Window button at 70,000. Stupid thing cost $95. I never replaced it.
CV Joints 80,000 miles.
Alternator at 105,000 miles - Design makes it hard to replace and therefore expensive in labor charges.
Most of exhaust except catalytic converter completely rusted out at 110,000 miles. The catalytic converter is hanging on barely. Unbelievably expensive components, e.g. each piece of pipe is $100+
Has been leaking oil since about 100,000 miles. The oil builds up on the engine and on hot days you'd think it was going to catch on fire it smokes so bad.
Overall, the car is good dependable transportation. It gets good mileage, about 40 mpg on the highway and 25 around town.
The cost of parts is outrageous, I mean come on, $95 for a power window switch!
The check engine light has been on for over 30,000 miles. It is an intermittent oxygen sensor. I could replace it for a couple of hundred $'s, but it runs fine as is.
I would suggest replacing that oxygen sensor. That is an important one. If you do not change it, your car will never go into "closed loop mode," where the computer interfaces with the oxygen sensor, to fine tune the air/fuel mixture for optimum performance and economy. Your car is therefore always running rich, in the mode it would-be/is during a cold start.
Another possibility that might arise out of not fixing this, depending upon the severity of the situation, is that you could damage your catalytic converter, a very expensive fix. If you are experiencing a rotten egg smell, it is too late.
On a '95 front wheel drive 4 cylinder, the oxygen sensor should be a very easy fix, which you can do yourself. It should be right on the exhaust manifold. You will have to buy a special oxygen sensor socket/wrench to get it out.
Disconnect the negative battery cable before you proceed. Take your time and study the connector for the oxygen sensor to see how its locking/clipping mechanism works. DO NOT FORCE THE CONNECTOR APART. Once you figure out how to disengage the clip mechanism, the connector should come apart with just the force necessary to separate the connector ends from their weather packing/seals.
Then, just unscrew the old oxygen sensor, and replace it with the new one using the reverse procedure from above. Be sure to leave the negative battery cable disconnected for 10 minutes, to assure that all existing trouble codes (hopefully only the oxygen sensor) are erased.
One additional piece of advice, is that in this case, although it costs more, get the new oxygen sensor from the dealer. After market oxygen sensors are complete crap compared to original equipment. Replacing it should be no more difficult than replacing a spark plug. It is ridiculous how much people want to charge for doing something so simple. I would consider giving it a try yourself.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site