Hey everyone! I am a cheapskate and with that, I was wondering if my cheapness is doing me more harm than good. I have a 2017 Miata (standard with 81,000 mi) and recently I went to get my oil change and the mechanic told me I soon will need a new drive belt. Which leads me to my question can I wait until the belt breaks before changing it or will that damage something else in the car? As always thanks for the response!
can I wait until the belt breaks
do you want to be changing it on a dark winter night, on the freeway shoulder, in 3ft of snow, or maybe sleeting rain, when you're already late picking somebody up?
Are you sure you'll notice it, before the engine overheats, or the battery dies?
what if the power steering goes out while you're making a sharp turn, and you can't straighten it out quickly enough?
Or would you rather do it in the comfort of your driveway?
For the price of it, and how easy it usually is to change it, best do do it before something like @imperator mentioned happens.
It would likely only cost about $100-150 if a shop did it for you. Might be $20 to do it yourself.
You're asking for trouble if you cheap out over a $30 part. I have a '79 Pontiac and I was fortunate enough for my alternator belt to give out in the driveway. I had one in the car. I replaced it the next morning.
There are no cracks but he recommended that I do it before something happens. It has 81,000 mi and he said sometime before 100,000 it would probably break.
If there are no cracks he's just trying to upsell you. My wife has a 2017 Mustang with the original serpentine belt and it's not showing signs of cracking yet. It's gone 100k miles.
@justin-shepherd , If it brakes and leaves her stranded.. you'll be wearing 'belt marks'
I do my own work whenever possible, lol. I know when a belt is going bad. I have one functioning arm right now, but I can give tips, if I can't do it myself. She's also an engineer, so we have both bases covered, lol.
Take a picture of the drive belt and post or link it here.
There are no cracks but he recommended that I do it before something happens. It has 81,000 mi and he said sometime before 100,000 it would probably break.