Octavia: Is it worth investing now?

Hello,

I know you can't make this decision for me, but maybe you can offer some suggestions or food for thought:

My Octavia is now 20 years old and has 350,000 kilometers on the odometer.
I am the second owner, and the engine is an AHF.

Sure, repairs are always due every year. From a 10€ relay to a head gasket, there have been a few things. Nevertheless, the 1.9 TDI runs quite smoothly, and considering the 6 years I've owned it, I've never had a car that was cheaper per kilometer.

Okay, so next year it's time to replace the timing belt again...

Last time, I paid 300€ for labor and 130€ for materials.
That won't work anymore, though: I have to get the materials from the workshop, and the hourly wages have certainly increased. So, I'm estimating around 800-1000€ for the change.

That would probably be approximately the residual value of the car.

Well, that brings up the question:

Get it done?
Or just keep using the old belt until it causes a major engine failure, and then sell the whole car for scrap.
Or just sell the Octi and get something new.

In addition, I'm increasingly limited in the time I have to personally research and purchase a car, and I'm leaning towards getting a new car through a lease agreement with a full warranty.

But I'm also very attached to the old one, and as I said, it's also a good deal.

Well, what do you think ?

Hi!

I actually have a very similar car, except mine is a Golf.
Similar age, similar mileage, and I also had the problem that the timing belt needed to be replaced again.
and I wasn't sure if I would do it again.

I ended up changing the timing belt myself.
However, I noticed that the water pump was also almost worn out after 90,000 km. (I have an ALH engine).

With older cars, you sometimes encounter unpleasant surprises that you simply can't anticipate beforehand.

I can't really give you any good advice on that.

If you have the tools and the ability to do it yourself, then it still makes sense.

But putting 1000 euros into a car like that, no, I wouldn't do it. Who knows what the final bill will be if something unexpected comes up.

I was also thinking about the problem that I currently don't know what kind of car I should buy next.

That probably doesn't help you much right now.
I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter.

Yes, as you say, I also fear that more might appear.

I have never dealt with timing belt replacement on a TDI. I only know that on a 1.6 Kadett, I could do it myself in 10 minutes, while on an Alfa V6, it took the workshop a whole day . I think I need to do some research on that.

What's also on my mind: The timing belt would then have 90,000 km (approximately 56,000 miles) on it. There's definitely some reserve built in; it won't break down exactly at the mileage mark. If this thing lasts another 30,000-54,000 km (approximately 19,000-34,000 miles), I'd be at 400,000 km (approximately 249,000 miles) on the odometer... I'm really considering just continuing to drive it until it breaks. Even though it's painful to think about, it's probably not the worst financial solution.

Why do you need to source the parts from the workshop? It's never been easier to order parts online than it is today. I paid about CHF 200 for my timing belt kit (Contitech), so it should be a bit cheaper for you in Germany. I would keep it; my A4 now has 390,000 km, and I expect to reach half a million .

Well, in the past, I could bring self-purchased parts to the workshop of my choice for them to install. They don't do that anymore, mainly due to numerous complaints and discussions about whether the problem was with the (cheap) parts or the workmanship.
Therefore, only workshop parts from now on.

Uwe46 wrote:

Therefore, only workshop parts from now on.

I would check with the workshop to see if a ContiTech timing belt kit meets their requirements and if you are allowed to bring your own. Otherwise, you should look for a different workshop.

Regarding your original question, my advice is: if your gut feeling tells you that you want to continue driving the Octavia, then I would do that. Have the timing belt replaced as cheaply as possible, but make sure it's done properly.

Whether you keep a vehicle or replace it depends not on its residual value, but on its condition and reliability. If you can continue to drive it reliably for a long time with investments of a few hundred euros per year, then continue doing so. You just need to consider the depreciation of a new purchase over the same period.

Rüdi wrote:

Whether you keep a vehicle or replace it is not determined by its residual value, but by its maintenance condition and reliability. If you can continue to drive it reliably for a long time with investments of a few hundred euros per year, then continue doing so; you just need to offset the depreciation of a new purchase over the same period.

Hi!
You wrote that really well.
That's exactly what I thought when I reluctantly replaced my timing chain on a weekend.

"Since I used to be a self-employed mechanic, I'm somewhat biased on this issue. I can understand why no reputable workshop would install parts purchased by the customer. First of all, the workshop often gets those parts cheaper through wholesalers, and they lose some profit (which is necessary to keep the business running)."
And secondly, I'll just say that 20% of the parts that customers buy themselves don't fit, and then the car sits on the lift, disassembled, for three days, and progress stops.
Or you can bend and weld the poorly fitting exhaust pipes.
Putting aside the legal issues for a moment.

I also once had a case where a new timing belt tensioner failed a few days later, but luckily it was from a major wholesaler.
Before all of this was resolved, I had enough trouble already.

After that, I only used original parts from the dealership for things like the timing belt, and I never had any problems with that over many years.

Otherwise, in this case, does it ultimately boil down to doing it yourself when it comes to prices?
But then again, there's the problem, and it's not comparable to a car from the 80s.

Without a lift, it's not going to work; you'll just be making a fool of yourself. You also need quite a bit of equipment, including professional-grade tools, and it's not as simple as it seems.
So, you should have already done that before.
There are also a few tricks and techniques that one should know.
And with my Golf, I had the impression that I would have to take half the car apart just to replace the timing belt...

I'm honestly not sure what advice to give in this situation.

Ideally, it would be a friendly, experienced mechanic who has done this before.

Quote:

Ideally, it would be a friendly, experienced mechanic who has done this many times before.

That would certainly be the most beautiful and best way.

I also think, as you described, that changing the timing belt on my car is not something I can easily do myself. I'm missing the appropriate (specialized) tools, and I don't even have a lift.
DIY workshops have long since disappeared from this area.

Hi.

We have ZR (zero-point replacement) installation guides here. One of them, for example, includes pictures that I took. Please read through it.

While I'm not a mechanic, I've experienced this issue six times on my TDI cars.

A lifting platform is definitely great, but if you only use it every three years, it's perfectly fine to do it without one.

"If you've been driving the car for a while, you can probably tell how well it's put together. If you're considering replacing the belt yourself, it's a relatively inexpensive repair. Then you can continue driving until the belt finally breaks. Even then, it's likely to be the last belt, but the end could still be a long way off, potentially another 100,000 km."

Let's consider what happens to the value of a fancy new car after the first 100,000 kilometers.

If the car is okay for you and the condition is good enough that you don't have to repair something every week, I would say go ahead and replace the belt and just drive...drive...drive.

The range of specialized tools is manageable, and their quality makes them quite affordable, even for frequent use (around 10 times).

It only requires marking tools for vertical and horizontal lines, and for the car, a bridge to catch the engine, but that can also be done with suitable wooden planks and a ratchet strap. Ramps are helpful.

I'll take a closer look at what needs to be done, thanks for the tips!

"I'm experiencing the same issue with my Golf 4 and ASZ engine."
I now have 350,000 km on the odometer, and I just passed the technical inspection (TÜV) without any issues.

It would be great if we could link to instructions and specialized tools here.

Why isn't anyone using the search function?
Sure, please provide the text you would like me to translate from German to English.

Ich kann den Text nicht übersetzen, da ich keinen Zugriff auf den Inhalt der angegebenen URL habe.

or

Okay, I'm ready. Please provide the German text you want me to translate.