Timing belt Gates or OEM Volvo

I have had good luck with them for years.

Gates makes good belts.

Gates is fine. If you find the gates racing belt it's better. But they are super rare these days. Stay away from any Amazon or ebay crap.

I know I’m in the UK but a Volvo dealership changed the timing belt, auxiliary belt and kit last year on my V60 D5 and I had change from £300.

I have a 2009 C30 with 80k miles and I just did the timing belt and serpentine belts. The timing belt had noticeable cracks and the tensioner was pretty worn out. Better to get it done and spend the money now than have it snap and have a bricked car.

Gates, I've installed dozens of them and never had a problem, easily outlast the timing belt.

I used a gates (rpm) belt , its expensive ($80?) but i feel like thats a part you dont want to go cheap with !

The common complaint of gates timing belts is that they're loud.

I have worked on some where the belt itself snapped in under 10-15k miles, others where the bearings fell apart in the 40-50k mile range. I no longer use them and refuse to install them on customer vehicles.

My preference over the past 25 years is ALWAYS OEM/Genuine whenever possible:

BMW - Continental

Ford/Domestic - ACDelco, Continental

I have had repeated problems with GATES fitment, stiffness, and longevity. 7 of the last 10 snapped timing belts I've pulled from cars have been GATES.