Cambelt change - confusing!!

[Wacko]

My RS6 is coming up to 3 years and I have been told that I need the cambelt changed (earlier of 3 years or 60k miles). Here's where it gets confusing.

-Wimbledon Audi have said it costs c.£1,000 and a cambelt change is 3.5 hours labour

-SGSmith Audi have said it costs £992.01 (all incl) for the belt & lever change (i.e. the Audi minimum requirement) but they recommend getting the rollers & dampers also changed, giving a total cost of £1,230.45

-Croydon Audi have said it will cost £1,328.24 and this is just for what Audi recommend (i.e. belt and lever) and it involves 7.8 hours work

I'm throughly confused! What did you guys pay, and what did you get done i.e belt and lever or rollers and dampers too??

[skodaw]

Well Croyden have quoted the right labour time - 7.8 hours is indeed the correct allocated time, although the total price look's a little high, I'm not working tomorrow but I'll check it out when I go back in Thursday.

[SteveH]

Just passed 40k miles, I was quoted £833.89 (inc VAT) for the cam belt change which I believe was for belt & roller. As I had the belt changed at the same time as a major service (£545.76 inc) and brake fluid change (£85.23inc), when I paid for the work performed in Nottingham the grand total invoice was actually a couple of hundred less than originally quoted to reflect the reduced hours spent on the car in their multi-tasking efficiency!

[Wacko]

Just to make things even more confusing, I got another quote from Epsom (who said they have just done an RS6 cambelt change at this price).

They have quoted 6.0 hours of labour for the full belt change i.e. including the rollers & damper, costing just shy of £1,100. So, thats 4 quotes, all materially different.

SIgh, I have asked Audi CS to let me know exactly what needs to be done (i.e. rollers and dampers too) and how many haours of labour are required.

Interestingly Croydon called SGSmith to work out why there was such a big gap. They both concluded that the other was wrong! Great, doesn't really fill you with confidence.

[mwcltd]

This gets better. My dealer will charge me £1,420 inclusive of everything and recommends doing all the parts. The time for change is 3 years or 60k miles which ever comes the soonest.

[Wacko]

Right.... I have heard back from Audi Customer Services who have spoken to their techies.

The "book time" for a cam belt change on the RS6 is 5.6 hours. The labour rate should be the only difference in quotes - which clearly does not explain the variances I have been seeing.

The advice from another Audi dealer (who gave yet another different quote) is that it is well worth shopping around as some dealers add extra bits into the work which Audi do not require.

I believe it should cost c.£1,000 if the cambelt is changed in accordance with Audi's guidelines.

Thankfully I found out yesterday my car was done before I got it, at 40k miles (old Audi guidelines), last year so no change required for another 2 years. Woohoo, I'm going to spend the cash on the Stage 1 upgrade!

[skodaw]

Right.... I have heard back from Audi Customer Services who have spoken to their techies.

The "book time" for a cam belt change on the RS6 is 5.6 hours. The labour rate should be the only difference in quotes - which clearly does not explain the variances I have been seeing.

The advice from another Audi dealer (who gave yet another different quote) is that it is well worth shopping around as some dealers add extra bits into the work which Audi do not require.

I believe it should cost c.£1,000 if the cambelt is changed in accordance with Audi's guidelines.

Thankfully I found out yesterday my car was done before I got it, at 40k miles (old Audi guidelines), last year so no change required for another 2 years. Woohoo, I'm going to spend the cash on the Stage 1 upgrade!

Oh dear...
This is really disappointing when even customer care can't give the correct answer!
I checked the labour times myself this morning using Elsa - which is the electronic system that all Audi centres use for producing service sheets, workshop manuals and operation times -- the time listed to replace the cambelt & tensioner on the RS6 is 6.8 Hours - plus a small additional time if replacing more than just the belt and tensioner.

I double checked this using Audi Menu Pricing -- all dealers should use this to prepare quotes -- if they did then the only difference should be different labour rates - it's not perfect but it's better than nothing.



There are quite a few gremlins in the system,like quoting 4.7 hours to replace an RS4 clutch(actual time 10.10hrs!!)

[mwcltd]

I have just been to my dealer and had a conference call with Audi. For the RS6 and RS6+ the cambelt has to be changed at 40k miles but this can occur over any period of time. The pulley and tensioner only have to be inspected at this time and must be changed with the cam belt at the 80k service. I will have these replaced at the 40k service just to be sure. My dealer has quoted me £750+VAT for the complete job as the front of the car has to come off and the quoted labour time is 4 hours.

[skodaw]

I have just been to my dealer and had a conference call with Audi. For the RS6 and RS6+ the cambelt has to be changed at 40k miles but this can occur over any period of time. The pulley and tensioner only have to be inspected at this time and must be changed with the cam belt at the 80k service. I will have these replaced at the 40k service just to be sure. My dealer has quoted me £750+VAT for the complete job as the front of the car has to come off and the quoted labour time is 4 hours.

Well if that's what they are saying they better tell the dealers -- we use an online system - based on engine/chassis and mileage data to produce the relevant doc's -- I've done it myself today for a customer -- and the belt change quite clearly states due every 90,000 KM or roughly 55,000Miles.

Who was the conference call with ??? -- becuase if it was with the customer care dept I would be sceptical -- we had a visit from 2 technical managers in the customer care dept before xmas -- one asked if we could show him what a clutch looked like -- as he had no idea!!!!

[skodaw]

OK today I have re-checked the electronic service data, and checked the latest cambelt interval list that we have on Audi's intranet -- both say 90,000km(55,935miles)/3yrs. I have also sent an email to Audi Technical and asked for clarification on this matter.



I would not normally show this - but I think it's vital that this information is correct, when I receive confirmation from technical I will confirm details.

[SteveH]

Does that mean that I have recently needlessly spent nearly a grand on a belt at 40k that i was told must be changed that actually didnt need to be changed?

[skodaw]

Does that mean that I have recently needlessly spent nearly a grand on a belt at 40k that i was told must be changed that actually didnt need to be changed?

I can't say without being able to see the belt that came off. The belts do have to be checked every 20k - and obviously would have to be replaced if any damage was found, or if contaminated by an oil leak or similar.

At the end of the day, your belt has been replaced and has cost a whole heap less than replacing the engine - my basis for concern is that dealers should be using the information I've shown - this differs to the advice given by customer care - if the dealers are wrong this potientialy could mean that cars are going without belt changes when they are due -- I am mearly looking to get this clarified once and for all for EVERYBODY including the dealers. I would not post the information that I have for any other reason

[harry]

had belt change on mine today as per 40k service additional work - can feel the difference. Mind you was driving round in A6 3.2 quattro for the day so....

[Wolverine]

I have just phoned 4 local Audi dealers this morning about a cambelt change and have got quotes as high as £1500 to as low as £820 ! What the hell is going on ?? One dealer thinks its 10.2 hours, another 3.7 hours ??? If it weren't for the warranty, I'd being going to a specialist who knows what he is doing.

[Rupert]

HA! They REALLY don't have a clue! When you do decide on a dealer to do the work - get them to put the price on their system. I was quoted a low price at one dealer for a normal service only to have that price more than double when I drove to the garage to book the car in!

On the phone: "Yes sir it's definitely £360, I'm sure"
In person: "I'll check previous RS6 services, ah.. £800+ sir, yes, £800+, when would you like to book it in again?"

He made himself look like a complete fool, but I doubt he cared.
Good luck in pinning this one down, and let us know what you pay!