Postby jspitz » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:00 am
Just out of curiosity, has anyone needed to replace the accessory drive belt on an R51 yet? I'm pretty hands-on, mechanically adept, and tend to do most vehicle maintenance on my own, but I can't beat the dealer price for oil changes, and my free time seems to be dwindling.
At the 37,500 mile maintenance, the service advisor tells me that my "belts" need to be replaced for $143. I ask which "belts" since I remembered the accessories all being driven by a single ribbed serpentine-type belt, and she said, "maybe it is one belt." I told her I'd keep an eye on it, and not to replace it - the service manager then comes up to me and tells me that they could do it quickly. The belt seems to be about $16 online, so I figure that after retail markup, they figured in an hour+ of work for a "quick" belt change. Anyway, I get the car home, poke around at what I can see of the belt, and I see no signs of cracking at all. Coupled with the fact that I don't think I have ever changed drive belts earlier than a 90k interval.
Similarly, at 30k, the same service advisor told me my front brakes needed to be replaced. 7500 miles later, they measure to 6mm - according to the shop manual, the minimum spec is 1 mm, new is 11.88.
I'm fairly certain my belt isn't yet on its way out, but thought I'd get some feedback. Has anyone had issues with the belt yet? If so, how many miles did you get out of the original?
Obviously my dealer is incompetent or looking to line their pockets at my expense.
Thx.
-Jamie