Timing belt question 2004 Dodge Stratus?

[luckiegirlie18]

Yesterday my 2004 dodge stratus broke down. I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden the check engine light came on and the engine turned off almost simultaneously and would not start back up.I had no warning whatsoever that this was going to happen either. I had it towed to a mechanic and he is telling me that the timing belt broke. I just want to know if I should prepare myself for a very costly repair or if just replacing the timing belt will fix the problem, I'm also having him replace the water pump. He said something about if it caused damage to the valves he would have to fix that and it would cost me about 2 grand. I don't have this kind of money and I'm very worried! Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Ben]

It is going to cost you about $800 if you repair your car yourself. Chances are your valves are bent, your pistons are chewed up and you need a new timing belt, the water pump being replaced is just the bonus that the mechanic will get for claiming to replace something that he never changed.

You should realistically not have to pay more than $1500 to fix your car, but auto mechanics like to rip people off.