This engine runs on a timing belt, not a chain. The belt drives the camshaft, and the factory specification calls for a mandatory replacement between 90 000 and 100 000 kilometres, or after five to six years. Whichever comes first is what counts.

Because of the time limit the odometer is not enough here. On a car that has covered little but is eight years old, the belt is out of date even if it has done thirty thousand. The rubber ages and the cord loses its strength, and that happens independently of the mileage.

If the belt snaps, the engine is severely damaged inside, and the repair is an engine rebuild. That is why at a purchase the thing to pay attention to is not the noise but the paperwork: the invoice for the replacement, its date and the odometer reading at the time.

One common mix-up is worth avoiding. This engine has no timing chain, so a rattle audible at a cold start is not chain stretch. The 1.6 litre diesel does have a chain, and stretch is a known phenomenon there; the two engines are not the same.