A technician pulls into the driveway for a call that sounds simple: "opener's acting up." Half the time it's a $40 part. The other half, the homeowner is looking at a motor from the Clinton administration, grinding on its last gear, with a circuit board that's taken ten summers of heat in an attached garage. The question is always the same: patch it again, or replace it now? The honest answer depends on the age of the unit, what's actually failing, and how much you plan to keep tolerating the noise.