Ouch Pom - I feel your pain. Just what you need at this time of year. If you had a neighbour who worked on cars as a hobby and for much less money you could go that route but I guess not every neighbourhood has these handy guys. We're lucky enough to have one of them and while we have our regular garage for maintenance and stuff he does come in handy for so many things. Sometimes will just trade off the work for a favour he needs, now there's a good deal for both sides. He loves doing body work too so he does our son's and daughter's cars if they happen to get a dent or what not.
Maybe Santa will surprise you somehow