Bought a reman alternator from ebay ($100) and replaced the old one today. It's a pretty easy job. Definitely a DIYable job and probably easier than many Japanese cars. Took me 3 hours but should take an hour next time. There are only two bolts holding the alternator. All i need is to remove the air box to get enough access to the alternator. The only tough part is the alternator won't come loose from the mount. I had to pry it out.

Next job is probably the fan clutch as the car seems to get hot (between N and red line) in slow traffic.