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Why I stopped ignoring my car's check engine light after 6 months
I was driving home from work in Austin last Tuesday and my car started shaking real bad on I-35. That check engine light had been on since January and I just figured it was no big deal. I pulled over at a gas station and the engine was making this loud clicking noise. Turned out I needed a new oxygen sensor and catalytic converter, cost me $1,200 total. Has anyone else ignored a warning light and regretted it later?
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phoenix24610d ago
Oh wow, I gotta say I actually side with Paige on this one. People act like that little orange light is the end of the world but half the time it's just a finicky sensor or something stupid like your gas cap. I've had my check engine light come on twice in my old Honda and both times it was literally nothing, just needed a reset at AutoZone for free. Not everyone has twelve hundred bucks to throw at a mechanic every time their car blinks at them, sometimes you gotta take that gamble and it pays off. Your story is the worst case scenario but for every story like yours there's like ten people who ignored it and were totally fine.
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betty_wells10d ago
Your car started shaking real bad on I-35" - that's the part that gets me. People don't realize the check engine light is like your car whispering at first, then screaming later. I ignored mine for 3 months once and ended up with a $200 repair turning into a $900 one because I let the problem get worse. The real kicker is some check engine lights just need a loose gas cap tightened, but that's the exception not the rule. You gotta treat that light like your phone's low battery warning - sure you can ignore it for a bit but eventually you're gonna be stuck somewhere.
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Oh come on, is it really that dramatic? I've had my check engine light come on like three times over the years and two of those times it was literally nothing. One was a sensor that went haywire after I hit a pothole and it just needed a reset. The other time it was the gas cap thing everyone talks about. I get that sometimes it's a real problem, but people act like the car's gonna explode if you drive another mile. And let's be real, not everyone has hundreds of dollars sitting around to drop on a mechanic visit every time a little orange light pops up. Sometimes you just gotta gamble a bit and see if it goes away.
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