Macdrive - please change your attitude here -not everyone is the same -as ten_g. stated, every person is a connisuer(ess) of a different trade.
For instance, my main job is in telecommunications construction/tech. Does it stop there? NO. I can/do work on my own car. I can/have built the cabinets for my parents home and help part time in a cabinet shop of a buddies because I have enough skill to be a desired worker there.
Do I come down on people who can't do those three trades as well as I can? Add to the mix that I have the skill to be/have been a lead pressman on a web printing press. I still don't look down.
I don't know if you can match that nor do I want to claim here that even if you ma not be able to that you are therefore a 'failure' of any sort.
I applaud you for being able to do that work on your own car, and encourage you as well as ten_g to do the same, but because you or ten_g may skip any maintenance beyond filling with your car with gas and paying someone else to do the rest doesn't warrant discrimination.
Please, take this into consideration. We, as Humans, are created equal, therefore we should treat each other as equals. Without that no one would survive, including our hobbies, right down to BC.

OLBlueEyesBonne: Consider my attitude changed.

Ten - It'* your car (as you know ) You get to decide how and what repairs get done. Most here will help you in any way that we can regardless of what road you choose for the repair. Even if you take it in for repair "knowledge is power" so you will know what needs to be done, and how it needs to be done, and can know what a reasonable charge is, and what parts may be needed.

If you choose to do it yourself, you'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is. This is not engine work, and few tools are needed. All you need is a long screwdriver, putty knife, kitchen knife...anything that can be used to pop out the plastic clips around the door. Some needle nosed pliers to remove the two metal clips that stay in the door panel, and a large philips head screw driver, or nut driver to remove the 3 screws from the motor. You don't even need to remove the regulator to take the motor out. If the motor works when you take it off, it likely will work again when you put it in.

I do all my own car work, as well as for friends and family, but there have been, and will be times, where for various reasons I choose to take it to a shop. That is my decision and my decision alone, and if someone else doesn't like it...I don't really care. Best of luck to you whichever route you choose - and continue to ask whatever questions you wish. There are people here who will help you.

Archon: You got it exactly how I feel on the matter. If I want to waste X amount of $ by having someone do it for me, then that is my decision. I have always come here to get knowledge on a problem I have, even if I was guaranteed to take it to a shop to get it done for me. That way if I know it'* my window regulator, and they say they need to replace my whole DOOR, then I know they're full of it. Probably a bad example, as I would already know that they were pulling my leg, but you get the idea...

In the past I was very reluctant to do anything myself at ALL. Except for changing the oil and for very minor repairs (for example I put a new coolant reservoir hose on one of my old cars). I wouldn't have had the nerve to do much else.

Then recently I thought my thermostat was not working like I should, and posted in here to get thoughts on it. Pretty much everyone agreed, and I had a decision to make. Either spend $100+ to have them put in an $8 part, or take 20 minutes of my time and look through here to learn how to do it myself. I knew it was a very simple job, but wanted to know exactly how to do it before I did it. Everyone was more than helpful pointing me in the right direction.

I then decided that I was going to do it myself, as I felt confident with the info on here, and that it was time I did learn something about my car. I took it to a friends house (he has a garage) on a weekend, and took maybe 30 minutes and did it myself. I had even picked up a nice set of ratchets and wrenches before going, as all my tools I already owned were computer based; not the most useful when working on a car. When the job was done, I was actually a little annoyed. Reason being that I knew how much I would have got charged, for such a little bit of actual work. When I was over that I was quite happy in doing the job myself and if the t-stat ever needs replacement again, I won't even think about taking it in.

Am I ready to pull apart the upper and lower intake to replace the gaskets and the UIM itself? Um... no. As it stands today, when they go, the dealer is fixing that. I might start with changing spark plugs and wires, and keep going up from there. Plugs are pretty simple as well, just have to get yourself contorted enough to reach the rear ones... But if I do more stuff like that then I would probably be less prone to flip out if I saw the internals of my car'* engine; like I would if I DID replace the LIM gasket myself today. It'* basically all just a matter of building my confidence in doing the stuff myself.

My whole point for this long post is this: I would actually love to become a gearhead myself and do 95% of the work on my car by myself. It is hard when you don't have someone looking over your shoulder to help you along the way, as none of my friends are gearheads. Most of them are a lot worse than me. One of my friends had just bought a brand new Hyundai (yeah, I know, I wasn't pleased with him either ) I asked how many cylindars his car'* engine had. He looked at me like I was speaking French and said he didn't know. I had him pop his hood, and pointed to his 4 spark plug wires and explained how this was indeed a 4 cylinder engine. Not all my friends are this bad, but it shows what I have to work with.

That is why I come here to read and post. It'* kind of like the gearhead friend that won't help me physically do something, but will tell me their opinion on the matter (Very cheesy sounding, I know). There is a ton of great info here and great people that are very willing to share tips/suggestions when asked. I often read through the new posts in the mechanical sections on all categories, as I know I will pick something up that I didn't know before... Even if I never have the same problem or question with my car, I still like to learn about it.

I just don't want anyone here thinking that I just come here to waste everyones time by posting stupid questions, and then take the info and say "That'* nice, now let me call my mechanic."

Next Saturday (not tomorrow) I had already planned on taking my car back to my friend'* house (where I changed my t-stat at) and swapping head units with him. He would get my older one, and I get his newer nicer one. So I will talk to him and see if he wants to take a stab at pulling apart my door with me at the same time. If he doesn't mind, then I will absolutely go for trying to fix this myself. If he'd rather not, then I will probably just take it in.

Ok, enough already. Blah, blah, blah. This post has become about 10x longer than I intended it to. So I will stop with my rambling.

Just got home from my friend'* house. We got the window done today. It took us about 30 minutes tops. I guess cars are a lot like computers.

I must say it was about 10x easier than I thought it would be. It'* all up and working fine now. Just pulled it apart, pulled off the motor, and put it together. BAM works fine. Weird problem, but, just like everyone else said that'* all it would take.

Nice to know I saved about $400 today. Thanks for everyone who helped, and convinced me to do it myself. Hopefully it stays working for a while!

Thanks again.

yeah espcially with new cars though, mostly just swapping out sesnors and modules and stuff.

the heavy work like dropping trannies I tend to stray away from though.

Yeah, I'm not looking to start the heavy stuff yet. I was just saying that we both know our way around a computer, and that'* what helped us get it done so quick. It was just like, pull here lift that, unscrew this.... and done.

Great news Josh! Glad to hear that you had no problems. Mine locked up like that a while ago, did what you did, and it'* still working fine.

Yeah, should be fine. That seems to be the general consensus around here with the window problem like that. At least I know how to do it if I have more problems with any of the windows now. I'm glad all of you helped talk me into doing it myself.