I am at a total loss - car experts needed!!

[nearlymybeetrootday]

Peugeot 807. cam belt gone. Garage need to strip engine. This will cost about 1500 quid.

At this point they will tell me what is wrong with it - and coudl cost another 1500 quid.

• what do I do???

DH says £3k isn't right for a cambelt! He says go to a main dealership and ask them what work is involved etc.

Oh No!

It does sound extremely expensive so perhaps you could ask another garage for a quote? (although I know that stripping down an engine is an expensive job)

I can't think what a peugeot 807 looks like, but I am imagining they are big and expensive so you couldn't justify junking it and buying a new one?

It depends you know Quootie... I think it was the older Mondeo that something or other always used to go on, and it worked out cheaper to buy another car. Some cars just have oddities about the way they are made that make certain jobs really difficult (and therefore expensive)

some garages are.... abit over the top price wise, and will invent problems. A main dealership won't and will give you a quote you can use as a guide, and will say how much work etc. is involved. Then... if it's around £3,000 aswell, you will know that's about right for the other garage.

The cam belt or timing belt can cause damage to the car engine when it breaks, the reason why they have to strip the engine is 1) to get to the belt and 2) to check whether any of the valves etc have been damaged. So it can cost a lot of money to have done.

One thing that you might contemplate is finding out how much a new re-conditioned engine would cost instead.

Think the problem is that it is a bit of a lottery you have to pay to have the engine stripped back and having done so you are almost committed then to paying to have whatever they find wrong repaired.

From what i can see, the recommendation is always to go to a main dealer for this type of work and not your local garage.

HTH

A reconditioned maybe cheaper if you are able to find one.
If the cam-belt has gone then a garage can't invent work,the engine has ceased.

the cam belt has gone. Byt they don't know if it has done major damage. They won't know until they strip it back. Then we have to decide what to do.

They charge 72 pounds per hour

I just don't know if I shold part exchange it for a new one, therefore getting crap money for mine as they take the risk not me or cross my fingers and get it meneded

my timing belt went on my car, but as i was only in 2nd gear and just come off the roundabout it was repairable. it was still under warrenty as well so was fixed for free.

but it cvould have destroyed the engine if i had been going faster. i was prepared to fight for my money back on the car.

my dad did say that timing belt problems are expensive.

It would be worth seeing what damage has been done. It'll be expensive,but you'll have to weigh up the cost of getting it fixed and selling it in it's current condition.
They should be able to give you an approximate cost.

this happened to me the belt cam off cos the wheel it sits on broke and it wrecked the engine, cost me 850 to sort it out, it was an escort.

cambelt information

How many miles has your car done, beety, and when does the service book say the cambelt should be replaced? If you haven't exceeded the recommended mileage then you might get some financial help from Peugeot even if the car is out of warranty.

Also you could email Honest John about it and see what he says.

thanks Jan = have emailed honest John and need to find out how long Peougeot recomend a CAM belt should last.

i was to 70+ on hte motorway when it happened

Well I have spoken to Customer services HQ- lets see what happens. Cam belt should be changed at 94,000 miles and mine has done 60 odd. So maybe some redress!!!

I'm getting worried about mine now, beety! There is an age factor as well - recommended mileage or 4-5 years old, whichever comes first - mine has only done 30+K miles (I forget exactly) but it is nearly 4½ years old.

Main dealers are supposed to keep on top of this and tell you when to get it done but I think I might ring and ask about it - I've been googling and seen mileages of 36K, 40K and 60K mentioned.

Good luck with Peugeot anyway

yes I would check - I cannot beleive that a 4 yrear old car can go so wrong tht it will cost me 2 - 3 grand

Hope you get some help from Peugeot.
Cam belts are usually X amount of miles or after so many years which ever come first.

The cam belt is only a small bit of rubber (usually) but it courses so much damage.

So - we needed a new engine - on a four year old car and the price was 7 grand phoned hQ and they eventually agreed to pay half.

Garage in Bath - took two months to mend - and I went to pick it up on Thursday and they wanted cash or cc - cheque had to be cleared before they would release the car!!

I (understandably) got pretty angry

They then said 'after everything we have done for you' - to which I scathing replied - 'you? YOu? You have done nothing I have not paid for - I am the one that did all the leg work to get a reduction.'

Car is still in garage waiting for cheque to clear

NEVER had this problem before - have always taken car and paid later.