The last lady I dated spent over $800 on a car that ran fine, because the CEL was on and it would not pass inspection in Georgia with the light on. You are not alone, she drove a Nissan and it did the same thing to her.

But it's not always expensive, my CEL came on last fall --- I found it, I'd let water trickle down on the gas tank connector during top-down washes. The ground wire on the pressure sensor got corroded, causing a false high pressure indication. Some rubbing alcohol and q-tips fixed it, took about an hour.