I sure don’t understand the OPs death wish for her car here. Timing belt rubber deteriorates just like tires, accessory belts, intake boots, halfshaft boots, firewall boots, etc.
OP, you seem to have your mind made up here on this issue and you’re dead wrong. You’re even dead wrong when you claim a tech can inspect a belt and determine how much life is left in it. A tech could spot a seriously bad belt but most belts show no sign of deterioration and look great up to the nano-second they break.
You state there should be a expiration date label on timing belts. Well, how do you propose that this warning label be accessed when the belt is normally covered up?
There IS a warning label in place. It’s called the owners manual. It’s in a small compartment on the pasenger side of the dashboard. If the manual is missing then try calling Honda Motor Company for an opinion.
You did not say how old the 1880 Civic was when the belt failed with only 80 k on it. Unless it was a lot more than a few years ago it had much more age on it than the 7 years replacement time for my Civic, which I am questioning because of my very low mileage. So I am not surprised, and therefor not worried that your father-in-law’s experience means mine will also break soon. Furthermore an earlier posting said the rubber used back then could not stand as many hours of high temperture as the rubber in my 1999 Civic’s belt.
I agree, $200 would be cheap insurance but it would only be term insurance good for what ever guarantee the dealer would honor. My concern is not that our peace of mind will cost money. It is wheather peace of mind is being used as a marketing tool by hyping up potential dangers that may not yet exist. Especially when I can’t find hard data bscking up the claimed dangers for low, non-stressful use cases like ours, published on the internet.
Your $200 cost illustrates how expensive the cost of car repairs has become. I recieved a flyer from the dealer a couple weeks ago that showed timing belt replacement (also drive belts but not water pump) cost $749.95, but I could get it at a discount if the work was done before March 31, 2009. The local mechanic said he could do it for less than the discounted price using genuine Honda parts with no time limit and give me a ride home so I do not have to wait all day. That is attractive because the longer distance to the dealer probably precludes their providing chauffer service (my husband can’t drive). Also the lack of a March 31st time limit removes any suggestion of coercion. However I think a Honda mechanic might be better for such a major repair.
PS I am glad you did not imply I am “flirting” with disaster as a previous post did. Just think of me as courageous, as I am too old to flirt…Bernadette
They cannot account for all possible use scenarios but they can sucessfully analyze my problem if their data sample includes sufficient belt failure data collected under conditions like mine (low mileage, low stress usage and the assumption there are no other interfering factors such as defective belts, workmanship affecting failure rates.)
I am confident they have the data and the engineers would be happy to do it but the bean counters don’t want to spend the money, the sales people worry about image, and the legal department about liability, etc.
We use the grade below premium ever since the cheaper gas (without effective detergents) resulted in a sooty deposit on the rear bumper. That all went away with the change to better gas.
I go with the ones here who say change it. Rubber does deteriorate with age. But your belt isn’t the only rubber on the vehicle that needs to be looked at. Your CV joint boots are also at the age where they fail. When they split or crack, they let out the grease and let in dirt and grit. That ruins the CV joint very quickly, like in a month. About this time last year, I did an oil change on my wife’s 97 Accord, the boots looked in good shape, a month later the CV joints were shot as the boots cracked right after I checked them.
It can cost almost as much to replace the boots as having new axles installed so many people do not bother replacing the boots. If you find that your boots have split due to age, then I would expect the belt to go very soon after. You will know when the CV joints go bad as they cause a loud clicking sound when you go around corners.