[Walt Fricke]

Yes, rare for the torsion tube to collapse. When it happens, it is usually due to rust. Surely this mechanic could just look to see if that had happened? The transmission, and the two rear banana arms are attached toward the center of the torsion tube. If the tube broke, I'd expect some difficulty shifting due to the transmission dropping some.

While you don't hear of it happening, if a torsion bar snapped the rear would drop. But much more on the side with the broken part. Was the drop one sided, or just as low on both sides? Perhaps the rear is riding on the bump stops on top of the shocks?

The ignition switch "start" position can fail over time. One way to deal with this is to install a push button to bypass the "start" position on the switch. Works just fine.