I just had the 40K mile maintenance on my 2002 Passat Wagon in July (which included checking the timing belt and V-belt/ribbed belt), and they additionally fixed a bunch of things, including replacing the "drive belts (serpentine belt)". All in all, it cost $3,500.

Now, just six weeks later, the "idler pulley" they say broke, which then broke the timing belt, and either of the two, or the combination of the two then broke a cylinder head and bent a bunch of valves. They want another $4,200 fix all the newly broken items.

My question is, they just did this big service, should they have spotted whatever was wrong with the idler pulley? Could something they did (or did incorrectly) during the service and repairs have broken (or led to) the breaking of the idler pulley?

It just seems more than coincidental, that this problem arises right after they service the vehicle.

Also, just a couple of days after the service in July I had a problem driving to Pittsburgh (from Washington DC) - turned out an ignition wire set was bad and had to be replace while I was out of town (so I could get home!) - during the service in July they replaced the sparkplugs - should they have noticed/checked the ignition wires?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Chris