Megane timing belt

[mpatton]

Looking at a RS225 here in perth and could do with some expert advice.

 

The owner claims that the timing belt was recently changed.(within 2000km)

The work was done by a friend of his and so he doesn't have any receipts for the work.

Although he has offered to get one from his friend, that obviously doesn't carry the same weight as an actual receipt

 

I would insist on a pre-purchase inspection to check for anything untoward. (thinking eurogroup in burswood).

 

So my question is, can you easily tell the age of the belt during a standard inspection?

Or do you have to get in and start taking bits off to be sure?

 

Thanks in advance.

[portal]

I would stay away from that car. One thing you don't want to mess with on a 225 is the timing belt...

 

Sounds suss. If it's not stamped, it didn't happen.

[griffyn]

Does he have the receipt from the belt kit? He must have bought that from somewhere

[Apex]

I would ask to see a receipt for the parts at the very least, water pump should have been done at the same time. A check should show that the work has been done recently.

 

I don’t think I would let that detour me if the car was very cheap, I would however question where else he has tried to save costs on servicing and try and find out if he has used genuine parts.

 

At 100k it should have had the tie rods done as well as all engine mounts. Check how much of a lip is one the disks and how much pad is left also, this small list could be a couple of grand’s worth of repairs if they have not been done.

[BG5WRC]

interesting, a belt can be on a car for a hell of a long time and still look pretty new - so even an inspection isn't necessarily going to tell you a lot. You either weigh up how genuine you feel the owner is or ask for a receipt of purchase for the belt - the tensioner should have been replaced too.

[mpatton]

 

I don’t think I would let that detour me if the car was very cheap,

 

Thanks for the info. I have emailed the seller regarding receipts for the parts as a minimum.

 

How much cheaper would this have to be to qualify as very cheap?

 

Everything has a price, just a question of what that should be in this case.

 

 

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?__Qpb=1&__Ntk=CarAll&Cr=1&__Ntt=SPORT&R=11385310&seot=1&silo=Stock&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&trecs=7&__D=SPORT&__sid=132D4BCC56CF&num=15&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&vertical=Car&__N=4294963762%204294963380%20904%201622%201282%201648%201682%201216&__Nne=20&base=&__Dx=mode%20matchany

[Eire]

Does he have the receipt from the belt kit? He must have bought that from somewhere

 

+ 1, if you have any since what ever about documents for little things, you will hold onto stuff regarding timing! Sounds odd he has none :-/

[biologist]

I would be a little suspect about a "mate" doing the job. Its not that easy a job and you do need some special Renault tools, or some nounce about what to use in place of these tools, to get the job done properly. You also need to replace the idler pulleys and the accessory belt hence the cost of the job. That said if its a good price and still worth buying then why not just get the belts replaced "again" by a pro?

[Wolf]

All of the above. If you're still keen, then negotiate knowing it's best to re-do the above mentioned work.

Take that cost into account, and see if it's worth it.

All the best, here if you need us.

Cheers,

WOLF

[mpatton]

After a few more phone calls, I have managed to get some more information out of the vendor.

He does have the receipts for the timing belt kit. Purchased it from the UK for 250 GBP.

But turns out he hasn't actually installed it yet, too busy studying for exams.

So the "$3000 recently spent" comment in the ad is basically BS.

He is a foreign student at a local university so english is his second language, but this goes well beyond a mistranslation.

 

Other tidbits:

I did a registration check at the WA transport site and the rego expired last month.

He didn't know about it until I called him to check.

And the front passenger window has stopped working since I test drove the car.

A power window motor in my Audi GT(Canada) cost me $600 in 1992, so I'm assuming this is probably similarly uncheap.

 

Two options:

1) Only offer something stupidly cheap subject to a full mechanical inspection

2) run away very very fast

 

I'm leaning towards option 2 but Meggie lust makes me consider option 1.

[drdrei]

If it was me, option 2.

[jsr]

Don't touch it !

[BG5WRC]

see whereas for me because the km's are reasonable, if I felt it looked mechanically ok I would offer a stupid low figure - if there were no other low options around. But i agree he almost does not deserve a sale for saying the time belt has been done already in the ad. But its probably better his "mate" hasn't done it!...

[portal]

a bit OT but..

 

what else needs to be changed with the timing belt? water pump? pulleys?

 

where's the cheapest place to buy all these parts?

[biologist]

If the reg is only recently expired you can pay the rego without in inspection if done within a 'grace' period. If its outside the grace period it will have to go over the pits to be inspected to be reregisted and that is a major pain. You can easily knock a few grand off a cars value if the rego is out of date. Still, it may be worth it and who's to say its not a fuse that's blown on that window?

[WINDNUTZ]

I dont believe you can tell the age of the belt with out at least removing the timming belt cover. A timming belt kit should come with a sticker to put under the bonnet with km and date changed so any mechanic can see when it was last changed.