It's a bit more complex than checking tires or windshield wipers for wear.

http://www.wikihow.com/Check-the-Constant-Velocity-Boots-%28...

Your CV joint is quite possibly fine (though it might be shot, only way to be sure is to lock one side and then to try to move the other along all axis of freedom and restraint to check for play) but you're on the edge of either an accident or a catastrophic breakdown, visit a garage with someone who actually knows what he's doing before you find out which of the two options makes your lucky day.

Timing belts are wear parts to be replaced at fairly exact mileages whether or not there is visible damage or not does not factor into it. Some cars have chain drives (Mercedes for instance, and almost all big trucks) which are installed for the life of the engine.

I don't particularly care what your 'licensed mechanics' have told you, if you have an inch of play it could be any one of the following:

- worn splines on the diff

- shaft retainers about to go

- bearing housing worn out / bearings shot

- ball joints worn

- carrier arm support bushing gone or badly worn

It could also be a combination of the above with marginal parts and then all the bits of play adding up.

It's your life, not mine but I would take anything that has to do with the front-end very seriously. You don't always get to do a do-over after you've learned your lesson, and an inch of play is something to stop driving your car over until it is fixed.

FWIW when I was poor (which wasn't all that long ago, but that's a totally different story) I drove a 500 euro VW golf, I clocked 50K on it in one year which is a fair bit of driving for NL and I did the maintenance myself. I would never ever think of getting into that car of yours without making a beeline for a place with a bridge and a budget large enough to get it fixed, you're endangering those on the road that do take good care of their cars as well.

I realize that car mechanics is not your forte but please take this serious and get it taken care of before something really bad happens. If you were living within a few hundred K of here I'd be happy to toss my tools in the car and drive over to get your problem fixed, that's how serious I'd take this but since you're on the other side of an ocean that isn't going to happen.

As for 'licensed mechanics', one day on a Jeep I owned there was a mis-alignment left front, I ended up with the local alignment gurus who said I just had to live with the mis-alignment because they couldn't fix it. After asking for permission I was in the pit in a heartbeat inspecting the front end with their very nice light setup and found a hairline crack in the front diff, which is why they couldn't align that wheel (it could basically freely move backwards and forwards in the diff, a mm there translated to 1/2" at the wheel). That would have killed me handily if it had seized up at highway speeds, the diff was entirely dry.

They were extremely apologetic that they missed that, which is nice but that was a major error on their part. To me if the car is out of alignment or there is something fishy with the front end you keep at it until it is a 'known quantity' and you really know what you're doing or until it is repaired. It's way too easy to have a major accident that way.