How to tell timing belt has been changed?

lemonade

lemonade

lemonade

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Going to go and see a car tomorrow, asked the owner on the phone if the timing belt had been changed (its got 79000 on the clock), he said he doesn't know and he doesnt seem to know much about cars, the cars got no service history, so no way to tell if the owner before him changed it, so just wondering is there anyway to tell if its been changed? like maybe physically any signs that point to a timing on its way out or if its old etc.

Also does anyone if the engine on a 1999 Accord is non-interference?

Thanks
 
The engine isn't non-interference, no. If you must buy this car despite it having no history, then change the belt as soon as you get it.
 
In all honesty, its an 11 year old Accord. Would you really give a damn about service history on that kind of car at that age? I know I wouldn't
 
Is it that bad it not having service history?

The car seems in good nick, very clean and out, low miles, high spec (type v), 1 years mot, well priced (£1100), every other car we've seen have all been rubbish, most old cars also seem to not have either a SH or just part history, hard to find a decent car it seems. I'm still going to go and see it as it's local, but main issue is timing belt, if it's been neglected then it should be pretty clear to see.
 
Some garages will put a sticker under the bonnet

But with no history and a clueless owner - don't even bother looking to be honest. There's tons of accords about and when I bought mine every one i looked at had stacks of history. One of the benefits of buying a car that's normally been owned by old people - they tend to be a bit more fastidious about these things
 
RSClio said:
Yes, would be nice to know what work has being carried out and what hasnt and info about oil changes and the like.
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its a 99 accord. do you really think any typical accord owners give half a stuff about what oils in it and whether its changed on time?

cars like that are lucky to get "serviced" once a year and then neglected the rest of the time
 
Xez said:
In all honesty, its an 11 year old Accord. Would you really give a damn about service history on that kind of car at that age? I know I wouldn't
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I certainly would. I'll give an example of why. I've been thinking of getting a Corrado VR6 for some time. These are even older and the youngest is at least 15 years old. But there are several common issues which always need attention at some point:

Timing chains and tensioners (very big expensive job which can cause engine damage if it fails)
Heater matrix
Sunroof mechanism and motor
as well as the usual clutch, head gasket, etc

With no service history and no knowldege from the owner how would the buyer know if those items (or whatever the Accords common issues are) would need doing soon? Also how would you know the car has done the mileage the seller says it has? with an older car it's very important you can evidence how well it has been looked after. I don't mean 100% complete service history at a main dealer but enough for you to know it hasn't been clocked and has been looked after by its owners.
 
The corrado is a premium performance car and an old accord isnt. Replace the belt and certainly before anything else, recently known someone ignore this issue and lose the entire car due to costs. Isnt 1.1k a bit much for a car in the lowest value category.

a lot of the old Honda engines were shared across the range, the engine code is on the V5 I think
 
silversurfer said:
The corrado is a premium performance car and an old accord isnt. Replace the belt and certainly before anything else, recently known someone ignore this issue and lose the entire car due to costs. Isnt 1.1k a bit much for a car in the lowest value category.

a lot of the old Honda engines were shared across the range, the engine code is on the V5 I think
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But the same principles hold true... do you really want to buy a car where you can't validate the mileage and have no idea whether the essential things for that model need doing or not? Fair enough if the price is low enough to take that into account but unless it's dirt cheap then I'd want to know how the car has been treated over the years. Not least because it makes it harder to sell on again if there's a big gap in the history.
 
If this Accord is 500 quid, sure.

But 99 Accords are quite expensive for what they are and spending a comparatively large amount of money on a car with no history does seem a bit daft.
 
Joshy said:
It's an old cheap car.

Always Buy based on condition rather than what the service book says.
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Don't the two go hand in hand generally? If a car has a good service book it is likely to be in good nick.

No service history to me would suggest the car generally hasn't been looked after.
 
[TW]Fox;17785225 said:
How do we k now its cheap? It might be comparatively expensive.
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"Cheap" as in it's only a grand.

Pretty much regardless of the car, at this end of the market it's always the condition of the car that should lead the buying decision.

A big history file is nice thing, but IMO it's only that - A nice thing. It's no guarantee that the car is going to be any less of a hassle than a car that came with nothing.
 
My crap car is very crap, and doesn't have much history. The bodywork is ****, but the engine is 100%.

Do agree though, if you can find one with history it's preferable, however not essential.
 
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