Hi I'm a new member. My car only has 45,000 miles on it but I was told I should get a new timing belt. A dealer gave me a price quote of $1,700. Do you guys think it's a good idea to get it done now and is that a good price?

 

This is one of those taboo topics around here. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the recommended service interval for the 2.7T is 75,000 miles for the timing belt. I would think the 4.2 would be very similar. 45,000 seems very low. I know on RS6 models the recommended service interval for the timing belt is something like 30,000 but I believe that has to do with the increased stresses associated with that setup. You will get responses all over the board from some people on here. They are probably recommending the service based on the age of the car, rather than miles at this point. It's rare to find an 11 year old car with only 45,000 miles on it.

Some have gone as far as 150,000+ on the original timing belt, and others have changed it with only around 50,000.

$1700 is about right for a dealer to do a timing belt job. I believe I was quoted about the same and that's when I started doing all of my own service on my cars.

 

The manual calls for 105,000 miles for the 4.2 timing belt change. However, there is typically a 10 year life for the belt as well as the mileage life. Rubber wears due to miles and heat/cold cycles, so it would be a good idea to have it done. The price seems to be typical for a dealer on the 4.2.

 

I would agree with both. I had mine done at 80,000 when it was 6 years old. The belt was fine. What you might save on is the belt idlers. As they are bearings they may not be bad. I would absolutely have the thermostat replaced as it is deep inside. My independent guy "forgot" to replace the $35.00 item, it failed a year later and cost another $800.00 to open it up.$1700.00 seems a touch high, it all depends on the shop rate. It is easily an 8 hour job if not 10

That car should have a ton of life in it