Well, we didn't have to spend about $500 on a new garage door opener/motor. Instead we found out that the belt band was what was wrong with it and through some googling (man, how did we even do things before the internets?) saw that it was a very common, universal band. Same thing used for lawn mowers, really, and it was just $13. On the other hand I'm a little disappointed in a repair guy that I called based on reviews from a review/social site. I called him on Saturday morning and still haven't heard back yet. He'll probably call on Monday. Several of the reviews stated that he called and even did work on real short notice. Besides that I was fully preparing myself to shell out the money for a new one. This one's well over 20 years old after all. A lot of repair people's attitudes towards things this old, machine-wise at least, is replace and not repair.