In May of 2001, my husband's grandmother gave us her car after she bought a new one. We were thinking "sweet deal" since she was giving it to us for free. Good thing, too, because if we'd paid for it, it would be completely smashed by now. In the Spring of the very next year, it started acting up. Starting up hard and all. On the coldest night of the year, my husband left for work... thankfully, he didn't get far because the engine totally blew. He said there was a loud, scratchy, whining noise and the car just went dead. After managing to haul it home, it just sat in the parking lot of our apartment complex for a couple of months until my in-laws agreed to help us get it fixed. The shop told us that engine had spun a bearing and consequently, the engine seized. They had to replace the whole thing. Between labor and parts, it was a pretty heft bill. And a MAJOR pain in the butt! They said it was because the car hadn't been driven enough. Which makes sense. My grandmother-in-law had purchased the car brand new in '92 and it only had 35000 miles on it.