My 2001 Passat V6 reached 100K miles a few months ago. I had worried
that the timing belt needed replacement and needed to be done soon
as the warranty had run out.

Dealer price was over $1.3k. Independent shop wanted $800 - $900. But
these independent shops will not use dealer parts. They all claim to use
OE parts. Called a dealer. An OEM timing belt along is $92.00. The reason
the price is as high as $1.3k is they will replace all tensioners, idlers,
and probably the water pump (driven by the timing belt). This is
understandable. If they are all replaced I most likely will not need
to touch any of them in the next 10 years.

Well, I decided to challenge the job myself and I made it. I replaced only the timing belt and nothing else. I was short of a socket. So My total
cost turns out to be $100. The old timing belt was still in good looking
shape. That was amazing. That led me to reconsider if I really want to
replace all tensioners, idlers and the water pump. I checked each of them
carefully. I really could not find any sign that they need replacement
any time soon. So I took the chance to reuse all of them. I did not feel
I would need to touch any of them in the next 3 - 5 years. So that's it.
$100 total plus all the labor of my own time. The Passat has gone 500
miles after the timing belt job. I think it will be fine. The serpentine
belt was replaced lat year. So it is not replaced this time.

I started the job on a weekend. Completed it on the next weekend. I used
no special VW tools (4 or 5 of them) mentioned in the Benteley. I did not
drain any fluid (coolant and oil). I disconnected no hoses nor any wiring
harness. The Passat is designed for very cleaning timing belt job. The
front end of Passat makes you feel it is very complicated. But it is
really not.

The story is people really can save a lot of money for non repair type
of jobs like this. It is mostly disassembling and reassembling work.
No repair of anything. I know I am taking a chance by not replacing
those that would be all replaced if the job were done in a shop.
I know I am betting the original OEM parts against new non OEM but OE
parts. I will find out if the origianl OEM parts (not replaced) will
last another 5 years or not. I bet some new OE (not OEM) parts will not.

By the way, the original timing belt was made in Germany. The replacement
OEM was made in Italy. I don't really like it. It might not be better
than an OE timing belt at half of the dealer price from many FLAPS.

I am glad that Vanagons (Vanagon content) do not use a timing belt.

David