dand66

I was driving my 2003 Chevy Malibu LS last night. I got less than a mile and suddenly it lost all power and the engine just died. I coasted to the side of the road. It wouldn't start again. The tow truck driver said it sounded like a timing belt to him (for what that's worth). Would I timing belt cause the car to just stop running like that? If so, how much will replacing it cost me? If not, what else might have caused this?

EinST

That's why he drives a tow truck. There's a difference between a "timing belt" and chain. Yours has the latter. Timing chains don't usually snap off clean but jumps gears which makes the engine run really rough cause major internal damage. Usually it makes a lot of noise before that.