Alright, I have a repair manual for the car so I can check which sensors it has. My dad suspects the throttle body may be the kulprit.
I have the following reasons for not junking it: 1.) I have little money, it's a pain in the ass trying to find a job for some reason. Even McDonald's isn't hiring atm. Until I get a job I have little choice but to drive it (or the Prizm). 2.) Lawrence has the highest insurance rates in the entire state, it costs enough just to insure this...amagine the cost of a newer car. 3.) Why? So the throttle body may need work. It still drives fine and runs fine most of the time. Every older car is gonna need work at some point. Even newer ones do (like say that Prizm). 4.) It's been a very good car for my family and me. It's never left me stranded anywhere (can't say the same for the Prizm), and it's been pretty reliable, it's proven durable (no repairs needed after it was hit).
Yeah sure, I wanna save up for a new car, maybe a first-gen Stratus (or ideally, a Charger, Magnum, Challenger, or Avenger), but for now I'm content with it. And plus, after all it's 17 years and 209k miles of faithful service/abuse...it deserves a little TLC.