98k versus 120k

[NJGOAT]

When you say having the dealer do the repair, is the dealer the same as the manufacturer of the car, meaning a Honda dealer doing the work on a Honda? Or, is it "Bob's Used Cars" that is going to be changing the belt?

If it is the actual brand dealer doing the work, then I would be confident in them doing the job properly and you will also be provided paperwork indicating it was done, which gives you some recourse down the road. If "Bob" is doing it, then I would be a little more skeptical and ask to have the work done at the appropriate dealer or a shop of your choosing.

As to which car is better, assuming that EVERYTHING else is equal, then the car with the lower miles would technically be "better" assuming the timing belt and water pump are being done on both. FWIW, most manufacturers call for replacing the water pump when the timing belt service is done. I would actually think it was odd if they weren't recommending that outside of some extenuating circumstance like it had just been replaced.

Overall though, as others have said, there isn't enough info to make an informed decision either way.

[M3 Mitch]

According to the original post, the 98K mile car has not had the TB service done. Good points as usual, Goat, I was assuming that "dealer" means Honda dealer for a Honda. They would *probably* do the job right - although in my experience dealer service departments are all over the place in terms of craftsmanship and quality.

OP you need to realize that if the tech manages to whack one of the cam sprockets and raise a burr on it, if he (she) fails to remove that burr, the belt will fail short of it's normal 100K mile lifetime. Just one example of what can go wrong - usually any decent tech can do this job right, but, - Just sayin'. This is why I do this sort of job myself, I'm not trying to beat any clock time and I don't take any shortcuts whatsoever, particularly not on an "interference" engine...

[Checkered24]

Well, if all else is equal between the two cars, I would probably lean towards the 98K mile car. Both need the service anyway, and that one has 22K less miles on it which represents, IMO, significantly less wear on all the other moving parts on the vehicle.