As a rule, you can expect a timing belt to last up to five years, or 60,000 miles. In cars where this replacement is needed, it is usually built into the servicing schedule.

Your first resort for checking the manufacturer’s recommended intervals for cam belt changes is your car’s manual. Of course, if you didn’t get one when you bought the car, you should take a look at your manufacturer’s website, as this often contains full details of servicing and maintenance schedules, on which the replacement will be flagged.

In any case, if you’ve stayed within the mileage mentioned above, you should be prepared to have the belt replaced in the run-up to your car’s fifth birthday, and every five years after that.

A replacement timing belt will be a relatively modest cost on the menu of a typical car service, especially if carried out as part of a scheduled maintenance programme.

But as we’ve already seen, it’s the consequential damage of a failure which can prove catastrophic and costly. So, you should establish as soon as you can after taking ownership of a car what the recommended interval for having it changed is, and whether or not, and when, it has been changed in the past.

But importantly, because the belt must be fitted and remain in perfect synchronisation with other engine parts, it’s a repair which is best done by a mechanical expert.

So whether you have your car serviced by a franchised dealer or an independent garage, you should work closely with them to make sure you know when the job needs to be done, and certainly not be tempted to skip having it looked at the appropriate time. Make a note of it in your car manual, or on a calendar, and once you get into the habit, like plenty of other car maintenance tasks, it will soon become second nature.