reapeated drive belt failures

[jack black]

I'm scratching my head about this. Never had that problem before. Bought used 2007 1.5L Yaris AT in 2013 with 65,000 miles and the maintenance papers indicated changed drive belt by a dealer a year prior near 60,000 miles. Sounded like good news at that time.

We used the car locally till 2021 when a kid took it out of state with like 112,000 miles. It was super reliable up to now and well maintained. Shortly after that belt made lots of noise and it was shredding by the time kid took it to a mechanic. It was replaced, but the mechanic had problems tensioning it correctly and she had to take it back a few time to fix the noise. when she visited home this summer, the belt looked good and tight.

Now, at about 130,000 miles, it suddenly failed and stranded her in freezing weather. She stopped as soon as she saw overheated engine light and got it towed to a mechanic.

This is very frustrating to hear, being far away from the kid. Not to mention expensive for her. I'm thinking she should get a more reliable car now. Is this a design flaw? How can one be sure it doesn't brake again and strand her out of nowhere in very cold weather?

PS: the last mechanic supposedly checked water pump and all the pulleys and saw no other problems.

Thanks for helping!