My wife asked me to help one of our neighbors, a young mother whose sailor husband was at sea. Her car had to have something called a freeze plug replaced--a job that took two days. Then I discovered the battery was dead and the starter was shot, so I fixed those too.
Days later I proudly handed the woman her keys saying, "Now your car is good for many more miles."
"Thanks," she said. "All I care is it runs long enough to make it to the dealer. I'm trading it in tomorrow."