I paid $1500 to a very reputable foreign mechanic last month for my 2012 golf tdi
Oe quality parts:
Timing belt, tensioners/roller, water pump, manual transmission fluid, coolant, serpentine belt.
I agree with all of the points made. I bought my Jetta for a daily driver with a 60-mile round trip commute. The fuel economy has been the bright spot.
My 2016 has 210k miles on the original timing belt. I check it every 5k miles during oul change. Still looks good. I’m a believer.
Aisin is definitely a go to.
Even though the mileage had not been reached, I decided that an 8 year-old timing belt was due for replacement. While doing that, I thought that replacing all the 8 year-old hoses would be a good idea too. I didn't realize how many hoses there are on this engine and how difficult it is to get to them and replace. At least I won't have to do that again for another decade or more since I replaced the rubber hoses with silicone hoses.
On my daily R I just replaced the timing belt and water pump at 80,000 miles. It is my daily so I just did it to have piece of mind. The belt looked great as well as the water pump.
I would just buy the Aisin timing belt kit TKT-031 and then seals from the dealership (or an online Lexus/Toyota OE website)
The Aisin kit will have OE parts, where as other brands probably won't (Dayco definitely not, Continental is a mixed bag)
Nothing is really hard at all to work on with the UZ series V8s. They're not even that expensive either - a complete Aisin timing belt kit with a new Aisin water pump, Japanese idler pulleys, new tensioner and Japanese belt costs less than the Dayco kit from Autozone.
Just go to Rockauto and get the Aisin Timing Belt and Water Pump kit, its like $170 and you're getting OEM parts.
But I would do a Lexus and go the extra mile for the Toyota OEM TKT Aisin kits for timing belt/pump/tensioner replacement.
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