Nikon AF Nikkor 20-35

It's on its way to KEH repair via USPS Priority.

KEH has this flat rate repair for some time but this is the first time I ever use them.  There is no guarantee that it can be fixed.  If parts need to be replaced and they don't have it then I am just paying for a round trip for nothing.

KEH charges $320 for Zoom repair plus $12 for shipping.  Assuming it can be fixed without additional charges, I would be out of about $350.  At the time of this writing, NJ has a version on craigslist that's $400 and it is like pristine with the hard to find lens shade too.  If it's in NYC, I may have a second thought.  Most of the versions on eBay sell around $500 or so.  When I paid for my version about five or six years ago, it was more than $600.  I bought it so I could take some event pictures for the cycling dinner fundraising.  It wasn't a pay gig.  Do I even have a pay gig?  Back then I didn't have a full frame camera so the lens was like a 30-55, my kit lens 17-80 was somewhat unreliable or I just found some excuse to get the 20-35 f/2.8.  It was a good lens.  The only time it failed me was during a Chinese year shooting the parade.  It was freezing, most likely below 32F.  So all the time it was pretty much stuck at f/2.8.  If I knew back then it was sticky blade, I would have just taken it out and gave the aperture lever a workout or simply shoot wide open f/2.8.  That was the only time the lens kind of failed.  I never had sticky aperture blades before until then.

Then I got a donation from my friend the Nikkor 16-35 f/4.  Its color rendition is different I believe and the f/4 is not a problem given the ISO performance of modern DSLR.  Alas, when shooting indoor the f/2.8 still have the upper hand in both areas: the viewfinder is a tad brighter and you can shoot at slightly higher shutter speed.

I can't stand it being a paper weight.

UPDATE: 1/24/2019
1/22/2019 KEH says it needs the part that is no longer available.  So sending back paperweight.  Oh well.  I tried and people tried.