Chrysler Repair: 95 Cirrus; no start., engine computer, distributor ignition

Question
I have a 95 cirrus that died on my wife while on the highway car has new starter. key turns over but will not start. mechanic says first problem he saw is that there is no spark. he added it need distributor/ignition coil. long story short he wants 750 to repair and dont know if thats only problem and cant tell me for sure.  car only has 98500 miles and my problem is  any time someone fixes car, they never are for sure of the problems and cant give me straight answers on prices and if said repair will be all I need. what would you suggest I do with car and finding a mechanic that can give better repair service .

Answer
Hi Jason,
The place to start for a diagnosis is the on-board fault code system which stores numbers in the engine computer which tell you what it sees as the problem. Turn the key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light, which remains 'on', to see it begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flaahes before each pause. Then repeat the process to be sure of an accurate set of flash counts. Then group them in pairs in the order of appearance and tell me what the numbers are. We'll go from there as what should be done next. I would go to the shop if the car isn't at your home and do this yourself so as to be sure you do it right.
If it is the distributor, the price qouted is for an entirely new distributor. You might find a working used one or get just the solid-state rotational sensor part inside for replacement (which is typically what fails) and with some investigation on the internet pay much less for the part(s). But lets get the numbers.
It could be the distributor but that is not the only possible reason for a die/no start situation. Don't buy any parts/commit to any repair without having the fault code readout numbers.
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Thanks,
Roland