Reply to: Cost of cambelt change?

[DealorNoDeal]

Had the belt changed this morning. FWIW, the mechanic reckoned the old one (8 years old, 11,000 miles) looked as good as new (no sign of wear or deterioration).

[DimPrawn]

Nah, it was a petrol 5 cylinder Marea smoke generating machine.

A remarkable piece of crap and no mistake.

The only duff Fiat I bought.

Fiat Marea - Wikipedia

The one I miss most is the 2 litre Croma Super IE.

I loved that car but the tin worm got it.

I had a Lancia Beta with a 2 litre twin cam engine. Loved that car, of course the tin worms got terrible indigestion eating that one in an afternoon.

[DoctorStrangelove]

Nah, it was a petrol 5 cylinder Marea smoke generating machine.

A remarkable piece of crap and no mistake.

The only duff Fiat I bought.

Fiat Marea - Wikipedia

The one I miss most is the 2 litre Croma Super IE.

I loved that car but the tin worm got it.

[DimPrawn]

What model was that?

This one I'm guessing

[Paddy]

Changing the cambelt on one of my ancient Fiats would have cost £1000 20 years ago.

Engine out job.

Fecking brilliant.

I scrapped it.

What model was that?

[DoctorStrangelove]

Changing the cambelt on one of my ancient Fiats would have cost £1000 20 years ago.

Engine out job.

Fecking brilliant.

I scrapped it.

[Paddy]

If it ain’t got PDK it isn’t worth sheet

[AtW]

If it ain’t got PDK it isn’t worth sheet

[DimPrawn]

There is a small sweet spot of low emission cars registered before April 2017 where VED is no more than £30:

Cars with cheap road tax | BuyaCar

My parents have the Ford Fiesta (#9 on the list) and it's quite nippy.

I wouldn't mind the Lexus IS 300h

[ladymuck]

There is a small sweet spot of low emission cars registered before April 2017 where VED is no more than £30:

Cars with cheap road tax | BuyaCar

My parents have the Ford Fiesta (#9 on the list) and it's quite nippy.

[DealorNoDeal]

In which case an Audi TT is not a good choice. I would recommend a car that is cheap to insure, cheap to tax, reliable and easy to maintain.

25 most unreliable cars | What Car?

If I lived somewhere where I could walk to local shops and amenities, I'd ditch the car altogether.

The road tax is a bit high at £260.
But the insurance ain't bad. £208 with LV, which includes breakdown cover and protected no claims.

And the only thing that's gone wrong on the car, in the 8 years I've had it, is an electric window mechanism.

[Paddy]

Retired early. Time rich. Money not so much.

Checked the service book for the car last night. It's only done 469 miles since 25 Apr 2019.

With insurance, road tax, servicing, MOT, cost per mile must be astronomical.

In which case an Audi TT is not a good choice. I would recommend a car that is cheap to insure, cheap to tax, reliable and easy to maintain.

25 most unreliable cars | What Car?

[DealorNoDeal]

Checked the service book for the car last night. It's only done 469 miles since 25 Apr 2019.

With insurance, road tax, servicing, MOT, cost per mile must be astronomical.

[DealorNoDeal]

So something you will have done what, every five years, so a cost of about £100 a year, and you have devoted half your life to this subject?

You probably spend more on crisps or light bulbs in a year....

Retired early. Time rich. Money not so much.

[caffeine man]

Apparently, later models of the TT have a timing chain rather than a belt. I think most cars many years ago used to have chains.

It's always seemed a bit daft to me using a piece of rubber for something as crucial as the camshaft on an interference engine. I wonder whose bright idea that was.

Every BMW I had over the last 20 years had a timing chain. Doesn’t mean the chain won’t degrade though. I stretched a timing chain on my last BMW. Fortunately under warranty, was a £2500 fix, free to me.


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