How do I know I only got an older car and not a lemon??

[B3_Ex-i]

I've owned my car since February of this year. Since then, I've had the electrical testing done and was told my starter was bad, but I haven't had the money to get it fixed. My car died on me Tuesday this week and I haven't been able to figure out what would be wrong. I thought the starter finally gave out. Just to give it a shot, a friend from work tried to jump the car last night and my car started right up. He told me that he thought I might have a bad battery or a bad alternator but said my starter sounded fine. Today while my kids and I were out and about, we went to a store, came back out and the car wouldn't turn over what so ever. Luckily, we were close to 2 auto shops. I was told that I just had a very old battery and that my starter was fine and the alternator was good. But now, I have another problem (if it's not one thing it's another)....before the coolant was topped off today, white smoke was coming out of the exhaust. I'm not leaking anything under the car and the guys who helped me with the battery told me that I could have a leak somewhere and it was coming out through the exhaust. They also told me that there was rust inside the radiator and my fuel injectors are bad (which I do have more I'm just not sure how to clean them before putting them in). So...in anyone's opinion...did I get a lemon or is it worth trying to save it??

[smufguy]

Rust: The stock radiators are prone to go bad in a way they rust. So its better that you get a new one from autozone or something i paid about $110 last year or so for a new rad. When you get it and before you put it on, make sure u flush the system like always and DO NOT ADD any anti-rust pellets or anything to the radiator. The only thing i would say is add Redline waterwetter. It works and i have used it for more than two years now and it also helps prevent rust.

Battery: as long as you get like a Duralast gold or something good with enough CCA (a min of atleast 800 or 830) you should be good for winter. I have the Duralast Gold, keep my terminals on check, no corossion and nothing, car fires every single time i crank it.

Main Relay: Follow the how-to remove the main relay (its deep under the driver side of the Dash) and then take it apart and resolder every single solder. The main relay is prone to give us problems, but resoldering it fixes everything, so before you loose time on it, get it done.

NOTE: when the coolant system is flushed, remove all the temperature reading sensors/switches on the thermostat and clean them out. There should be about 4 on the thermostat for an efi and 1 on the bottom of the radiator. The reason i ask you to do this cause the rust collects on top of these sensor tips and prevents accurate readings. Dont use a sand paper tho, just a clearner like simple green or CLR (calcium Lime Rust) cleaner and wipe it with a cloth or a shop towel and put it back together.

IMPORTANT: you did not buy a lemon, its just the car is old and needs maintanence parts.

[leia]

Just a thought, not too helpful:
The fact that the car is that old and still on the streets would make me believe its not a lemon.
Just think about how long cars are typically built to last, and all of the moving and load bearing components. Each can only withstand a certain amount of wear, eventually they need to be replaced. It does seem like they all start to go at the same time though.

If it were a lemon, it prolly would have hit a junkyard at least 10 years ago.
But yeah, cars this old sometimes seem like they have endless problems, but for a car that is still concidered a daily driver, they're pretty fricken old.

[nhgu1dry05]

about the rad i just replaced mine and got it dirt cheap $82 (thats w/ s&h) it a was a CSF...here is the number (615)244-2200. i got it n like 2-3 days.