You are right on Mad Cow. I never ignore problems on my car however the Air Pump is absolutely worthless. You could disconnect it when you drove the car off the dealers lot and put 250,000 miles on your car with no problems whatsoever. The secondary air pump only comes on during the first minute or two of a cold start. All it is does is inject fresh air into the exhaust system to reduce tailpipe emissions until the catalytic converter warms up. If you live in a state with emissions testing you need to fix it because you will fail. If you live in a state that doesn't test I wouldn't spend a penny to fix it. As far as maintenance and car repairs are concerned I consider myself a fanatic. Last weekend I replaced the head gaskets on my rover (10 hour job) not because they were bad but because my truck is at the age and mileage when they commonly fail. I'd rather fix it on my terms than wait until it leaves me stranded somewhere. I change all fluids and filters at least annually. I don't even let my tires get much below 50% before I swap them out. I just want to say that I am the last one that would suggest ignoring a problem but I also know enough to not waste $300 on a part that does nothing but put money in the dealers pocket.