Most times not driving a car causes problems.
Seems to me that now that they have warned you about the belt, you are screwed should anything go wrong. Did you tell them you were aware of the recall?
$1700 is crazy high. Only a dealer could charge that amount and keep a straight face. The only reason to have the dealer do it, is that they do it under recall. Otherwise find a good shop.

I had mince inspected in VT in December...I thought it was going to be in rough shape, cracks, swelling, the whole nine yards and was expecting to have to get it replaced. The people i dealt with were really nice. Basically what i got out of it technically you are supposed to get them checked periodically throughout the 105,000 mile period. The manual didn't have that in it so people didn't do it. Well because people weren't getting them inspected some would break prematurely. The lady I talked with said the recall covers a free inspection in hopes of making people realize that they need to be inspected. They said if it needed to be replaced regardless of miles I would have to pay for parts but since they were in there they would cover most of the labor. But this was only if it needed to be replaced. I thought for sure since i was at 80000 that it would but sure enough it was in great shape. I researched it a little and found out why. I drive a lot...my car never sits still for more than a day. I only live 2 miles from work so i put the miles on in other ways...between keeping the car moving all the time and I guess the humidity in new england is a lot less than most places it keeps the timing belt in good shape. I was shocked that it was in good shape but will still replace it in the next couple of months...what was funny and i literally laughed at her was when she mentioned that there were numerous modifications to my car and the technician wasn't sure what kind of stress that would put on the timing belt. I agreed but laughed and she did too when i told her i bought the car that way with 50000 miles on it and put 30000 in a year.

Be careful. Its NOT the belt that goes, even though its the belt they inspect.

Its been said numerous times, its the timing belt tensioner and water pumps that fail prematurely.

Do your own inspection every time you change your oil. Pull the timing belt cover off, and give a yank on the belt. It should be tight, and stay that way.

I did this last summer, and to my surprise, I pulled the belt, and ended up putting a little slack on it. Pulled the tensioner out, and it had spooged all its insides all over the eccentric pulley. This wasn't even the original tensioner, I had done the timing belt about 30K miles earlier.