I’m just home from the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes which took place in Killarney over the weekend. After all the noise and excitement it’s back to work on the NMR. I have to admit we have accumulated a bit of a data backlog over the past few weeks but I thought I’d take a wee break from uploading data to confirm we have passed the three million mileage reading mark.
The actual batch of mileage that took us over the 3M mark contained data for 66,903 individual vehicles and covered a collection period from Q4 2009 to Q1 2010. Our current total as of 05/05/2010 16:30 is 3,005,490 records which is a great achievement for us, and another first for the Cartell.ie NMR in Ireland.
Why is your mileage reading important?
Checking that the mileage is genuine using a recommended vehicle history check is important when buying a second hand car. However, checking to see if the timing belt replacement has been carried out is also an important consideration. Most cars need to have their timing belts changed every sixty to one hundred thousand miles. This figure is vehicle specific and the recommended value is listed in the vehicle manual. Some vehicles don’t have a timing belt e.g. the Toyota Yaris has a chain fitted which should last the lifetime of the vehicle if its well maintained.
Replacing a timing belt can cost in the region of 300-600 Euro plus depending on where its carried out and the make/model. Skipping this replacement can lead to severe damage being caused to your engine and possibly explosive engine failure at high speeds. From experience I’d recommend that you go to a main dealer for the first change and opt to go for a replacement water pump too. A cheap job carried out by a mechanic without the correct tools can cost more to rectify than taking the hit with the main dealer in the first place. Make sure you get your service book updated as this will add to the resale value of your car. On the second timing belt change (if you get that far!) it may prove more cost effective to shop around and try your local mechanic.
If you are buying a vehicle with a mileage reading in the region of 60-100,000 miles (100-160,000 km) assume that the timing belt replacement has NOT been carried out until you are shown a service book with the replacement work logged and dated. Always confirm independently with the service garage that they have actually done the work as we have seen several ‘doctored’ service history books in our time.
I have several smaller mileage files to upload later this week which should see us move to 3.1 Million readings, but that’s another story.Actually another Blog. Or more correctly another Blog Post. Or if you are old school another Web Log Post..
