I feel your pain. My starter crapped out within a week of my alternator dying. It squeaks like crazy (still don't know where it's coming from). My idler pulley grenaded coming back from Colorado in a little town 100 miles from the nearest auto parts store. It shimmies every time I go over 70. And now, it sounds like I have cards in the spokes of my wheels. Problems galore.

And to be honest, I wouldn't think of buying a new SUV. I'm determined to hit 200K.

I've learned an incredible amount of knowledge from doing repairs myself. The best part of it is the learning curve. You get faster doing them. And you get to feel like a superhero knowing you did it yourself and saved yourself some $$$ (okay, maybe not everyone, but I sure do)

If I was over thataways, I'd be glad to lend a hand to help (As would most people on this board, I believe).