Cambelt before selling or not?

I

ijedgar

A2OC Donor
I am moving in to residential accomodation for my work so as I will be living on site the A2 will rarely be used now so rather than see it languishing in the drive I am contemplating selling it on.
It has just come round (5 years) for the cambelt to be replaced do you think it would be better to get it replaced before selling and re-coup the cost in the sale or let it go cheaper and the new owner can get the belt done at their preffered garage?
 
If its a really nice example and your prospective buyer really wants the car, I don't really think a cambelt needing changed is a deal breaker or reason for extra haggling ( depends on your resolve and the determination of the haggler of course.):eek:

A new belt would be circa £400 if you use a reasonable independent, so I'd be tempted to be honest in the advert that it needs a second belt doing on age and you'd knock some money off your asking price for that reason. Most buyers are going to want to knock you down in price anyway ( isn't that the fun of a private sale?!) so its fair play to add £250 onto your minimum acceptable value in the knowledge its going to be negotiated in the deal.

If you're very fussy or have a bit of a special car on your hands ( sorry I didn't view your profile to see) then its maybe worth spending the money if it secures a better price, but economically I'd be inclined to go for the first option as the cambelt needing changed isn't a deal breaker. For many used car buyers its actually peace of mind to know that its been done at the start of their ownership. I had mine changed early for this reason a few months after I bought ours.

edit: I've moved this from the selling forum to general as it's not an advert ( for the time being anyway! )
 
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ijedgar said:
I am moving in to residential accomodation for my work so as I will be living on site the A2 will rarely be used now so rather than see it languishing in the drive I am contemplating selling it on.
It has just come round (5 years) for the cambelt to be replaced do you think it would be better to get it replaced before selling and re-coup the cost in the sale or let it go cheaper and the new owner can get the belt done at their preffered garage?
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If the mileage is low (say, 40k?) then the cambelt shouldn't present a risk factor just on age, but if your mileage is higher than 60k regardless of age, it could become a £400 haggling factor depending on how schooled the buyer is..
 
Thanks Guys.
I had it done for my own peace of mind at my local dealer after I had bought it as I could find no evidence of it having been done and the car was showing 48`000.
Five years later it`s on 91`000 and if I was buying it now I would rather have it done myself.
Just checking to see if others thought the same.
The car,although "nothing special" has been a gem,used every day and never let me down and so cheap to run even with dealership servicing prices,I will miss it.
As the next one will only be doing very light duties I thought that I might treat myself to a convertible for the summer.
 
Interesting Ian. I bought our A2 in 2008 like yourself with 46k. We are also on 91k now and like yours the car has been a real gem with only a couple of minor faults to contend with outside of routine servicing. Don't wish to contradict Sailesh' comments but I'm sure one of the mechanical gurus advised me that time was as important a factor in cambelt replacement as overall use because of the potential for material degradation. Could be wrong. I often am!
 
Just to add, the garage I took my TDi to for its cambelt change (soon after I bought it) said they'd never seen or heard of an A2 TDi belt going.

The prospect of getting the belt done myself was in fact more appealing than a garage saying it's been done and writing belt changed in the service book. Although, getting mine changed was unfortunately a right kerfuffle!
 
Murdo is right. In the early days cambelt change was based only on mileage but Audi have changed the rules several times over the years. For TD's, 5 years or 60,000 miles (whichever comes first) is a good guide.

I'd also prefer to get the cambelt done myself and have the discount on the car price.

Cheers Spike
 
Must be something in the air, i'm contemplating selling mine too, but not sure what the value would be.
Any ideas? 2004 (04 Colour storm)
 
driver8013 said:
Must be something in the air, i'm contemplating selling mine too, but not sure what the value would be.
Any ideas? 2004 (04 Colour storm)
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Way more information required for anyone to hazard a guess. Rather than change the flow of Ians thread drop me a pm with more details about your car and I can give you a fair idea. I'd imagine an imola yellow TDI might be quite desirable. Won't increase value any but it should sell fairly quickly. ( don't hold me to that mind!)
 
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I live in Sweden, so things might be different in the UK. But this is how it went down for me.
i recently sold my Passat 2005 TDi, after getting a 2001 1.4 A2. Yeah, I "upgraded" to an older car. The Passat needed a cambelt quite badly. The price for a new one is about £500 at in independent shop. It had quite a lot of mileage on the clock, so I though, I'm never gonna get the money back for a cambelt change, and perhaps the buyer has some contacts or will do it himself. Selling the car without the changed cambelt proved to be quite difficult. I was just about to get the cambelt done when I finally go the car sold.
These are just my two cents, but this was also a car that needed the cambelt done about 1000 miles ago.
 
johnmed said:
Just to add, the garage I took my TDi to for its cambelt change (soon after I bought it) said they'd never seen or heard of an A2 TDi belt going.
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Hi John,

Yes and the reason is that everyone tends to replace them when they should because of the disaster when they go.

I bought the "breaker restored" A2 as a non-runner and that needed valves etc. not because the cam belt snapped, but because the tensioner and the belt jumped 4 teeth!!!


The pistons just kissed the valves (and they are VERY thin) and so it cost me a LOT of money to put right.

Recently I have seen two nice A2s on eBay for next to nothing, both needing an engine due to the cam belt snapping.

This is one service item that I ALWAYS replace early and when it comes to selling a car I often replace the belt if it is nearly due, but mainly because I don't want any problems for the new buyer and I don't want any comebacks. But if I was selling to someone who knows A2s then I would give them the option to do it themselves.

When it comes to BUYING an A2, I ignore the service book if it indicates a belt change, unless there is a genuine receipt for the full kit.

Steve B
 
Exactly right - age is a factor in the flexibility of the rubber belt regardless of whether it has done any miles or not. The rubber will slowly become more brittle as it ages, meaning it can't engage with the teeth and maintain tension as well, which increases its risk of slipping.

murdo said:
Interesting Ian. I bought our A2 in 2008 like yourself with 46k. We are also on 91k now and like yours the car has been a real gem with only a couple of minor faults to contend with outside of routine servicing. Don't wish to contradict Sailesh' comments but I'm sure one of the mechanical gurus advised me that time was as important a factor in cambelt replacement as overall use because of the potential for material degradation. Could be wrong. I often am!
Click to expand...
 
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