Timing belts: defective or improperly installed

I have an '03 Suburu Forester that I just had a local mechanic change the timing belt on since it was coming up on 115,000 miles. About 3 days later as I was out driving, the engine quit and wouldn’t restart. Well, it took the mechanic 3 days to find the problem. He said the timing belt had a “rough spot” on it that he thinks was on it when he installed it, causing some lifter caps? to tear up. I find it strange that he didn’t notice that “rough spot” when he installed it. Has anybody had any similar experience, either with a defective timing belt or improper installation?

junk T-belts rock.

go OEM or dont bother.

not his fault you went cheap,get what you pay for.

This sounds like a mechanic screwup and he’s laying some BS on you to cover his rear end. What that screwup could be is debateable; left something loose, bad tensioner or idler pulley, etc.
If the mechanic replaced the belt only and did not also replace the tensioners, etc. then he did a halfway job and is not to be trusted.

The rough spot statement is just an excuse. The odds of an installation problem are astronomical as compared to the odds of a defective timing belt. The latter is about as sure as winning the lottery.

cheap belt,forgot that junior.

autozone parts blow.

you must request good parts ,not junk.

How do you know what parts were used?

Sounds like a mechanic screw up to me.