'05 MK IV Timing belt check/replacement

[dihris]

First off, I'm sorry if this has been answered a million times. I'm new to this forum.I have an '05 VW 2.0 Jetta MK IV with 60K miles.
My question is:
When should the timing belt be replaced?

As per VW Customer service the timing belt should only be checked at 80K.
They directed me to the VW website bellow where I can check my next Maintenance Schedule and indeed it does say that the first check for Timing belt should occur when the car only reaches 80K

Find Schedules

I do agree that 80K is a lot to expect in a TB, but the German engineers that spec the belt should know how long it will last ... under a variety of conditions ... and it is not up to the consumer, who shouldn't know or care what a timing belt does, to second guess published maintenance intervals.

Any suggestions?

[TTTurbo1.8T]

A variety of factors go in hand with timing belt change:

-Climate
-Driving style
-Age of car
-How long it sits
-Type of belt (OEM should be only kind used)

Take off your timing cover. If you notice a cracking belt replace immediately. VW recommends change at 100k miles. I recommend looking at it at 60k and if it looks in bad shape replace it. At 80k miles replace it regardless of how it looks.

When performing a timing belt change, there are a lot of parts that should be changed at the same time since you'll have a bunch of stuff taken out anyways such waterpump, serpentine belt, all tensioners and rollers for both belts (sometimes serp tensioner doesn't need to be replaced), sometimes the thermostat (like on a 1.8T) is easiest to replace when the timing belt is out. Look at various kits online and they generally come with all the parts you'll want to replace at the same time. Just remember, OEM parts only, some cheap knock off part from your local parts store is likely to fail much sooner than an OEM quality part.