Hi there, I hope someone can help with some much needed expertise!

A week last Saturday, I bought a 2003 Space Star (51,000 miles on the clock) for £3000 from a second hand car dealer. After a little while of driving it about I noticed a tapping noise from the front, rang the garage and they said, bring it back Friday and we'll have a look at it. Anyway, on the Thursday I was driving back from the supermarket, just pulling on to a roundabout, when I lost all gears and couldn't move anywhere. The AA came, and towed me back to the garage where I bought the car. The AA man said my drive shaft was broken.

The man at the garage said yes, the drive shaft is broken, its "gone" in the middle and not at the CV joint. He said he would repair it under warranty for me (he has given me 3 months warranty). The next day, the Friday, he phoned me and told me that the drive shaft is a special size and that he can't get it for 3 working days, which means this Wednesday.

I found out (after handing my money over, typically) that this garage has got quite a bad reputation for bodging cars, and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me any way I can tell if the works been done right and not just bodged up? Also if theres anything else I should look out for on my space star that could be a problem? My other halfs dad said that the engine sounded fine, nothing wrong there (I hope). Are there any questions I can ask the garage when I pick the car up that might give me a clue if he replaced the drive shaft with a new one or a second hand one, or would that matter?

Such a shame because I was really pleased with it.

Just one other question, should I have the cam belt replaced? its a 1.6 if that makes any difference

Many thanks in advance