Sorry that happened to your car and you. Unfortunately way more bad sloppy techs out there than good ones.

In terms of towing insurance we get it directly from our auto insurance. It is much less expensive that way than through AAA. I have never had to use a tow truck in 48 years of driving.

 

Until you need it - just like insurance.

 

sucks to hear about the issues. I do a lot of my own work and this is precisely why. For most things I know I can do them given enough time and if I mess something up at least I didn't pay someone to do it for me! I will attest to the fact that the connectors under the hood are super brittle. I had a few break on me when doing the valve cover gaskets and spark plugs. I had to order a few new connectors and re-pin them. Luckily I was able to do that fairly easily but yeah all those plastic connectors just love to disintegrate when you touch them

 

OP, sorry to hear your horror story. It kinda motivated me to tackle this on my own. My starter has been making bad squealing noises and I swore I saw some smoke filter pass the hood after start up. I'd assume the screeching noise was coming from the serp belt.

I mean the removal process isn't that bad. The injector connectors were relatively easy to remove except I broke two tabs. I spent a back braking hour trying to remove the manifold body to expose the starter. I dread installing it back...

Right now, everything is exposed while I wait on these parts to arrive. Does anyone know how to remove the last injector by the wall that sit under the fuel damper. I guess I have to remove the dampers and replace them anyhow. The seals for my bank 1 injector seem okay except for the midsize one that is harder than hard. Here's a helpful vid that was useful for me.