Clio 197 Cambelt, Water Pump, Dephaser Pulley @ RenaultSport Dealer £888

[daemon]

Well after my purchase last week of a 52K miles mint 197 in silver, and having turned a blind eye at the time to it being a 2007 car without a belt / dephaser pulley change, i'm taking the plunge and getting the above work done.

My usual mechanic - brilliant though he is - has never done the work before and even with buying the full kit of genuine dephaser pulley, genuine water pump, GATES timing belt kit, i'd have been looking at probably north of £500 and no absolute confidence there wouldnt be problems.

So, i've her booked in with my local Renault dealer - Shelbourne Motors, Portadown, Northern Ireland, who happens to be a RenaultSport approved dealer (maybe they all are, i dont know), and i've been quoted £888 for all the work, and they're warranting the work and parts for a year.

Cant say its an easy pill to swallow but i'm taking some cold comfort in that

• I'm exceptionally happy with the car
• I bought the car at £1,000 cheaper than the cheapest comparable car on autotrader nationally
• Its being done by a Renault Main Dealer
• Theres a fair chance my son will be the next owner, so the work is done and he wont have to worry about it
• If i do sell the car on, i've a fully documented fitting expense there as opposed to the usual "erm, yes it had a belt done" type vagueness sellers come out with.

Oh well, just have to suck it up, dont i? :smile:

 

[Stay Puft]

Is there not any independant specialists near you??

 

[imprezaworks]

Pays a grand cheaper for comparable car, then spends a grand on belts. Winning.

Only winding you up mate. A specialist will be cheaper than that. Where are you based

 

[LeeRS]

Northern ireland

 

[Crybert]

Pays a grand cheaper for comparable car, then spends a grand on belts. Winning.

Only winding you up mate. A specialist will be cheaper than that. Where are you based

This is what I do too mate lol.

At least you'll know it's been done for sure

 

[Clio_fool]

Maybe you paid a grand under because it needed the belts doing. At least you'll have 100% confidence is done right and 12 months cover to boot. That sounds like a win to me.

 

[daemon]

Yeah 197s are rare here for sale, and most have been modded. This one was totally standard and two lady owners from new. Second owners husband runs a garage so it got everything it needed (bar a belt change, ha!)
Technically, i could drive on at it, as i've never heard of a belt break because of (reasonable) age, but i have heard of them break on miles.
My original plan was to drive on and not worry about it. But i;m a worrier so that hasnt worked out.
I'm thinking a specialist would be £500+, and i dont know of any in the area. So for another £300 i've "the works" done by Renault.
Shelbourne are literally down the road from me, so theres a big convenience factor in dropping it off without having an expedition to drop it off and another to go pick it up.

 

[daemon]

This is what I do too mate lol.

At least you'll know it's been done for sure

Well thats what i keep telling myself.
Too often you go to buy a car and you've just to take the sellers word for the fact its been done as they've "lost" the paperwork or never had it.

 

[daemon]

Maybe you paid a grand under because it needed the belts doing. At least you'll have 100% confidence is done right and 12 months cover to boot. That sounds like a win to me.

Well i suspect thats why it hadnt sold. Because people more intelligent than me knew it would need done.
In fairness i put in a cheeky bid and got it, so i'm not complaining.