Yep they market to the stupid...But then i put a new alternater in my my wifes(now my chevy) just under 200 bucks for a rebuilt at NAPPA. But still a 1/2 hour job.
You should have heard the bullcrap lines I got from the salesman at my Toyota dealer when he tried to get me to buy the extended warrenty on the OL's Yaris, He pulled some pretty wild numbers out of his butt.