Hi,
We have a 2013 PANDA 1.2 POP , bought as a 'pre reg' with 5 miles on the clock.
We've had the car almost 8 years but it has only done 13000 miles.
During that time we have had no problems whatsoever and it has been serviced ( oil & filters ) a few times by local garage.
It is only used locally once or twice a week, never on motorways.
Do you think it should have new timing belt fitted ?
Thanks
Absolutely, yes. I would also take a close look at the tyres and hoses. Tyres look at the sidewall for cracking and into the tread grooves.
I have worked with and around polymers and elastomers (rubber) for over 30 years now, manufacturing and R&D.
As
murphyv310 relates re a belt manufacturer, elastomers age with time regardless of their use. The compound can be designed to reduce these ageing effects but it still occurs and can be caused by heat, oxygen in the air, ozone, UV etc. This is environmental ageing if you like. Areas more vulnerable are those under strain (tension) so tyres where the tyre sits in one position and the side wall is naturally bulging and sharp changes in tread profile due to the internal inflation pressures. The same for hoses, and belts.
A lack of use sometimes is detrimental as the protection system such as those intended to protect from UV and Ozone. These are often wax based mixed into the rubber compounds and intended to work to the surface with flexing to produce a waxy protective layer on the surface (you can sometimes see this on new bushes as a white "bloom").
Fluids (oil and brake fluid for example) can cause chemical ageing and as stated above it's never a good idea to get oil or the like on belts especially. The effect here is typically to swell and soften the elastomer (and therefore weaken it). Elastomers would normally be selected to reduce these effects for a particular application however there will always be compromises since the dominant failure mode for an elastomer in a timing or auxiliary belt would be fatigue, characterised by cracks; elastomers with good chemical resistance are not typically great for fatigue resistance.
As the comments from the manufacturer Gates (in a post above) say most parts have a shelf life regardless of use. This extends to o-rings too.
I have an Alfa based kitcar that has been garaged since 2002 and I am now contemplating having to replace most of the bits of rubber or at least have a close look at them; cambelts (flat 4 Sud engine) will be a definite!
A long post for which I apologise but maybe it gives some useful background? As ever I will add the caveat that this is a personal opinion based on personal experience, however there are bucket loads of reference material out there.
