The 1998 Camry I now drive has 240,000 miles on it, and my parents have had the timing belt break on it twice within the 120,000 miles or so they have owned it. Fortunately the engine is non-interference, and the car runs perfectly after replacing the belt.
Recently they purchased a 2002 Camry, and it has a timing chain.
Looking at
this chart, it seems half of Toyota's cars use a belt, and half a chain. This got me to wondering why a manufacturer would choose one over another?
To my knowledge, a timing chain lasts much longer, requires no service, and is slightly more energy efficient at transferring power to the cams. What would be the reason for choosing a belt? Having to replace it every 90k miles makes any car with a belt less appealing.