Confusing DS3 1.2 Puretech timing belt replacement advice from Citroen main dealership.

[ey_tony]

I've run Citroen cars since 1984 both for my driving school (34 years) and private cars. I recently purchased two used 2017 Citroen cars. One a C4 Cactus and the other a DS3 Chic. Both were low mileage bought from private sellers with the Cactus @ 34,000 miles and the DS3 @ 27,000 miles and have 1.2 Puretech engines. I've always taken advantage of Citroen's free health check over the years as it has kept me informed of any work that may have needed attention. The local dealership which now sadly has closed always offered a health check after having work carried out by them.

Yesterday (21 Oct 2025) due to being ill after booking an appointment with the nearest Citroen dealership in Hull my partner on my behalf took the DS3 for a free Citroen health check and the car passed with flying colours and not one fault. In fairness the DS3 has a full service history and was MOT'd back in July and it's condition was reflected in its low mileage.
However, I did ask them to also briefly inspect the cam belt given that the car is 8 years old and give me a price to replace the belt & water pump but they passed the belt as OK and they advised not to replace the belt due to the low mileage and the fact that the car has not reached 100,000 miles or 10 years old which it appears is at variance with what I've read recently regarding revised manufacturers advice of a max of 6 years old or 60,000 miles. When I bought the cars I knew of the potential issues regarding the Puretech engines and had priced the vehicles based on an early belt replacement

I've always had the timing belts on my vehicles replaced at the advised intervals or earlier as recommended so the situation regarding the DS3 is somewhat of a dilemma....
The question is do I replace the cam belt at 100,000 miles/10 years as advised by the Citroen main dealership or follow what I've read on the internet regarding changing the belt at 60,000 miles/ 6 years old because of wet-belt issues even though my vehicle has only done 27,000 miles.
There must be many many thousands of much higher mileage vehicles on the roads with those engines which have not had their belts replaced with owners completely unaware of the manufacturers revisions like the previous owner of my vehicle so who would be responsible if the belt fails and the manufacturer says one thing while the dealership says another?

[Steve Walsh]

Piece of mind, replace belt and check oil pump for debris.
Will your dealer stand by their health check and repair any damge if the belt fails.

[RichardW]

Supposed to be 6 years / 64k for the belt, with pulleys at every second change. I'd get it done, it's not too hard / expensive to do (compared to an Ecoboost anyway!). No need for the water pump, it's not cam belt driven. Most important to keep up with the oil changes and use the correct spec oil - for a driving school car, I'd be thinking about changing at half the recommended interval!

[ey_tony]

Piece of mind, replace belt and check oil pump for debris.
Will your dealer stand by their health check and repair any damge if the belt fails.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. Would they stand by their advice of not replacing it if the belt subsequently failed before their recommendations?
They were going to use the special tool which is used to assess if the belt has expanded so clearly that must have been within acceptable tolerances but I still can't help but think it's not worth the risk.

The bigger question is why are dealers giving out one set of figures before replacing the belt while the manufacturers are giving another?
The dealers are sticking to the original figures of 100k or 10 years which the manufacturers have revised it.

Have Stellantis actually contacted all vehicle owners fitted with Puretech wet belt engines to give advice on the revised 60,000k mileage/6 years via recalls? If they haven't then surely they are liable for the costs as many owners including the one from whom I bought the DS3 were totally unaware of the change. He genuinely didn't know as once after I'd informed him he had established that the new figures of 60k/6years were advised, he quickly reduced his asking price by the price of belt replacement deducted so it seems not everyone will be aware of the belt issues.
If Stellantis have informed all individual vehicle owners then that would get them off the hook but otherwise I can see a class action law suit being taken out against them.

[ey_tony]

Supposed to be 6 years / 64k for the belt, with pulleys at every second change. I'd get it done, it's not too hard / expensive to do (compared to an Ecoboost anyway!). No need for the water pump, it's not cam belt driven. Most important to keep up with the oil changes and use the correct spec oil - for a driving school car, I'd be thinking about changing at half the recommended interval!

My driving school days are long gone I'm afraid, I retired due to ill health 11 years ago so that's no longer an issue LOL.

Don't they replace the water pump when replacing the belt? I've just got rid of our C2 VTS and C2 VTR and the water pump was always replaced with the belt so I just assumed it would be the same. My local garage which is excellent advised it would cost around £600 to change the belt so it's not out of the way, not as cheap as the VTS or VTR but not as bad as it could be or so I'm told.
The DS3 was my choice and originally for me and the Cactus was for my partner who is a social worker and claimed she needed a five door car for her job but once she'd driven my DS3 she wants it and now I'm going to have to look for someone who wants to swap their DS3 for a larger car such as the Cactus.
Just when I think I've got things sorted another issue pops up.

[Steve Walsh]

The special tool is a gauge that fits on the belt through the oil fill hole, you can also see the belt through there, Might be worth a look yourself to assess the visual condition.
As Richard says, pump is not cambelt driven so I wouldn't change it. But if the belt starts to fail the particles of the belt block the oil pick up and start a lubrication issue
I would do it, but I am in a position where I do it myself

[ey_tony]

The special tool is a gauge that fits on the belt through the oil fill hole, you can also see the belt through there, Might be worth a look yourself to assess the visual condition.
As Richard says, pump is not cambelt driven so I wouldn't change it. But if the belt starts to fail the particles of the belt block the oil pick up and start a lubrication issue
I would do it, but I am in a position where I do it myself

I did a quick check of the belt via the oil filler aperture and the belt looked surprisingly healthy but for the cost and peace of mind I think the best option is to replace it. Fortunately it's not the most expensive wet belt to change unlike some models/makes which can cost and arm and a leg just to get the job done. The Citroen ones are quite reasonably priced but it would be better if they had not used the wet belt system as it was very poor engineering.
I still think Stellantis should contribute about 50% to the cost as it's their design engineering which has caused these issues. I've just got rid of two 15/16 year old C2s and they managed 80K or 10 years between belt changes with never any issues.

[PaulC5]

At 8 years old I would not be expecting Stellantis to be paying if it is only a belt change without other problems. We had the belt on our 2016 1.6 hdi Cactus replaced at 7 years old simply since I do not like waiting/worrying if it might fail before the 10 years/or so many miles if sooner. If I were you I would be replacing the belts on both cars, saves any worry and you get more years of benefit from the new parts.