The serpentine belt has broke 5 times in the last 14 months, and each time it does, it breaks something else along with it. I have replaced the power steering belt twice, the water pump, water hose and the timing belt.
This last time it bust the head gasket, and the repairs are very costly... More especially the parts.
"The serpentine belt has broke 5 times in the last 14 months". Then you've got another problem either the pulleys are worn, there's a dent or something in one of the pulleys, the tensioner is malfunctioning or something is misaligned. Serpentine belts don't break like that; it should last for years. Ten years for a serpentine belt is possible. Five in just over a year is crazy.
You should really talk to your mechanic; he's probably doing a crappy job like most other mechanics I know about. And I should know since I worked as a certified mechanic for eight years before I changed profession. Most mechanics are either dumb or just don't care. And their managers don't care either, and it's just the money that counts.
Your story is similar to many of my experiences. The same happened to a car we had in too often. The belt shredded all the time. Nobody cared; they just replaced the belt and other parts that the belt had destroyed. Nobody looked into why the belts never lasted. Until I had a look at it. Some dumb ass mechanic had made a huge dent in one of the pulleys, probably the first time he changed it under regular maintenance. All subsequent belt failures were probably due to this dent. I changed the damaged parts and this car never saw any problems again.
My message is that a lot of good cars are destroyed by dumb ass mechanics and their greedy managers. I could tell you a hundred different stories about this, and that's why I quit the business. I got fed up ripping off customers over charging single mothers and old folks with no money for sub standard work.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site