Alternator swap on a Commodore, driveway, 2 hours.

Intermittent battery light on an SV6, quoted $1,600 by a shop. We diagnosed it as a dead alternator and swapped it on the driveway for $720 all-in.

The customer had taken it to a suburban workshop first. Got quoted $1,600 for 'an electrical fault, needs further investigation.' That phrase is usually code for 'we have no idea yet but we'll find something.'

Nathan went out the next morning. Scanned it first — no active codes, but a pending P0562 (system voltage low) that popped the moment the car ran loaded accessories. Voltage at the battery: 12.1V running. Alternator was done.

Pulled the alternator on the driveway, took 35 minutes. Bosch reman unit from the van (we stock common Holden and Ford rotations), fitted, torqued, belt tensioned. Charging voltage back to 14.3V at 1,500 rpm.

Total time on site: 1 hour 52 minutes. Total cost including the reman alternator, belt inspection, and a charging-system print-out: $720. We emailed the customer the failed alternator's test data so they had it in writing.

The workshop had quoted over twice the price for the same job, plus a two-day wait. There are still good shops out there — but there are also a lot of them fishing.