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drive belt, oil drain cap, and thermostat replaced at 16K miles. should i buy?

kugino

New member
i live in the middle of the pacific and therefore have resorted to internet shopping for a 2017 sport model. found one w/16K miles on it, clean carfax, regular maintenance. on the last maintenance checkup, it said that the drive belt and oil pan cap and thermostat were all replaced. but otherwise nothing else. still about 18 mos. VW factory warranty on the car.

16K is a bit early for the drive belt to be replaced, but perhaps a faulty oil plug led to the premature wear/tear of the drive belt. otherwise, the car looks (from pics) great, has that clean carfax. should i be worried about the above maintenance replacements? i’ll pick up the car in 5 days...of course, i haven’t actually given them my money yet and can cancel the purchase, but just wanted to check with all you experts here about any potential issues down the road.

oh, and first time poster here...nice to meet y’all.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
16,000 miles on a 17 is too early to need to replace the drive belt and thermostat. The oil pan drain bolt has nothing to do with the drive belt.
 

Wrath And Tears

Go Kart Champion
Location
Azusa, CA
Car(s)
17 Sport, 99 E36
16,000 miles on a 17 is too early to need to replace the drive belt and thermostat. The oil pan drain bolt has nothing to do with the drive belt.

MK7 thermostats have known issues, mainly the seals failing and leaking coolant. I highly doubt it was the accessory drive belt that was replaced, but rather as per Dealership repair, the drive belt for the water pump which is part of the thermostat housing. That belt is really small and runs off the back of one of the balance shafts.
 

kugino

New member
MK7 thermostats have known issues, mainly the seals failing and leaking coolant. I highly doubt it was the accessory drive belt that was replaced, but rather as per Dealership repair, the drive belt for the water pump which is part of the thermostat housing. That belt is really small and runs off the back of one of the balance shafts.

aw, this makes more sense in light of the thermostat replacement. thanks for the info!

will keep an eye on the temp to see if thermostat acts up. but otherwise I'll just assume these were normal repairs.
 

SugarMouth

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Nevada
I would not be concerned with that. My water pump leaked from day one. The thermostat housing is a common repair to fix the leak. The drive belt likely was the accessory belt.
 

Hoon

Autocross Champion
Location
Rhode Island
I would not be concerned with that. My water pump leaked from day one. The thermostat housing is a common repair to fix the leak. The drive belt likely was the accessory belt.

Water pump drive has its own belt.
 

Wrath And Tears

Go Kart Champion
Location
Azusa, CA
Car(s)
17 Sport, 99 E36
Here it is for those who want to know what it looks like. We would call it a water pump drive belt, but the invoice would just say drive belt with this part number. Water pump drive belt.
 
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