That's why I don't drive anything newer then a 85 if I don't have to. My mother just gave me her old 92 Tempo, about a week and a half ago. There's a whole bunch of stuff wrong with it but I got lucky. It's all extra stuff that's broke.

I wish you the best of luck, seeing as I know little to nothing about cars. I can't really help at all. Computers in cars just make the world that much more complicated.

I'm so sorry about your ride, r0o. I'm having issues with mine right now, too. Luckily we think we figured it out this time and Mr. Momo is outside putting the new alternator on as we speak. I've got a Cavalier, which is the same as a Cobalt essentially, though I have power nothing.

Things will get better.

R0o i had the exact same problem with my truck so i nosed around under the hood and found out one of my vacuum lines fell off. its a common problem and easy to miss because no one thinks about the tiny rubber hoses that are under there. if you ever check under the hood look for a loose or missing rubber hose. if you find one itll cost you 1.99 for either super glue or duct tape to fix. hope this helps

My sister had the same problem it sounds like. My sister would back out of the driveway and then put it in drive press the gas and it would jerk really badly. Everytime the car needed to shift it would jerk. She took it in and the people said that they would check the transmission for $300. So we did it. Then they said they wanted another $250 to put the transmission back together.
Anyways the problem was she needed a new shifting solenoid. And a allignment.

o.o

i DO need an alignment badly, and my shifter is broken. It broke after the stupid dealership fixed the recall. it was working FINE before then.

gah i just need to find that school and be like " it's broken! fix it! for cheap! "

there's so many what if's and it sounds like. stupid car why cant they all be the same underneath the hood *pouts*

because that would make sense.

I bought a 2006 Chevy Silverado basic work model pickup back in the Summer of '05 for my transportation. Being a basic work model, it was cheap with not too many fixtures, came for about 12,500$ brand new. Apart from some common problems with the model (tail light brackets vibrating into being broken, blower motor conking out, some electrical problems) haven't had too much trouble with it. Probably about 750$ in repairs has been invested into it over the seven years and 88,000 miles that I've owned it.

I don't know whether to say that other people have more issues with more complex machines precisley because they're more complex, or in other words that more could go wrong with them, or because automakers allow for more to go wrong with them since it would be plausible for more to happen and allow for some extra bling bling from repairs.

Well and update. I've attempted to make contact with the local mechanic school, the admin over that department wasnt answering the phone so i left a message.

Additionally, now it's grinding in low gears.

BUT i did figure out that if i let it run for about 5 - 10 mins, before i drive i hardly get kick back, so if warmed up then it doesnt seem to have as many issues. I have no idea what to do b/c i don't know any honest mechanics, that aren't out to just make $$. I need to win the lotto!

Maybe friends and family can offer recommendations on an honest mechanic. That is the only way I've been able to have my car worked on. Luckily I've got all of the tools here, so the mechanics that have worked on it have come to my house.