Hi just become the proud owner of a R plate 1.5 LXI. My local Mazda dealer quotes £450 for the service (ouch!!) incl cam belt. My query is whether there's an advantage to get the belt down by Mazda? My mechanic friend tells me he can do it but if it fails (no come back). Mazda guarantee belt for 2 years.
Is the belt replacement on the 1.5 relatively simple and are any special tools required?
Experience/advice most welcome.

Firstly your Mazda Dealer is Expensive.....
I had My V6 Cam Belt changed inc new tensioner, and new belts all round for less than £350 and that was by a Mazda dealer - by the way the V6 is twice as much in labour time than other models.

Secondly I dunno lol but I would try another dealer to see what they charge or try that dealer and just ask em to do cam belt change ..

If your local is competent then I personally would go with him if it makes a lot of difference in proce.

[quote="judders"]My mechanic friend tells me he can do it but if it fails (no come back). Mazda guarantee belt for 2 years.[/quote]

As far as I know, the guarentee on the belt only covers the belt, so it doesn't much help to get a free belt when you still need to buy a bunch of valves, pistons, gasket set etc. !

I'm pretty sure the 1.5 is a non interference engine, so no worries there

In that case, any reputable garage should do. The only difference is that Mazda will use a "Genuine Mazda Cambelt". The only difference between this and a standard motorspares shop cambelt is that the "Genuine Mazda Cambelt" will come in a pretty Mazda box, which probably costs nearly as much as the belt itself ! I suspect that in both cases, the belt will have been manufactured by Goodyear in exactly the same way on exactly the same production line ....

Just been to my loacal dealer t osee how much the timing belt will cost me and it will br around £280 for parts and labor.

I also asked for a 54,000 service quote and all parts and labor comes to £707.27 8-[ V6 by the way

£707.27 bloody hell that is a bomb.

I got mine done with a full service as in changing all the service bits for £170 from my local garage take my car there all the time.

Went back recently to get oil change and get car looked over for a knocking noise at the front and got my lights alligned as they were well out, all for £30 I was chuffed.

Is £123 okay for a full service from a small garage? I'm getting mine done on Tuesday

had cambelt fitted on a 1.8 two weeks ago at a local garage for £106 inc belt. as for your sevice change your own oil and filter, air filter and plugs then get the garage to do the other bits you can"t

Normally I would but it's overdue and there isn't enough time for me to buy all the bits. Plus I don't think I have the tools.

It's bloody hard to do the oil if you haven't got a decent jack and axle stands.

Mark