OK, now that you're a seasoned veteran, you can advance to more technical tasks, like looking under the hood and under the vehicle for potential problems. Good idea to take a peek under the hood and take a look under the car periodically. See if you see any oil or water leaks. Check for anything that looks like it might need attention, loose items, leaks, worn belts, hoses etc. Feel the water hoses, if they feel soft or weak, it's time to have them replaced. Good hoses feel firm, hard to squeeze together by hand. Check all water hoses when the engine is cold.
Good News!
During my tenure as a mechanic I was approached many times by customers who thought they had serious problems with their vehicles, but... didn't. See if you can relate to any of these scenarios. Maybe your problem can be resolved in a similar fashion.
Lady told me her air conditioning hadn't worked in quite a while, she couldn't afford to have it fixed. I happened to notice a vacuum hose was disconnected during some unrelated repair. I hooked up the hose and the A/C began working fine. Had the lady just looked under the hood, she would have seen the disconnected hose and could have connected it herself. These are the kinds of things crooks prey on.
Friend of mine said his car needed some repairs, wouldn't start. Car sat for several weeks. My friend thought the thing needed a fuel pump. Actual problem... out of gas!
Lady told me she needed her transmission rebuilt because it wouldn't shift into high gear. Cause....... vacuum hose disconnected to the shift modulator! Your transmission could be vacuum modulated too. See if you see a small round barrel like thing sticking out from side or rear of your transmission. There will be a small rubber vacuum hose connected to it. Trace that hose up to the top of the engine, make sure it is connected at both ends.
Lady had her car towed in, wouldn't start. I told her it would probably be $800-$1000 dollars to fix it. Would you believe she authorized the repair! Problem... distriutor rotor. Took all of five minutes to install and cost less than five dollars! When I told the lady her bill was less than ten dollars she was ecstatic! Look on top of your engine, see if you see a round plastic thing with four, six or eight wires sticking in it. The wires are about 1/4" thick. This is your distriutor cap. There will be a wire leading to each spark plug. Some newer cars use "distributorless" ignition systems and therefore, don't have distributors.
Lady came in with her car poping and backfiring. Problem..... defective sparkplug wire. cost to fix....? No charge. Note: A sparkplug wire connected to the wrong sparkplug will cause a similar symtom.
More to Come...