We did this and with the amount of times we had to get it towed for repairs as well as job risk due to it breaking down was not feasible for us. We finally were approved for a loan and purchased a reliable new car

How is this a “shakedown”?

What kind of things are you into?

I’m hoping to build a dedicated desktop to avoid the hassle of switchable graphics on a laptop.

Agreed completely. After a fresh Windows 10 installation, and installing most recent drivers, I was able to download and play my Itch.io games after about an hour, hour and a half maybe. In Linux I have to make sure I get a properly performing or game optimized version of Arch, install Nvidia drivers, hope Optimus or whatever the internal/dedicated video card switcher is called now, install Lutris, hope the Lutris install script functions, install Steam, install Proton Glorious Eggroll version, enable Linux Proton beta and move GE to it, install Borderlands 2 and research why I’m getting 13-15 frames per second, do that for about a week, and then reinstall Windows. The above also is true for getting Pipewire and Wayland working for sound with my audio input device and lament that I didn’t get hardware that was tested beforehand to work with in-kernel drivers. Then find someone’s Github to install an interface because Pipewire broke itself or isn’t picking up my mic or broke itself with Discord.