I started my DIY wrenching out of financial hardship the same as I started doing my own home repair/remodeling due to lack of funds/old house disease. As I became more financially stable, I tried outsourcing for both. Most of these efforts to have others do what I used to do ended in pain.

Contractors, to include mechanics, know where their bread is buttered. The majority of their income is not going to come from the odd job we throw them. This means you are way down their priority list.

I ran into this recently when helping a co-worker tile his bathroom. He paid a reputable drywaller to do about eight hours of work on the bath. He showed up at 10AM on Monday and left for lunch never to return tha day...or the next. Showed up on Wednesday at 2 PM and worked until 4:30PM. On Friday we started tiling at 8 AM and the guy shows up to do hi final coat of mud at 1 PM (he promised the job would be done by Thursday noon)...we sent him packing with less than half the fee for the job. I will be doing the final coat of mud and sanding.

When I took my wife's car in for body repair at the dealership per the insurance company's instructions they promised it would be in three days. We told them great as my wife was leaving for a trip back to Oklahoma in five days and would be gone a week. The insurance company ended up paying for seven EXTRA days of a rental car and the body shop still was not done when she got home on day 12.