Optimistic Paranoid said:
You might find an independent mechanic, or one that moonlights on the side on weekends, who would let you provide your own parts, but make sure that's understood BEFORE he starts working on your vehicle.
And what happens if he gets your van apart, and finds that the parts YOU provided are wrong and don't fit? (Happens more often than you'd think. Manufacturers used to make changes in the middle of a model year all the time.) What if some of your old parts snap when he takes them out so he can't put them back in if that happens?
If the mechanic provides the parts, it's HIS problem, and he has to hustle to find the right parts and finish the job. If YOU provided the parts, it's YOUR problem, and he'll expect to get paid for taking your van apart, even though it's now undrivable and immovable.
Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear . . .
It's all helpful, thanks. These are important points to consider and I'm glad you raised them because like I said, I don't know much about doing this.
The main mechanic I've taken my van to has been happy to let me remain parked at his shop for several days at a time when my van is undrivable, and he's the first mechanic I was going to consult before even buying the parts so he'd know what I was planning on doing. He invites me to sponge off their electrical power outside of business hours and gave me their wifi password, and in the past has reduced or once even entirely waived the labor fee. That's juxtaposed with occasionally overcharging me when they're having a lean month, so it isn't all roses, but there is a rapport of accommodating the circumstances.
The parts I'm looking at seem to easily span my model year and well beyond in either direction, so I'm less concerned about mid-year changes. However, that would be a really good question to ask my mechanic so I'm glad you brought it up.
There are two other possible mechanics I know of who'd probably be willing to do it, one a former mechanic with an expired license advised on and installed a starter for free (which then broke because they installed too many shims and didn't diagnose the engine timing being off...so I'm not going back to them first).
If I end up still having to pay for one part from the shop because something didn't fit right or whatever, that'll be annoying but somewhat doable if I get a loan friend, provided the other parts work out. The other possibility is a friend could drive me to autozone to pick up a part at less than shop prices (this is what I did for my starter - $70 instead of $400). The main factor here is that there was no way I could pay anything close to 1K.
And to both @Optomistic Paranoid and @ccbreeder regarding profit margins - it may well be a necessary component of their functioning business plan, but I cannot afford to be too principled on this. I wish I could pay everyone what they deserve but the numbers simply aren't there. Bringing my own parts and paying for labor seems a significant step up from showing up on their doorstep and pleading for charity. The other alternative is to keep going until my van breaks down again and
then start begging anyone and everyone to chip in to assuage the immediate crisis, and that doesn't sound too palatable either. As a person significantly disabled by chronic illness with $733 income a month and credit maxed out from previous emergency repairs and expensive meds, I often run out of money for food and gas at the end of each month. I do everything within my power to NOT be a leech to society, but when some sort of compromise is being forced by circumstance I seek out the least intrusive way to ask for help. In this case, bringing my own parts. Because
if this works then I feel I can hold my head high that I didn't indebt myself to anyone or reduce my dignity to begging. If a struggling business cannot afford to accommodate that then I understand, but someone, somewhere, should be able/willing to stomach making a slimmer profit off me, I hope. :-/
