Here is a quick run down of recent shit that has gone wrong with my car, a used 1999 Ford Escort, which I bought in August of 2002. I'm keeping a running total of how much I spend on maintaining it, minus very small things like oil changes.
Okay, this one isn't Ford's fault but it set me back $200. I busted a flat on the way home and had to replace two of the tires. This is the first major maintenance I had to make.
Current total: $200
On the way back from New Orleans, not too long ago, my car sprung a leak in the EVAP system of the air conditioning—not a horrible problem but it caused the engine light to come on. Set me back over $150 to fix it. This is supposed to be common on Escorts according to the Goodyear mechanic I took it to.
Current total: $350
Shortly after that the engine light comes on to annoy me again. This time it is the idle air control valve that determines the amount of air your car consumes when sitting idle. It stuck, but thankfully not at 0%, which would have caused my car to die every time it idled (think being suffocated under a pillow). The same Goodyear mechanic didn't see much wrong with the solenoid so he cleaned it and reset the computer. That cost me about $100. Then I went ahead and installed two new tires to have 4 new, which cost me another $200.
The fucked up thing is, the idle solenoid problem didn't go away. The engine light came back on not too much later.
Current total: $650
This time, rather than going to the previous mechanic, I went to an official Ford mechanic. Since I bought my car at approximately 40K miles and I was at 63K, I figured it was a good time to get the scheduled 60K mile maintenance. (Very expensive.) I also needed break work, as I was hearing a high-pitched squealing while driving (but not breaking, strangely enough). They looked at the idle solenoid but didn't have one on hand to replace it. All-in-all it cost me right about $500. It did fix the squealing, however.
The only upside of the Ford place is they were open on Saturday. But after going there, my car is now having problems starting! The fun never fucking stops.
Current total: $1150
I called the Ford place in the city where my girlfriend lives and had them order an idle solenoid for about $70. This Saturday I'm going up there to have it installed and have them address the starting problems.
Current total: $1220