VW Polo 2003 model

[Elam]

Hi,
My Polo suddenly died on me whilst on the free way and at the garage i was told that it was the cam belt and the valves. I had to fork out R7000 for the whole job. Was this amount reasonable? Because I felt robbed because I'm a lady and i don't know anything about the ins and outs of cars.

On top of that I realised that the bottom cover of my car was missing ( under the engine), after three days from repairs. They are denying any knowledge of that. What should I do?

 

[phiber]

Hi,
My Polo suddenly died on me whilst on the free way and at the garage i was told that it was the cam belt and the valves. I had to fork out R7000 for the whole job. Was this amount reasonable? Because I felt robbed because I'm a lady and i don't know anything about the ins and outs of cars.

On top of that I realised that the bottom cover of my car was missing ( under the engine), after three days from repairs. They are denying any knowledge of that. What should I do?

Sorry to hear, how many KM's on the clock ? Cam belt on a 2003 model would probably be due for a change. Guys here with polos will let you know how much a cam belt costs on a, but I usually tell people to budget about 8000 for it, so the price seems fine.

 

[hyperian]

I can only accept that price if, when the cambelt snapped, several of the valves were bent in the process. They would need to remove the head, grind out valves if required, and replace any valves that were damaged. But, to be honest, even R7k seems quite steep for that. Ask for a printout of all work that was carried out, as well as detailing for labour and parts.

 

[submarine]

I think generally when you have covered about 80 000 - 100 000 km's on a vehicle then it's time to change the cam belt. This could vary with various models but I have had Toyota, Ford, BMW, Nissan, Golf & several other models in my motoring career and I did them at around that clock period.
As gent above says "I can only accept that price if, when the cam belt snapped, several of the valves were bent in the process. They would need to remove the head, grind out valves if required, and replace any valves that were damaged - then that's true. But did you hear any snapping, grinding sounds - when this occurred! Because when your cam belt snaps - your car switches off almost immediately and your engine dies on you. So the damage should/could be minimal - depends "what speed you were traveling" at the time.
Cam belt should cost around about R430 at a Midas store - replacing, resetting timing etc. should be maximum 2 hours - around R600 labor.
Replacement of valves/regrind - rework engine head head should cost around R3000 with labor - so I would in all honesty say " they over charged you"

 

[HapticSimian]

What speed you're travelling at when a cambelt snaps makes little to no difference. Even at idling speed every moving part in your car's engine goes full-circle 15+ times per second - that's more than enough kinetic energy to screw things up. I believe most VW engines have bits colliding when cambelts break, so I don't think the R7k price is anything more than typical dealer-level extortion i.e. nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Elam]

I was travelling at about 80 - 100 Km/hr then the car just died on me and the car had done 157 000 Km. Isn't it supposed to be checked everytime its being serviced? Thank you so much guys for your insight, i feel a little bit better.

 

[HapticSimian]

Elam, I'm sorry to say that most mechanics won't check the state of the cambelt unless explicitly asked to do so. Your car's manual (or service booklet) should have a service schedule inside stating at what interval its cambelt is meant to be replaced - if memory serves, the Polo's is every 90,000km. If this was never done it is no surprise that your original cambelt gave up the ghost. Consider it a lesson learnt - it is a CRITICAL component on a car and unfortunately one that WILL fail...

Some cars are equipped with chains instead of belts, which should last the lifetime of the engine. However, that doesn't help you much.