I grew up on a Ford Escort, myself, and if I hadn’t had a shop teacher and former farm boy for a father, we’d easily have racked up repairs five times higher than the worth of the car by the time we eked out the last of 10 years and 100,000 miles from the vehicle.
One car I managed to ruin with youthful naiveté was a big green Chevy Impala station wagon - the “check oil” light was flickering every so often, and it turned out that a “flicker” is just as serious as a “always on” where a Chevy’s oil light is concerned - it wasn’t long before it threw a rod and trashed the engine.
I had a 1984 Ford Escort.
Replaced the battery for the first time in 1998.
Repairs? What repairs?
—One car I managed to ruin with youthful naiveté was a big green Chevy Impala station wagon - the “check oil” light was flickering every so often, and it turned out that a “flicker” is just as serious as a “always on” where a Chevy’s oil light is concerned - it wasn’t long before it threw a rod and trashed the engine—
Flickering “check oil” idiot light happened to me years ago with a Ford LTD. Figured something was serioulsy wrong when I noticed I was leaving a trail of oil like a stuck pig. Broken oil pressure switch. Got it to a mechanic before I burned the motor out though (only a $40 repair—sure the switch probably cost $1.95)