martincape

Right, firstly hello to you all!

Secondly, I've never owned a Subaru before, but I have fell in love with one.

A guy from work is selling an Impreza WRX 2.0 Turbo on a 53 plate. Its done 46000 miles and is in mint condition, full service history the works and ive got him down to a bloody good price.

Only thing is, the cambelt is due to be changed at 50000 miles, therefore next service in October. Does anyone have a rough idea how much this will cost? Ive looked for parts and found the timing belt kit for about £200, the water pump for £60, then obvioulsy the other stuff, which I was surprised to find isnt much more expensive thasn any other car.

Is the timing belt change a labout intensive job? I can afford to run this beauty of a car, but I dont know if I can afford to get to October and suddently get a bill for £800 (including 12 months tax and MOT, all due in October)

What does everyone think? I really want it, its just the cambelt issue.

Scooter_3D

mine was £410 plus i needed a new tentioner and aux belts so total cost was around £760

guinnessman2001

Had my MY99 classic cambelt done last November and costs were as follows:
Dayco belt £40, toothed idler £22, plain idler 2 at £ 21, Auto tensioner £71.
Most parts from Camskill.

Ex Subaru mechanic at local garage did the work, 2.5hrs, £120.

Water pump was OK so not replaced.

Total cost just under £300. It doesn't have to cost a fortune.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Depends where you take it, and if they use original parts etc.. and what else needs changing at the same time.

Personally I would bet on paying around £500 ( for a full service with cambelt - remember all the other bits that get changed on a service as well, not just the belts ! ), a couple of hundred more if at a main dealer.

This is probably why the bloke is selling it, particularly if hes letting it go for a good price as he knows there is a big bill coming up !

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

first thing is to say hi

can i just ask you and you have to be honest to yourself. you say you can afford to run the car but not get a bill for £800 which in fairness is for general maintaince of the car, (service, cambelt, tax, mot) os to me that says that you cant afford it mate. yes they are not that expensive to run in fuel costs think i do £200 a month on fuel but its the other bits that will catch you out. and from my experiance the all seem to cost £500 +, my rear shocks went £240+ vat for one shock replaced, power steering pump £500+ from dealer, let alone if the engine was to go. please i am not saying that you cant run one more the fact that if they go wrong it can be expensive to get them right and from what i have learnt fixing it on the cheap has only lead to it going again or causing more issues at a later date.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Hi Martin,

but the above is an example of where sourcing a part from a breakers is going to save you a fortune. Many of these cars are bought and crashed, so a PS pump is as new, so worth the risk, IMHO.

HTH

dunx

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

dunx i can see where your point is and in some cases i agree that was supplied and fitted i think it was around the £600 mark and i spoke with the guys at s4u and they were nto that much cheaper i think about £50 due to labour charges. yes i am sure i could of got one from a breakers for a 3rd of the cost but who long would it last maybe it could never go but maybe it could and proof on this was the next morning after having picked the car up from sgt the night before driving it home about 3-4miles and parking it up on the way to work it failed mid corner turned out to be a faulty unit, car spent a day or two as the did not have another on the shelf.

just my point to the op is if he is debating the tax mot service all things that have to be done each year at a minimum to keep the car on the road then he inmo can not afford to run one, lets look at when the service, tax and mot are due and yes the service after this one will be cheaper as no camblet but what if all 4 tyres are now worn out (and my t1r set me back £125 a corner) so thats another £600.

these are all ifs and buts i agree i am just trying to let the op now what could be on the cards, he may get lucky and have no issues at all and indeed just have the fuel to pay for.

although if i were him i would risk it as the good times far out way the bad

best of luck in what ever you decide to do op

regards

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Agree with the above - just because the cars are getting cheaper to buy, doesnt mean the parts are any cheaper !

Look at the price of tyres, brake discs, bodywork parts etc... what may seem like quite a simple repair or service job can soon add up to a big dent in your wallet.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

The 50k service is an ordinary one with the addition of the cambelt. The 60k service is the one where transmission fluids, plugs, air filter and maybe brake fluid are changed.
Cambelt change on it's own (assuming all idlers and tensioner are ok) should be circa £200 then there's oil/filter and the various checks etc. As an example, Xtreme Scoobies in Essex list the 50k service (inc. belt) at £409 inclusive
Whereabouts are you?

JohnD

PS Buy the thing!!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

I had a full service (all belts, lubricants, plugs etc) for just under 600 quid

Tony

hodgy0_2

tbh at 7 odd years old its getting to the stage that bar the oil/filter change (easyest car i,ve come across to do -- takes under 10 mins) which I used to do every 4/5k

i would just replace stuff as and when it breaks

aprt from Cambelt, the only thing that needs attention is tyres and brakes -- all imo

martincape

Thanks for the replys guys.

Basically, the reason I say I cant afford it, is down to the fact ive just spent all my savings doing the back garden (ask the Mrs), so once we get back from holiday beginning of August, only really leaves 2 months to save up the amount needed for the service. If say it needed it all doing in January, no problem.

Ive scoured for parts and can find the cambelt and tensioner kit for £200, pump for £50 ish, then the other bits. It would be my mate who does the job for me, he's a qualified mechanic, only charged me £20 labour for a service and cambelt change on a Focus!!

Im basically talking myself into buying it aren't I ha ha??

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

What makes you think you'll need a new water pump and a new tensioner? At 50k they "should" be ok. Just be prepared!
Get your mate to swot up on the belt change procedure and tensioner compressing - it's a bit different to a Focus! and make sure he pre-fills the oil filter (long standing discussion point on here!)

JohnD

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

thought you also had to disconnect the crank sensor and turn it over a few times before re-connecting it to make sure it pulls the oil through before letting it spark, (might be bull i read / heard)

ok then so it is not the case you can not run one at all. more the fact of you wont have enough at the set service date so i take back what i said. i would hold off for a few months on the service and then go and get it done at a garage such as API, CLINC or who ever is nearest to you. keeps up the service history, and if anything goes wrong you can take it back to them just my opinion on

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Cam belt change at API is £200.00 + VAT including the belt. We rarely change tensioners they seem pretty robust BUT if you do have a duff one then about £125.00 + VAT for a PROPER one. There are copies available, but with something as important as cam belt control the odd fifty quid saved might look silly when the tensioner goes astray. Better to keep a good used genuine one with a few miles on it than a cheap Taiwanese copy.

I'd save the money for the tensioner cost and fit a modified oil pump whilst in there. That is our advice. The pump is more likely to cause grief than the tensioner [ more expensive grief too ]

We do modded pumps on an exchange basis at the cam belt change. £75.00 for the pump and £55.00 extra to fit it including O rings and oil seals.

David APi

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