Multiple issues

It is time to look for the least expensive option. That is to take half of what the repairs would cost and use that money to buy a good used car. The white smoke is the most serious issue. That is a sign of burning coolant, and that is caused by a leaking cylinder head gasket. That is a major repair. Once completed, you will still have all the other problems. New tires have doubled in price in recent years. You might find a good used set at a salvage yard, but they will not have any warranty. The heater concern is likely related to the loss of coolant from the head gasket.

If you added five quarts of oil you overlooked something important. Most small engines only hold four or four and a half quarts, so the engine was either totally empty, or you checked the level with the engine running. If you checked and added with the engine running, you have way too much in there now. If it was empty, that will cause major engine damage within a few seconds. You would not want to waste your money on a head gasket job then have a damaged engine underneath it.

We do not get involved with costs here because there are too many variables, but in this case, I suspect it could take over $3,000.00 to make the car dependable. That money would be better spent on a different car with a short warranty, typically a 50/50 thirty day warranty from a reputable used-car dealer.

The new-car dealer I used to work for always had a small selection of older used car trade-ins that were still pretty reliable even though they did not look new. I would stay away from the little used-car lots. Rather than making a little profit on each of a lot of cars, they need to make a big profit on the few cars they sell. That means cutting corners on repairs and maintenance. New-car dealers with a used car department are much more worried about their reputation, so they are going to do more to keep you happy.

For another alternative, if you have more time than money, consider looking for a nearby community college with an Automotive program. Often the instructors are looking for live work to give their kids real-world experience. We used to charge ten dollars per hour for what the job was supposed to take, and we got parts at real good discounts, then marked them up ten percent to form a "breakage" fund in case we damaged something. The students are real well-supervised and respectful of customer's property. The trade-off for the low cost is it can take weeks to have the work completed. My students were only in the shop four hours per day, and some of that time was spent in the classroom. The other drawback is they will only accept your car for engine work when they are teaching engine repair, and that might be only once or twice per year. My class was only eight weeks long. To do work unrelated to the class takes work away from the shops that may hire the graduates.

You can find some good deals on Craigslist too, but let me share a word of warning. When the ad says "all this car needs is, . . . ", you can be sure it does not. If all it needs is a sensor, for example, they would have replaced it already so they could get more for the car. Or it means they tried everything they can think of but could not solve the problem, so they're selling the problem to you. The seller should be willing to let you take the car for an afternoon to get it inspected at a shop of your choice, not where the seller wants it taken. Inspections cannot catch everything, especially intermittent electrical problems, and you are not paying to have anything repaired. Most shops have a set list of things they check that should include the brake system, steering and suspension systems, and proper functioning of outside lights. All of the computers should be checked for diagnostic fault codes which indicate that computer detected a problem. Some of those are real easy to solve. Some can be a major headache. Tire and alignment shops commonly do these inspections, and the people there are very good at "reading" the tire wear patterns. Those can provide clues to needed repairs, except for Ford front-wheel-drive cars. Those have all kinds of design problems and bad tire wear is standard. The people at the shop will share their findings and they will usually give you a rough estimate on what it could cost to solve the problems.

Another good place to look is the new-car dealers' used late-model trade-ins. Car rental agencies at large airports buy fleets of cars at real steep discounts because the manufacturers consider that advertising. Those cars are auctioned off, mostly to car dealers, when they reach just 15,000 to 20,000 miles. Those were real well-maintained. I worked for a real nice family-owned Chrysler dealership. They bought around fifteen of those cars every few weeks. When my work load slowed down, part of my job included performing the oil changes and safety inspections on those cars. We rarely found a serious problem.

If you go looking at various dealerships, talk with a lot of people first to get an idea of which ones are reputable. In my city, we have the Chrysler dealer, the GMC dealer down the road, and the Cadillac dealer across town that are very trustworthy. They live on repeat business from happy customers. The Chevrolet dealer is the notable crook in our county. People will drive up to thirty miles to go to a different city if they really have to have a Chevrolet. We used to also have a very reputable Ford dealer and a dandy import dealer, but the owner of the Chevrolet dealership bought them all up. Some of my friends, and some former students, lost their jobs at those shops because sales and service work have dropped so much. You want to know which dealers and shops to avoid. Every business will have a few people who speak negatively about them, but when it is just a few of those comments, it usually had to do with unreasonable expectations. If nine out of ten people talk negatively about a business, that is one to avoid.

We also used to have one real bad independent repair shop, but he got driven out of business from terrible word-of-mouth advertising. We also still have one low-quality used-car dealer, but he does not try to hide anything. The owner never got any formal training. He just pieces clunkers together. He will share what is wrong with each car that he cannot figure out, then it is up to you to decide if owning it is better than walking.

If you see an independent shop with empty bays, and employees milling around outside, go somewhere else. There is a reason they are not busy. Reputable shops have to turn people away because they cannot handle the high volume of requests.