Changing the belts is more work than not changing them, but it is a heck of a lot less work than replacing the belt, the valves, and maybe the pistons or entire engine if the belt ever let loose. And a lot less time. And a lot less aggravation than dealing with a dealer over a warranty issue of such magnitude.
Not to mention, what if it happened when you were in the middle of nowhere. Or if your significant other were driving. Or if you were on a freeway in the middle of rush hour.
I vote for the piece of mind brought about by a fresh belt.
I speak from experience. In the 80's, I had a Fiat Spyder lose its timing belt. Ouch!
Actually, I got off fairly easy: the belt failed in my driveway while I was idling, I pulled and replaced the head myself, had no piston damage, there were only 8 valves in the engine (all were bent), and I found a racing shop I could trust to do the machine work and head assembly for about $220 (price of new valves included).
From that episode, I learned to never, never, never, never ignore timing belts.
On a 1.8t, I think the experience would be far more painful - those eight fancy sodium-filled exhaust valves are over $50 each (list closer to $75). Plus twelve intake valves ($22 - $30 each for OEM). Plus labor cost. Plus gaskets. Plus, plus, plus. Oh yes, and you >still< have to buy a timing belt. Maybe you could get it covered under warranty, but for myself I don't like betting that kind of money on long shots.
