My wife just bought a 2004 Charade EL on eBay. FSH and mileage at 21000 seems genuine.

We collected it this morning and drove it home. It did sound a bit 'tapety' but I assumed it might just need a service. Performance seemed fine.

On getting it home, the first thing I did was change the oil. The noise seemed to get worse - which makes me wonder if the seller was aware of a problem and had added STP or some-such to quieten the engine enough to make a sale!

BTW The cambelt was changed a year ago, at the same time as the last service.

My question is - is it likely an engine could have cam-wear after only 21000 miles?? Is this a common problem? (blocked oilway? bad seal??)

Could it be that the valve clearances were just badly set and are a bit noisy?? (it is VERY loud compared to my other car)

I think this engine has variable valve timing? Is it possible there is a fault there somewhere??

We got it cheap enough, I guess it will be worth fixing if it needs a top-end O/H, but we could really do without the hassle!

Any thoughts or suggestions would be V gratefully received.

TIA