Bad Distributor, no wait, timing belt

[chabunga]

So my son's 95 Camry dies. Gets towed to shop. They say needs new distributor, with towing about $500. Now they say distributor OK was broken wire. They can get it started but it doesn't stay running. Their diagnosis, timing belt, about $600 worst case. Are they guys trying to screw my son, or is this an easy mistake to make?

[hill8570]

What do they say is wrong with the timing belt? If it starts at all, the timing belt isn't broken. Off chance it may've skipped teeth, but usually once tooth skipped will run rough, while multiple teeth skipped won't even start. It's dead easy to check timing with a timing light while the engine is cranked -- shouldn't be a matter of guesswork.

I'd say the shop is at least incompetent, if not worse.