Has a Chevy Aveo timing belt ever snapped and NOT done like $2000 worth of damage?

I'm a dope. I was aware of how horrible a timing belt snap can be in this car and was planning to have it replaced. I have a 2004 with about 65,000 miles. Friday, my wife called and said the car died. We had it towed to the shop and today they say the pulley broke, so they were going to replace the pulley, belt, and water pump for $550.
My problem is that they say they can't tell if any valves are bent until after they do this repair and start it. Does anyone ever get lucky and not destroy their engine when this happens? I'm thinking I should have told them to act as if the valves were bent and save the $550 if I'm going to be paying big money tomorrow anyway.

your valves are bent if motor was turning

maybe lucky to save head and only replace some valves ,mine bent halve but had head shaved and rebuilt for under 225 plus new water pump and idler( replace all under cover) my total was under 400 but did all work except the valves myself

This subject has been hashed around many times in the past, and I'll offer the same JMHO that I always do. If you're not a DIYer, I would buy a new engine - one backed by a 1 year warranty. Since we all agree that the valves are randomly smashing into the top of the pistons, then there is no reason that the lower part of the engine can't be damaged along with the top. And the biggest problem with all of this is you will still pay the 2K, regardless if there is additional damage or not. So, for around another 1K you can at least be fairly sure that you'll have something that won't need another engine repair for a long time (if it has to be rebuilt well enough to last a year, then it typically will go much longer). You would of course also put on a new belt, tensioner, idler, and WP if they are not specified as new.

First off $550 for a timing belt job is WAY high.. i think i have heard it done for as little as $325, with a little over $400 as an average ( I do my own ). But anyhow..

This is one of those cases where i would suggest paying time to pull the head instead of getting it running on bent valves. I would get written estimates of the total job form this shop though, as the $550 timing belt job will be part of the cost of the head replacement, some of which is over lap. I would also suggest checking on their possible solutions for the machine work and valve replacement.

I replaced my timing belt @ 60,000 miles, then again @ 110,000. I now have 134,000..all highway commute driving,, I have a 2008 auto hatchback.... love my aveo....Did I jump the gun replacing them too soon? I have heard of the damage that occurs and am trying to be pro active...

I have an 06 and my neighbor has and 07 or 08 when i first got my car it had 100000 miles i didnt know if the timing belt had been replaced at 60 ,000 so i replaced it along with the waterpump tensioner and idler my neighbor asked what i was doing and i told him that even the owners manual says to change it out at 60,000 he goes " oh you are just a worry wart i have 75000 on mine and i havent changed mine" well at 85000 his snapped and ruined his engine he thinks i cursed him well a little prevention goes a long way .

Yes, i was told by my chevy service garage, that they can't. tell if a timing belt needs replacing, without nearly taking it off...so they said i should just replace it..( so i did) Now.. my window broke. Looks like someone , at work, (parking lot open area) in a mall.. may have pushed in my lock, as its now inside my door panel, and that's why my window will only roll down 4 inches.. I have auto locks, so who ever it was couldn't break in .. I am so parnoid now... II was told that type of problem (locks messing up is common on the aveo?? Againb....85.00 for the part/ 65.00. to take off door panel to look....lol.. guess. Ill wait on replacing that. now.... cars are expensive to maintain...but need to keep this one for several more years...
!

The $550 was for the belt, idler pulley, and water pump. He got back the next day and said some valves were bent, but he didn't know how many. He was taking off the head to send to the machine shop and would replace valves as needed. All together came to $2100. He said if some of the valves were ok, it will be slightly lower.

The car is only worth about $4000 via KBB so I'm just looking to get it fixed, pay the $1000 I owe on it, sell it, and buy something else. If I hang onto it for even a year, it won't be worth much of anything.

I do a lot of DIY stuff on the Aveo and our Grand Cherokee. I leave internal engine stuff to the pros though. I don't have the equipment or the space to do that kind of work.

BTW, we had our driver side lock cylinder fall into the door also, Sammy. I think they might just do that. Power locks still work so I'm not real concerned. The car is nice for gas mileage, but pretty disappointing everywhere else.

KBB prices are pretty low, try NADA value, thats what USAA and all my local credit unions use

Also, it was the idler pulley that broke. Plastic piece of junk.

Does anybody make a quality steel replacement idler pulley?

The factory didn't apply loctite to the nut that holds the door lock on and it just spun right off.

Go to another shop. Any decent shop will be able to turn the engine and cams by hand and do a compression test and/or leak down test to check for bent vales before throwing parts at it.

I bought my 04 Aveo with a bad timing belt (plastic pully failed) ... I pulled the head... had the machine shop replace the bent valves, complete valve job and resurface... New belt, pullies, seals, water pump.... that was about 7 years ago. Doesn't burn a drop of oil and passes smog every time. No reason to replace the engine with one of unknown health.. especially if your old one was quiet and didn't use oil. The valve stems are so small... they bend super easy...so even though all pistons had some dings...it doesn't hurt in any way... (I'm a 40+ yr mechanic)

The pullies fail when the bearing grease is old and dry.. causing the bearing to over heat and melt the pully. When I did my Aveo about 7 years ago there wasn't a metal pully available (maybe now?) ... If you replace everything every 60K miles you should be ok with the OEM stuff. If you ever overheat the engine I would replace the plastic pullies immediately... assuming the head gasket didn't blow....