How important is cam belt change?

[Kr1s]

Spend the money and get the belt and waterpump changed. As mentioned, changing the belt on its own is false economy, it's not unusual for some of the internal bearings to fail and these can be picked up at the belt renewal. I'd also think having the belt changed will add value to the car when you come to sell.

What's the option? Most of the stress on the belt is on start-up and when the engine is under load, as my local garage used to ask if they had a problem with emissions at MOT on older diesel Audi A4s I used to run, so they'd put a can of Forte fuel conditioner straight into the fuel filter and drive it like they stole it. That said they wanted to know the timing belt was to specification, and not going to break on them, so that gives you some idea.

Does the water pump need changing or not? Getting mixed replies. I know people commonly replace them together but if it's not required then I'm not going to get a new water pump just for the sake of it.

If I'm not mistaken labour is a big part of the cost since it's a bit hard to get to. So why not get it changed if they're already there?

[amer6R]

Its pretty easy on 3 cil engine, loads of room. It should be chanages because its proned to Leak, and it can sieze up.
You should buy the pump via VIN number.