Timing belt changed after only 40k miles?

pangeran

I’m considering buying a 2001 ford focus. It has only 40k miles, but the motor dealers are telling me that the timing belt has been changed. I’m slightly suspicious about why it was changed after only 40k miles. The service history looks genuine. The car has a tow bar – could this have placed extra stress on the timing belt? Any opinions appreciated.

BrianD3

Often there is a mileage or year recommendation on the timing belt eg 70k miles or 5 years whichever comes first. Seeing as your Focus is 6 years old it was a good idea for the garage to do the belt.

mondeoman

pangeran wrote: »

I’m considering buying a 2001 ford focus. It has only 40k miles, but the motor dealers are telling me that the timing belt has been changed. I’m slightly suspicious about why it was changed after only 40k miles. The service history looks genuine. The car has a tow bar – could this have placed extra stress on the timing belt? Any opinions appreciated.

100'000 miles or 10 years whichever comes first is the renewal time for focus petrol,so why did they do it at 40k???.

cantdecide

As a selling point, maybe?

It's purely precautionary I don't think there's any way of wearing out a timing belt by misuse. I would never leave a timing belt go for 100k even if it's recommended.

As a reputable dealer, if you weren't sure and you saw 40k on the clock and you were erring on the side of caution- you would change it too.

I don't think it costs the earth to do it in this car anyway so my guess is peace of mind.

Lex Luthor

but I heard Ford will cover complete warranty in the event of a belt failure on a Focus before 100k, so its not such a big deal to let it run for that long.

Has the car a documented service history...????

Volvoboy

Its possible that the bearing could be making a noise in the water pump, timing belt runs off the water pump, so making sense to replace the t/belt along with the water pump, i know from experence, as my mams Arosa with 30K miles at the time needed the pump replaced. Possible.




-VB-

PauloMN

Garages tend to play it safe on cars they need to offer a warranty on. A snapped timing belt is one of the more expensive fixes they could need to do especially if there's valve damage, so better they take what's a small hit so they don't have a much larger cost on their hands. And they can use it as a selling point as said above.

Don't worry, the garage will just have passed the cost onto you anyway!

If the car is in good condition and has a full service history, I'd look on it as a positive thing that the belt is done.

eringobragh

40k on a 01 AND Timing Belt Changed

:cough: :cough: Clocked

Me thinks thats a clocked car, it smells of it anyways.

If your confident that the previous owner was doing 7000ish miles a year


As for the Timing best changed: Perhaps "the previous" mileage was near the treshold of a timing belt change, as for service history, i could buy a blank ford service book & fill it out, it proves nothing.

S.I.R

snapped timing belt could just be bad luck... or the last driver was a boy racer....

Anan1

OP - Verify the service history. If it all checks out, then I wouldn't worry.

unkel

Anan1 wrote: »

OP - Verify the service history. If it all checks out, then I wouldn't worry.

I'll second that

Lex Luthor wrote: »

Ford will cover complete warranty in the event of a belt failure on a Focus before 100k

That seems too good to be true. Can anyone back that up?

OldmanMondeo

eringobragh wrote: »

40k on a 01 AND Timing Belt Changed

:cough: :cough: Clocked

Me thinks thats a clocked car, it smells of it anyways.

If your confident that the previous owner was doing 7000ish miles a year

Not really a far comment. I purchase a 2002 car this year, from a main dealer. I done all the usual checks and it only had 25k miles. the previous car I had was 4 - 5 years old, again 17k miles. My wife purchased a 2002 car, again I fully checked the history, guess what, 39k on the clock. There are plenty of geuine low milage cars about.

OP, check the history, as someone mentioned the w/pumop may have gone, it happen on a car of mine at 24k.

cantdecide

eringobragh wrote: »

40k on a 01 AND Timing Belt Changed

:cough: :cough: Clocked

Me thinks thats a clocked car, it smells of it anyways.

That's only sheer scaremongering. As posted by almost everyone- be happy that FSH is reliable and accept T/B being done as a precaution. If they went to the trouble of having it clocked and FSH falsifiied, they wouldn't tell you the belt was just done...

siralfalot

eringobragh wrote: »

40k on a 01 AND Timing Belt Changed

:cough: :cough: Clocked

Me thinks thats a clocked car, it smells of it anyways.

If your confident that the previous owner was doing 7000ish miles a year


As for the Timing best changed: Perhaps "the previous" mileage was near the treshold of a timing belt change, as for service history, i could buy a blank ford service book & fill it out, it proves nothing.

I bought a 01 car 6 months ago with a genuine 40K miles on the clock, first thing I did was get the timing belt changed, better to be safe than sorry

Lex Luthor

unkel wrote: »

I'll second that



That seems too good to be true. Can anyone back that up?

I've seen many previous posts about Focus belts snapping and the poster mentioning that Ford covered the costs

Marcus.Aurelius

mondeoman wrote: »

100'000 miles or 10 years whichever comes first is the renewal time for focus petrol,so why did they do it at 40k???.

Timing belt is replaced every 60k on most cars, or every 5 years, whichever comes first. Nice of the garage to have done it, seen as the car is 6 years old. A 10 year timing belt interval is silly and too long IMHO.

TychoCaine

Lex Luthor wrote: »

but I heard Ford will cover complete warranty in the event of a belt failure on a Focus before 100k, so its not such a big deal to let it run for that long.

They'll cough up for a new engine without quibble, but only if you've got a full dealer service history.

TychoCaine

maoleary wrote: »

A 10 year timing belt interval is silly and too long IMHO.

Either they use a long life part or the Zetec engine doesn't stress the belt as much as other engines. Either way, it's not in the manufacturer's interest to take any chances when it comes to timing belt life. A high incidence of timing belt snaps would damage a car's reputation far more than a long replacement interval would help it.

Marcus.Aurelius

TychoCaine wrote: »

A high incidence of timing belt snaps would damage a car's reputation far more than a long replacement interval would help it.

Good God man, you don't actually think ford give a sh*t about their reputation. They are hilariously badly built and ridiculously costly to maintain. We have ended all contracts with Ford after some terrible experiences.

TychoCaine

maoleary wrote: »

Good God man, you don't actually think ford give a sh*t about their reputation. They are hilariously badly built and ridiculously costly to maintain. We have ended all contracts with Ford after some terrible experiences.

You're obviously in the fleet business, but I can only speak for the one Ford I've owned (a Mk1 Focus) and I found it well screwed together, nothing out of the ordinary went wrong over the 60k miles I drove it for, and it cost buttons to maintain. I gave it to my wife when the time came to up-size and it's still parked outside my house. My local Ford dealer's labour rates are good, and apart from one half-wit (that is no longer allowed to go anywhere near it), the mechanics are competent.

bushy...

maoleary wrote: »

Good God man, you don't actually think ford give a sh*t about their reputation. They are hilariously badly built and ridiculously costly to maintain. We have ended all contracts with Ford after some terrible experiences.

"They are hilariously badly built" is the best expression i've heard for them. The way they sold so many transits with a thing fitted to them to convert diesel to noise with a side effect of a meagre bit of power is one of the wonders of the world. Then they can build focuses that work grand...makes you wonder what goes on

TychoCaine

bushy... wrote: »

"They are hilariously badly built" is the best expression i've heard for them. The way they sold so many transits with a thing fitted to them to convert diesel to noise with a side effect of a meagre bit of power is one of the wonders of the world. Then they can build focuses that work grand...makes you wonder what goes on

Jaysus! Cars are not the same as vans, and this thread is about Ford cars. Cars are usually bought by the people who have to drive them, and want something that's a reasonably pleasant place to be while sitting in traffic. Vans are bought for employees by employers who want something that'll drive to the moon and back between services and don't really care about the discomfort of the driver. The Transit is a noisey shed, but it goes forever, and the Focus, for the money, is actually a nice place to sit.

pangeran

Went to see the Ford Focus again in the dealership........initially was a quick look. This time had a good good.

What a lemon it is!!
Asked the dealer why the engine was so polished clean - new everything, the dealer replied "well when we get a car, we hose it down with a degreaser"
Im only sorry i hadnt a camera with me to show what it looked like under the bonnet.......

Seriously , there was nothing used about that engine, brand spanking new.
Clocked obviously, new bumper, tyres. Worn steering wheel and gear stick was weird with some leather fip thing on it.........

Brought a mate to see it, took it for a spin. Strange engine noises coming from the shiny engine.

Walk away? I ran.......

Padraig Mor

Focus has a timing chain instead of a belt, no? Hence the 100K change?

mondeoman

Padraig Mor wrote: »

Focus has a timing chain instead of a belt, no? Hence the 100K change?

Belts are replaced at 100'000 miles & chains don't usually need replacing;)

mondeoman

maoleary wrote: »

Good God man, you don't actually think ford give a sh*t about their reputation. They are hilariously badly built and ridiculously costly to maintain. We have ended all contracts with Ford after some terrible experiences.

Genuine ford parts are the same price (or cheaper) than motor factor prices:p.
a 1997 mondeo has a better euro ncap result than a 1997 BMW 3 series.
you must be talking about the model T

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/ford_mondeo_1997/17.aspx

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/bmw_3_series_1997/15.aspx

Marcus.Aurelius

mondeoman wrote: »

Genuine ford parts are the same price (or cheaper) than motor factor prices:p.
a 1997 mondeo has a better euro ncap result than a 1997 BMW 3 series.
you must be talking about the model T

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/ford_mondeo_1997/17.aspx

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/bmw_3_series_1997/15.aspx

Parts, not labour. Labour costs were astronomical because of the frequency of repairs and maintenance.