Dural

So a little backstory. In 04, I purchased a 99 Impreza L (2.2L) with low mileage of 30K. For a while, I worked nearby and didn't put on much mileage, so now in 08, almost 10 years after the car was made, I still only have 60K.

Anyways, I took my car in for the 60K service today, expecting to have the timing belt done, but they said no, that's done at 105K. I stated that I was almost positive it was 60K and asked them to double check with a mechanic. They came back saying that early 99's require having it done at 60K and later 99's have it done at 105K, and that the only way they would know is by looking at it. So they take it in and report back to me that it's a 105K model. This seems a bit strange to me, why would Subaru re-engineer something like a timing belt mid model year? Is it design related or simply a different part? Also, is the timing belt strictly a mileage thing or does age also play a factor? It's not garage kept, so it's out there in the cold winters and hot summers, and I don't know how tough that is on the belt.

The car is obviously paid off, runs well and should have a lot of miles left in it, so obviously I don't want to have the engine destroyed from a timing belt failure.

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

Definitely have it changed! They do age, and you don't want to snap it

Dural

Hmmm...anyone else have input? I mean, on the one hand, it's hard to imagine a place passing up the opportunity to add ~$300 or more to the bill...on the other hand, it's not hard to imagine a moment of incompetence on their part.

PeeVee

iTrader: (1)

I can only assume that you are not resident in the UK as this country did not have a 2.2L option on the Impreza.

The only way to be sure is to look in your service book, and it should explain when the cam belt should be renewed.

For UK vehicles I.M. moved the Timing Belt interval for the classic shaped Impreza from 45,000 miles (3yrs) to 60,000 miles (4yrs) from 2000my on (i.e. cars built from aug/sept 1999 on)

For the New Age Car, the interval is 50,000 miles (5yrs) and yet they all run the same cam belt!

I can only assume that this was done to stop the cam belt being due for change at the same time as one of the Major Services, as this then makes it extremely expensive.

Mileage is a bigger killer on a cam belt than time, but as with anything it will start to deteriate at some point, but unfortunately the manufactures of the belts don’t give out that sort of info, it's the Importers that tell us when we should be changing them not the Car manufacturer, it's interesting to see how the servicing intervals & content changes depending on which country you are in.

All said though I really cant believe that a cam belt would have a life of 105,000 miles.... Unless of course you are talking Km's in which case that is highly possible

Phil