hot summer day, cheap plastic factory thermostat housing blew in half leaving me stranded for several hours

fixed myself with a two piece metal replacement housing

Got to work one morning and my entire car started smoking from under the hood, and there was white "fog" coming out of the air ducts. Confused because I did not have the air or heat on, but the windows open, I called a reliable friend to come check out my car. Apparently the plastic hose cracked, which was causing the smoke. $67 later and an hour worth of my friend's time, and a new aluminum part, it was fixed.

Got out of my 2006 Aveo one afternoon after a quick grocery store trip to hear something hissing under the hood. Turns out a connector piece in my cooling system at the end of one of the cooling hoses had cracked open. $250 to replace the old plastic piece with an aluminum one that would be more durable.