For once,farming out a wrench job...??

And that's the trick, too, Greg.

Sometimes you're paying for that knowledge that comes along with being a professional wrench.

Someone mentioned the 3100 And 3400 series GM's. Not that bad when you know the tricks. I used to pull the alternator so I'd have that extra room to the side. Pull the dogbones, and a small ratchet strap at the bottom of my toolbox to roll the engine forward. Done. Had a lot of guys who'd tell me they "used" to do their own tune up's have no idea how to get to the back bank.

Don't even get me going on three valve Ford's and how many came in on a wrecker that I'd have to fish three or four broken plugs out of.

I spent a lot of time at the Ford garages doing blown intake gaskets on Windstars. The owner just spent $200 or $300 on four new O2 sensors because AZ told him it was an O2 code, not knowing that particular code has nothing to do with the function of the sensor (which, by the way, is actually doing it's job, Mr. Customer, since it's monitoring your A/F mixture) and everything to do with what's happening upstream of the sensor.

Some of it comes down to equipment. I have thousands invested in scanners, special tools, subscriptions to shop manuals, as well as the tools of the trade that help me diagnose and repair something.

The typical DIY'er hasn't made that investment.

Throw in the fact that some DIY'ers are very capable of doing the work up to a point and then hear horror stories. Honda timing belts come to mind.

"I'd do it myself, but then I heard that if I eff it up I'll blow my engine. I also found out that I need a $50 special tool to hold the crank and a couple long ratchets. I'd only ever use them for this job and never use them again. Better to leave it to a pro who won't blow my engine and who already has the tools."