After writing my blog last night, I rethought my car situation. I did some research and it seems like (although I could be wrong) the problems with my car COULD all be fixed for less than $1000. Now, I do have the problem of figuring out precisely what is wrong (which can cost thousands more). BUT, the next thing I should fix would be the valve gasket cover. Depending on how much a shop would do it for, I might have it done professionally (but probably not). Because it's not really a problem, it just makes the cab smell like oil, otherwise it doesn't effect the car's reliability.

So I think I'll hold out on getting a new car until something happens. Something happening would either be me saving a decent amount more money or my car having a new symptom. Something I haven't really mentioned to anyone is that the car did actually have this symptom occasionally when I first got it. So if I'm lucky, something is wet (I read about a DME getting wet causing the problem) and when the spring rolls around, it will dry up and my car will go back to being normal. I don't expect this, but it's a nice thought.