Citroen specialists in Manchester?

[Wooscary]

Hello, I've had a search about, but does anyone have any ideas on
a decent place to get a cambelt done in Manchester (pref city or south of the city). Do I need a specialist?


I had a disagreement with my usual general garage with my previous car, so am looking for a new place anyway.

Also, any ideas on what I should be paying to have this done?

Thanks

Martin

[Defender110]

Hi Martin

Paris Automobiles Ltd. Citroen specialists Unit 18, Adswood Rd. Adswood Stockport SK3 8LF Tel. 0161 477 6030

or

West:roen Sphere Services, 7 Nell Lane Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 8UE

A very good friend of mine had his BX looked after by both of the above for over 16 years. I bought the car off him and have the complete service history where he sent it to Paris Autos twice a year for a service and would have his spheres regularly pressure tested and topped up when required by West:roen. I haven't personally used them as I self maintain and I am North Manchester. I would imagine West:roen would offer a complete garage service not just Spheres.

[Wooscary]

That's fantastic. Cheers. I'm in Hulme, so Chorlton is pretty perfect. I'll give them a call.

Thanks a lot.

I do some work myself, but am too scared of cambelts at the moment.

[MULLEY]

Westroen just deal in spheres i believe, i've had some fitted by them before, decent price & fantastic warranty.

[Wooscary]

Yeah, looks like it, but still looks like a really useful place for Spheres and advice.

The Stockport place looks good too, I'll give them a call on Monday.

Is there a general amount a cambelt change costs for a BX, and is it the case as with say a VW where you have the water pump done at the same time?

Cheers.

[MULLEY]

I think the general advice is that to be on the safe side, replace the water pump, it's not strictly necessary though. On the other hand, do you know how old it is? If in doubt get it replaced, they are cheap on e-bay.

Not exactly sure of how much a cambelt will cost, i suspect it varies slightly depending upon the engine & whether you want to do the water pump & tensioner(s) etc....Anywhere from £100 to £200 i would guess. I think i got my Gti done for about £100, that included the waterpump & tensioner & belt, all of which i supplied from memory.

[Defender110]

Westroen just deal in spheres i believe, i've had some fitted by them before, decent price & fantastic warranty.

That would explain why he used Paris Autos along side Westroen. You wouldn't think you could earn a living just doing spheres.

[MULLEY]

I get the impression that the spheres business is steady with quite a few repeat customers, so its more like a modest income than a full blown out to make a profit type of business. There must be enough of a profit to offer the services with the price & warranty, makes you appreciate how cheap they are compared to buying brand new citroen spheres, & having them fitted by a citroen dealer, especially the activa with it's 10 spheres

[peterwight]

Hpefully this is not the repairer with whom you´ve already fallen out. Mr dave Anitt runs the Citroen Repair Centre in Arthur St Reddish (Stockport). His labour rate is always 50% of what the big boys charge and presumably he works just as quickly. Arthur St is in two halves and his yard is tucked between two ginnels. It´s near the driving test centre. Tel.0161 432 0636. Bst wishes, Peter.

[Wooscary]

Aha, no, that's not the place I stopped being a fan of. I'll ring around then, get some idea of what it's going to cost.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions everyone.

[djoptix]

Back in the day I used Paris Autos for a couple of bits. They were a bit grumpy but did know what they were doing. They did a cambelt for me and I seem to remember it was very reasonable.

[Wooscary]

Just spoke to the Citroen Repair Centre in Reddish, quoted £150.

There is a place called Greenbrow Motors just round the corner from me who are a French car specialist, who have quoted £200.

I'd definitely prefer to build up a decent relationship for the future with the nearer place, but 50 quid is 50 quid.

Hmm.

[MULLEY]

If you go for the cheapes't one, ensure that they are replacing the waterpump & tensioner as well as the belt, sometimes the cheaper price is only for chaninging the cambelt, in which case your'e better off paying a bit more to get everything done correcty.

[Wooscary]

I phoned the cheaper one and it was a different guy, but he said that generally they don't replace the tensioner as they don't tend to die.

Sounds fishy?

Going to ring back tomorrow to find out how much it will be with a tensioner,
and phone the more expensive place to see if the tensioner is included in their price.

How much should a garage really be adding on for a tensioner?

Apologies for all the questions, all info is really appreciated.

[jonathan_dyane]

I've never yet had to replace a tensioner on a XUD, the originals were decent quality.

My 306 did ITRO 240 000 miles on it's original tensioner (and the tensioner and engine are still both serviceable.)