Toyota Repair: toyota corolla 2000 check engine, toyota corolla 2000, toyota corolla

Question
Hi, we bought a standard 2000 corolla about three weeks ago from a used car dealership.  A few days later the check engine light came on.  There is a slight sound of rattling whenever we first start up the car and when we accelerate.  The sound seems to go away after we get to 3rd or 4th gear.  Today I noticed some more than normal white smoke coming from the exhaust.  The car was bought with about 177,000 miles on it and the car facts say there was never any accident.  The owners seemed to have really taken care of it, for being a 12 year old car the inside and out are nice and clean.  We have had the oil changed, bougtht a new air filter and had the fluids topped off.  Please advise.  Thanks!!!

Answer
Hello, the first thing I would like to ask you is to have the computer scanned at one of the autoparts stores like autozone, they usually do this at no charge, get the trouble code numbers from them and write them down, then let me know what they are so I have some direction to go with this.