My alternator is dying a slow death and given the fact that I'm running with almost 120K I can't complain. I checked a lot of forums and went to the links suggested by other members, however, they all seem to be out of stock. The cheapest I know of is Novastar, which offers a $160 unit before core charge. The most expensive is the stealer at almost $800 before tax.

Novastar informed me that the cores are incredibly hard to get a hold of and that it would be a long while before he gets another one.

There are a lot of "aftermarket" units running around online at around $300, but they are also not stocked.

I finally decided to find a Bosch remanufactured unit. I got prices ranging from 650-750 and was about to surrender to the stealer when I came across a Bosch unit on drivewire.com for $500. I called and confirmed that it is a Bosch reman and that they had it in stock. It seemed like the most realistic and fair deal so I picked it up and am very satisfied.

This may change, but as of now I'd expect to lay out around $5-600 for a quality alternator that's actually in stock and ready to be at your door. It isn't cheap but it still beats stealer prices.