A co-worker of mine was selling me his car, a 1991 Buick Regal 2Dr. So we took it to Midas to have it certified and it was going to cost $2000 to get everything fixed! He told me that it wouldn't need much and I trusted him so I paid to have it done. Was there any other way I could have found out the same thing without losing my money?

you could have taken it to a mechanic before you bought it. . .