LKQonline.com has the complete rear-end assembly with 78,000 miles for $1,400. Swap it out, and then sell it. Sell it as-is to your repair shop buddies and let them fix it and sell it for a profit. If I was a little closer I would buy it right now as is, so there might be someone out there that is the market for a fixer upper that isn't as far away!
You have to look at car ownership as a kind of rental agreement anyway, they are a depreciating asset. You buy it, you maintain, buy gas oil tires batteries, and then you sell it for less. Unless you own a classic you will never get more out of it than you put in it.