Now days, I hear a lot of gifted mechanics and truckers discussing their disgust with new cars having cam belts instead of old style oil encased chain. A colleague of mine is a 20+ plus auto mechanic teacher/instructor at a tech school I work at and he has told me how a person world cringe if they ever looked at how sensitive a cam belt is on new model cars.
After 100,000, my mechanic friend says one is: "on borrowed time." He checked a software that is compiled of all manufacturer specifications and recommendations on all vehicle models. For my 2016 Chrysler 200 1.6L I4, Chrysler states the cam belt is good for the life of the vehicle. No way. I would believe that with a hefty chain like my 2001 Chevrolet Suburban v8, but not a belt. If this belt goes out, all the valves drop and the engine is finished. It happens to a lot of people.
Yes, timing belts are something to keep an eye on around every 100k miles or so. And you may as well replace the water pump and idler pulley while you have it apart.
But honestly, it's not that big of a deal.
A fact of life is that belts are cheaper. Manufacturers love the word "cheaper."
Don't forget that a poorly designed timing chain setup will be worse than a belt. For example the Triumph Stag was notorious for wearing out its timing chains in 25K miles. (Yes, that's 25K, not 250K!)
