Down the road from my house there is a black 1996 Avenger ES 2.5L V-6. The woman I talked to said it wouldn't start. She said the guy worked on it and it jumped time. They only want $800 and the body and interior are in good shape. My first question is it possible that when the motor jumped time the valves might have hit the pistons. My second question is even if that is the case is it still worth buying and fixing or is it better to find another car.

 

The 6g73 is an interference motor I believe, so if it is, then yes chances are that the valve(s) have hit the pistons.
For $800, I wouldn't think that to be a big deal for rebuilding and running as a daily driver.
It also depends on how high the motor's RPMs were when the timing jumped. In your post it sounds as if the mechanic was tinkering with it in the shop at idle when it jumped time though. If that's the case, unless he had it revved pretty high, it should be a good $800 daily driver. I would still verify the jumped time story though and ask for a bit more detail about it.

 

Thanks for the info and I plan on more research before I commit to buying the car.