I guess my 1992 Saturn SL is worth at least $1000 dollars now. The clutch was failing on it, and we seriously debated whether or not to fix it. The dealer quoted $1600 to fix the clutch, and that was just too much to spend on the aging car. But most other options to replace the car were much more expensive.
So we decided to drop it off at a local mechanic, whose wife works at the school my wife used to work at, and his shop fixed it for $999.44. It can now take me back and forth to the bus stop, as well as the occasional trip all the way into work. But since it does not have any air conditioning, that is something I don't like to do between May and October here in Houston.
It does shift nicely now. It was almost comic how I had to shift it before, since I often had to use a great deal of force to get it into any gear. Once when Donna drove it, it actually got stuck in second gear, so she drove it in second home from the store.