Heres a story of my ****ty day:

I was driving thru uni around 8am this morning when the engine suddenly cuts out, no noises or shudders .. nothing. On went the hazard lights as I rolled to a stop, luckily it was a two lane street as there were no nearby side streets to push the car into. The engine cranked over when I tried to start it up but just couldn't get ignition.

Got the racq guy to come out - 40min wait by the side of the road while being stared at by the stream of students filtering past (no offers for help mind you!). The racq guy checked a bunch of things and found nothing really wrong except fuel didn't seem to be getting to the engine. Got a tow truck to come out (hour wait) to take it to the nearest mitsu workshop.

Apparently the power steering belt snapped, knocking the timing belt out. So they replaced the P.Steer belt and re-did the timing. Total cost $417 (labour was $350). Does that seem a little pricey to you guys??

Anyway, thats $400 i didn't have to spend on car repairs.

BL mate, you're very very lucky the timing belt didnt really shat itself because trust me its a hella lot more than $400... sorry to hear it mate, hope she's up n running asap

Thats a decent price.

Timing belts are usually circa $500 (ok, thats including the water pump, always do them when changing a timing belt).

However, BL....and thank your stars the timing belt didnt chew all your valves, destroy your pistons and munch the entire engine!

is it just me or does everyone notice how often p/s belts break and take timing belts out on magna's ??

i think everyone should always keep an eye on the p/s belt

is it just me or does everyone notice how often p/s belts break and take timing belts out on magna's ??

i think everyone should always keep an eye on the p/s belt

Thats usually due to overtightening of the belts....pretty common.

Cheers all, looks like I got out of this one pretty cheaply hey...

Take care