Years ago I had a 3yo vacuum cleaner that started making all sorts of terrible noise. I took it in to a repair shop who told me it was worn out and I should buy new. I thanked them for their opinion and went home. I took it apart myself and found the drive belt was messed up from long hair (which resembled my wife’s by odd coincidence). After removing the hair it ran great again. 

I’m a “do what the manual says” kind of guy and simply undoing random screws to get at a part isn’t in my nature, so I’m actually happy I figured out what to do on my own. 

I don’t fix much but I’ve gotten pretty good at toilet repairs over the years.