Too much crap on latemodel vehicles

The beater truck never ran what I would call right since buying it as it was acting like it had a miss which I thought was a bad plug or wire and came close to buying a set of plugs and wires,changed the oil last night and decided to plug the hose to the EGR and it runs better then it ever has but now has the check engine light coming on which I can deal with more then it running bad. If it will not ping with the EGR disconnected I am going to make a plate to block it off and then hook the hose back up so the computer will see the valve working and no more light,I will have to remove the plenum on the bronco to replace the pass side valve cover gasket and it will definately get a plate since the PO removed the coolant lines coming from the throttle body which I was told it cools it since the EGR is hooked to the TB. I think its time to live in a warmer climate so I can drive a old simple car during the winter and not have to worry about the salt eating it up,if I were to replace the EGR,solenoid and position sensor it would be about 140 dollars at the cheap parts stores and would hate to see how much from a dealer.