My car defeated me today.
The alternator on my car went kaput. Nowhere in my area would do the job for less than $800-something, and most places were quoting $900-$1k.
So I looked up how-tos on YouTube and it looked like something I, a woman with zero experience or knowledge of working on cars, could do.
I got a remanufactured alternator for $180 and got to work following the tutorials I'd found.
It certainly did not go smoothly, but I managed it. It took me 6 hours to get the alternator out, mainly because every goddamn bolt holding the parts in place were basically cemented in. I had to use my foot to stomp one loose because I didn't have the strength in my arms.
Today I spent another 4 hours trying to put in the new one and all the parts back in place. And I did it!!
Except for the power steering belt. That fucker would not go into place, and trying to force the belt tensioner back took every ounce of strength I could muster.
All that work. All that time and effort and THE VERY LAST STEP to get my car up and running defeated me today. I had to get a task rabbit guy. He's coming tomorrow to get my belt back on.
On one hand I feel proud that I made it this far. On the other I feel like a complete failure because it turns out I couldn't complete the task myself.
Anyway, how was your weekend?
I'm going to be an outlier in my comment here but, for myself (an elderly dude who has done what you just did) I, personally, prefer to hire it done. You paid 2-3 hundred on parts and tools, put in 10+ hours of work and still have not got it working. I have come to appreciate the skill and ability of trades...they do that for a living - let them.
I'm really good at my chosen trade and I laugh at those that think they can just do my job because the watched a YouTube video about it. I fix their problems every day and charge them no more than someone who didn't fuck it up first because I can appreciate the effort but I don't charge them less because they did part of the work incorrectly.
I don't know... ~$600 saved with 10 hours of work, that's $60/hr. Even if she ends up paying someone $50 to put the belt back on, that's still not a bad way to spend some time on a holiday weekend.
That was my thought. I had $500 in my emergency fund, and needed to figure out how to do it for at most that amount. I've spent around $345 so far.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't appreciate the work and skill of mechanics. I dont even think the price is that outrageous. I've had years of taking my cars in to get fixed, including an alternator replacement years and years ago. Would it have been easier than doing it this way? Yup.
But my small emergency fund was drained for something last week, and I went in to the shop with $500 to spare in total until I get paid on Thursday. The reality of my current situation is that I'm one of the millions of Americans that is one emergency away (okay, two) from financial failure, and I can't afford a $900 fix until my emergency fund is replenished. It'd just awful timing.
I'm a Substation Designer, I get what it feels like to have people who don't know your trade think it's simple or should be quick or whatever, but that wasn't my thought process. My thought process was to get more info on what I was asking mechanics to do, and when I watched the videos, it didn't look like a complicated fix in terms of parts and where they go.
I don't think I've fucked up the fix, I just don't have the strength to get the belt on. The guy coming tomorrow said he can do it, and he charges $45/hr, so we'll see how it goes then.
I think the "elderly" part may be biasing your decision. There are times in our lives when we have more time than money. Usually when we get older it flips to more money than time. There are still lots of things I do I could hire out (I still mow my own lawn as an example), but for skill trades for plumbing or complicated electrical I hire professionals.
Yup, it's a lack of money for me at the moment. Had an event drain my emergency fund last week, this was just bad timing.
I've been there. You did wonderfully getting as far as you did. Especially as this sounds like close to your first time trying to accomplish something like this. You'll continue to improve. You've got that extra money in your pocket as evidence that you did well.