Other than taking all the necessary steps in avoiding a catastrophe, make sure whoever is doing the work has some experience, having done this job before and knows exactly what they're doing, EVEN at dealer level. Ask questions at the service desk, request a technician who has done the job before and that has a good 'come back' record. Also, I highly recommend that you do the water pump, tensioner, idler and serp. belt. Using OEM parts and having GM do the work will get you 12 months warrenty on the parts and labor.
How do I know this? Well, it's one long sad story and I think the dealer just wants to put this all in the past, as does the mechanic. In all fairness, mistakes happen, they treated me fairly and I'm more than happy with the outcome,........and wouldn't need any head work for some time.
My 06' sedan has been a wonderful little car, 105,000 km now, it's been across N. American and back, and has been flawless. So far it's been both headlight bulbs, one tail light bulb, wiper blades, one set of tires (Falkin 205/50-15....not noted for high milage), loads of A/filters, oil/filter changes and then the big one......the timing belt and a major tune up. Would I buy another? You bet! With Flakin tires? You bet, that's the fun part.
did they change it for you and it fell off? because in all honesty i think getting the timing belt on the aveo tightened right can be touchy. my uncle changed mine at like 54000 miles and he did everything to spec and about a 1000 miles down the road it slipped and jumped timing on me at startup so we had to get a brand knew one and this time both my dad and uncle (experienced mechanics) changed it and tightened it to spec and when it started it still wasn't right so they opened it up again and low and behold it loosened up. i think they did it twice before they got it to stay right and tight.....all i know is it is true that the timing belt is the weakness of this engine and you better have it checked at around 50,000 miles because at 54,000 mines was missing a few teeth hear and there.
The engine was fired up before everything was buttoned up and it spit the belt off. Even at idle in the shop, it's screwed some valves and I got a whole new head under warrenty. It took three weeks to get the new head from the factory, as there was not one to be found in all of N. America.
There's a very specific procedure for getting the proper torque on all fasteners on the Aveo, it's auctually done twice. Stretching the bolts requires not only a torque wrench, but an 'angle gauge' to do it properly. Not all timing belt specs are the same for all vehicles, so just because you've done one before on another flavor, doen't mean you know how to do the Aveo.
Everything you need to know can be found on the net or get a buddy that works at a GM dealership to print off the info from their site for you.
In my case, I was starting to lose sleep as the time got closer and closer to having the belt done, as I knew of a Kia that had one let go at 33,000 km while bootin' down the road and took out the whole motor, top and bottom.
The ironic part was, the orginal belt on my 'little pony' (can't afford a real prancing horse, but I have Italian wheels) was still good for another 50K miles.
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