water pump and fan belt changed for £300. All genuine parts from TPS (and a trusted mechanic).

red eye · 23 Sep 2019 at 20:32

TNGL said:
Audi are quoting £745. I have rang an independent garage and they are saying they will be able to do it for a lot cheaper than that (they will provide an exact quote tomorrow) but they would not be using Audi parts. Instead, they said they will be using manufacturer-approved parts.

How much should this cost? Should I trust non-Audi parts to be used for this or not?

Audi don’t make parts. What you get in an Audi box you can get in the manufacturer who supplied Audi box at a much lower price. Gates or continental make timing belts for vag.

Dealers add tw** tax and you don’t get to keep the box. Bit like being bent over and shafted with a rusty baseball bat covered in 10grit with no lube :eek:

red eye · 23 Sep 2019 at 20:39

blueboy2001 said:
I wouldn't advise supplying your own parts for a cambelt. If you want genuine parts tell the garage you are willing to pay the extra and get the garage to order them from TPS themselves.

I wouldn't be fussed about genuine if the garage uses a belt kit from a decent brand.

If you supply the parts and the belt flies off in 6 months time the garage will have a get out of jail free card and blame the customer supplied parts.

Don’t think so with new parts, the belt will have warranty which you will claim on from suppliers.

If it’s secondhand then that’s your fault

Django x2 · 23 Sep 2019 at 20:40

Quartz said:
I've just had this done on my Skoda - another VW marque - and the dealer charged me a bit over £400.

Given that the two cars still have the possibility of being vastly different, I'm not sure why this is relevant.

red eye · 23 Sep 2019 at 21:33

Django x2 said:
Given that the two cars still have the possibility of being vastly different, I'm not sure why this is relevant.[/

I think they have different rates.

Django x2 · 23 Sep 2019 at 22:16

red eye said:
I think they have different rates.

not just that, but no two cars within the VAG group are the same for servicing. For instance, the effort and parts needed to remove a turbo from an Audi A1 TDI are far greater than the effort and parts needed to remove a turbo from a Skoda Yeti or SEAT Ibiza with the same engine. Therefore labour costs are not just baed on different rate cards, but also on genuine labour time.

red eye · 23 Sep 2019 at 22:28

Django x2 said:
not just that, but no two cars within the VAG group are the same for servicing. For instance, the effort and parts needed to remove a turbo from an Audi A1 TDI are far greater than the effort and parts needed to remove a turbo from a Skoda Yeti or SEAT Ibiza with the same engine. Therefore labour costs are not just baed on different rate cards, but also on genuine labour time.

your looking at cars aimed at different markets.
Audi A4,vw golf, seat Leon, skoda fabia? All same platform. Engines are all packaged the same....ish. But still an a5 has its own platform but prob has some a4 in it somewhere.

xs2man · 24 Sep 2019 at 00:55

red eye said:
your looking at cars aimed at different markets.
Audi A4,vw golf, seat Leon, skoda fabia? All same platform. Engines are all packaged the same....ish. But still an a5 has its own platform but prob has some a4 in it somewhere.

Kind of. The Fabia is more likely based on the Polo platform. The Golf and Octavia are closer. The A4 is probably based on a slightly larger platform than the Golf. Not quite Passat sized, but still traditionally had the engines mounted 90 degrees off from the Golf.

I think the point he was making, however, is that there is a lot less space in an A1 engine bay compared to a A5 engine bay. So getting to the turbo in a 1.6 TDI engine that could potentially be found in both, have hugely different procedures due to massively different space / layout considerations, which could result in large labour differences. The engine may be the same when out the car, but may require a whole host of different parts to be removed to gain access to the same part of each engine.

red eye · 24 Sep 2019 at 22:28

I Ment a3.
My point was the golf, a3 etc are vags A platform, a4, a5 and Passat are the b platform. But the old b platform cars where identical under the bonnet it seems the newer b’s are not. Passat engine are now transverse and the Audi is longitudinal.

Passat timing belt is move stuff out the way for some room the Audi’s are still a pig for room but more room than the b4 cars if it’s a V6 diesel then it’s front end off

Hades · 25 Sep 2019 at 08:15

red eye said:
Don’t think so with new parts, the belt will have warranty which you will claim on from suppliers.

If it’s secondhand then that’s your fault

The problem you risk if you supply your own (new) parts is that the supplier and the garage will tell you the other is at fault if the belt fails shortly after fitting. For such a critical item I would allow the garage to supply the parts. That way, if there is a catastrophic failure, then the garage is liable whether it's poor fitting or poor manufacturing. Personally I'd find a well trusted indie and get them to supply and fit them.

red eye · 25 Sep 2019 at 18:29

Hades said:
The problem you risk if you supply your own (new) parts is that the supplier and the garage will tell you the other is at fault if the belt fails shortly after fitting. For such a critical item I would allow the garage to supply the parts. That way, if there is a catastrophic failure, then the garage is liable whether it's poor fitting or poor manufacturing. Personally I'd find a well trusted indie and get them to supply and fit them.

They could blame each other all they like. It’s not like the supplier or the garage can prove why it failed, that’s why it gets sent off to manufacturers. But you pay to have the belt removed and a new one fitted, you claim off whoever’s at fault.

But yes, a lot less hassle to let the garage supply and fit.