How hard is it to change the brakes?

[hondajt]

My wifes 2009 Yaris 5Dr L/LE with disc front's and drums rears are in need of brakes. She also needs tires. I normally prefer to do my own maintenance, but I hate having to bleed and pump and in general just work on brakes. So I'm going to have someone else do it. I've been doing some research and it seems most major automotive places that specialize in brakes, all suck. I'm referring to Midas and Jiffy Lube and places similar.

I live in ohio, which is HOME to the lazy mechanic. We have more auto repair shops than any other state (made that up but it sounds right, lol). So trying to find a decent mechanic is like a needle in a haystack.

Any advice? We don't need anything fancy, she drives it gently and we are pretty darn poor, so cost is a major factor.

Should I buy the parts from amazon and take them to a local mechanic that gets good reviews, thus saving me money on parts but not getting a warranty/guarantee because they were my parts; or just heading to a local mechanic and trust in his ability to do a good job and install the correct parts? I can't afford to take the car to the Dealer, so finding a local mechanic that gets good reviews seems to be my best choice, but I'm unsure.

Thoughts?

Sorry to ramble, it's my defense mechanism when I'm not confident about something, lol.