How to affordably replace mainboard on aluminium iMac

Hi everyone,
My iMac's mainboard went 2 months after the expiry of the 1 year warranty. The cost of replacement is equivalent to buying a new iMac, which in my IMHO will keep many people from buying it in the first place if they knew it.
Apple do NOT sell extended warranties in my country.
What can one do to fix this problem without being ripped off?

Alwyn, from an earlier message shown in your profile, I see you are in the Philippines where indeed, Apple do sell the Applecare (extended warranty), so you may have been misled. That is probably too late for you now, of course, but as Dave Sawyer suggests, like here, there are likely to be shops that are able to repair (rather than replace) the broken parts of the motherboard and get you up and running again at a reasonable price. While the official agent who carries out warranty work may replace larger parts (such as the motherboard) I have seen a number of Macs resurrected in only a few hours.

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