As of today I have logged about 4500 miles on my setup and it is running sweet. As for installation costs, I charge between 75-150 an hour for my time as a consultant. It is cheaper for me to have a professional do some things, especially when I was married. Now I am not married, I have time to play with my car as a hobby on my off hours and I can buy a second car in case I have my toy up on the rack for a while. But I understand some people can't afford to have a professional do the work, some just don't have the time, others the money. That's how I learned about computers...I could not afford to have a tech work on mine when I was in college so I figured it out myself.