[brawnc]

Hi everyone first thread for me.
My daughter has passed her test and rushed out and bought a 03 clio 1.1. I know nothing about cars so feel I haven't helped her much with it. She bought it private so has no warranty. There is a list of concerns with it but many I can find out about by reading other threads on here.

One thing the seller told her when she asked about a cam belt change was that the numbers written on the casing of the cam belt refered to the milage when it was changed. This seemed very early to me as the numbers were 43 thousand and something. Can you give me some clarification on this.
Thanks all.

 

[VelSatisfied]

Hi there and welcome.

That's perfectly plausible, as the service life of a cambelt (and the assorted belts/pumps it may drive) is dictated as much by age as it is by mileage.

As an example, I recently had the cambelt changed on my van (it was 5 years old), yet had only covered some 42,000 miles (well short of the mileage limit), but tbh, the risk did not justify running the existing belt for the next 3-4 years (which is what the van would need to reach its mileage limit).

I would probe the seller to divulge who did the work (it would be odd if he didn't keep the receipt as a guarantee for himself as well as proof to a prospective buyer), or if he doesn't have this - ask who did it, and enquire with them.

Best of luck & congrats to your daughter - tell her the learning isn't over, just because she passed her test.

My Dad gave me the best advice, which I'll pass on; treat everyone else on the road as an idiot, and you seldom be proven wrong (in other words, don't assume logic).

HTH

Paul

 

[Asterix]

Likewise with me, my 06 scenic has only 28000 miles but I had the cambelt changed end of last month....the rubber deteriorates over time and not worth the risk of a replacement engine.

 

[brawnc]

Thankyou for the replies.

Hope her luck changes though seems to be a few problems developing with it and she only bought it four days ago. She now has no coolant because there is a leak from the back of the engine somewhere and a flat battery.

Really have a feeling that the guy has got rid of it for some expensive reason.

 

[VelSatisfied]

Really have a feeling that the guy has got rid of it for some expensive reason.

It would sure read like that to me also.

Paul