Chevrolet Repair: 96 Chevy Cavalier Problem, chevy cavalier, chevy dealer

Question
Hi I was was wondering if you could help. We recently bought a used 96 Cavalier for our son. When we got it ran great. About a week ago he said the check engine light was coming on intermittently. Then stayed on, he drove it for a couple more days without me knowing (I wanted to go get the codes pulled) He said he was driving home from school and it started sputtering and would barely go above 15mph, he had to keep reving it to keep it running, it stalled a couple times and would restart. Today, I went out to check it, his intake boot was torn, so I replaced that. When I tried to start it it would start then run real rough for about a minute then stall. (The fuel pump, pumps up when you turn the key) We took it in to a mechanic, he said it was the fuel pump. He said it would cost $800.00 to fix and in the same sentence asked if we wanted to sell it to him, so I'm a little hesitant to think this guys honest. Could you give some ideas what to check?

Thanks,
John

Answer
Well you would need to check fuel psi however this car is not very easy to do this on.  If you are located near a chevy dealer bring it to them and have them diagnos the check engine light and describe how it is running and that you want the fuel psi checked.  They SHOULD be honest.  800$ seems a little high as well for the repair.