You should be okay, I drove my 97 for like a year and a half with a similar problem, just as long as you don't get on it too hard I really only "raced" once in it and made about 3 trips up to the mountains to ski. Just make sure to change your oil regularly. And when it gets really bad, the knocking is soooooooooooo bad, you may want to record it, just for us that haven't heard it.
