You know I get the feeling that your friend may be looking primarily for an easy way out.
My two cents are to tell him in no uncertain terms - like this:
CAR
1. You better baby your car for another year and a few months. Be ready to start looking for a car in about Jan-Feb 2021. They are not going to stop making new cars and by then your finances will be solid.
That is living like a grown-up - not to mention your credit rating will be good enough by then to get a decent interest rate on the car loan.
CREDIT CARDS & CAR LOAN
2. Concentrate on credit card #2 first. That 25% interest gives me hives - it needs to leave the premises and you will never allow yourself to be robbed of your hard-earned income like this again, ever!
This is entirely within your power and a really easy fix once you commit yourself to a plan for payback that is doable for you.
Take back control over your finances - it's not that bad, you can do this, but the payback pain will be a reminder that this is something that you could have avoided. So no consolidation - easy way out. All that will do is have you right back where you are now in another year with still no hope of ever financing a car.
CC #2 - approx. $2100 is not that much - find a way to bring in extra money - challenge yourself to have it paid off in four months while making min pmts on everything else.
3. CC #1 is next - $900 bucks, surely you can come up with something to make this go away pronto.
4. OK then, now that $3K is gone - - you will challenge yourself to not add any other debt to your two existing cards - use them if you need/want to, but the deal is you will pay it off in full when the bill comes. NO EXCEPTIONS!
5. You are turning over a new leaf - you have a budget and you know where your money is going. Then you set up an emergency fund of approx three months worth of salary - $100-$300 ea month until you've reached your goal.
That will go a long way toward keeping you financially stable and out of trouble. Cheers:).
6. The car loan $5500 approx - no extra payments on this puppy until you have an EF of at least one month worth of income, then you make payments on both until you have filled up your 3 mo EF bucket.
7. YOU NEED A PLAN!
You didn't get there overnight so it stands to reason you need to review every little thing about your expenses, do you have options to reduce your spending - think out of the box, be open to change your grocery shopping or at the very least your going out to eat habits, when was the last time you got comparison quotes on every one of your insurance policies? We literally just saved $900 on our homeowner's insurance - that is insane! Well, it's Florida and the market changes constantly.
Have you done the easy stuff - stopped subscriptions, cut cable, committed to not going out more than twice a month - or not at all for a while, - whatever it takes should be your answer - which will jet propel you forward into the land of the debt-free!
You've got this - it just seems overwhelming and stressful because you are focused on replacing your car and think that a good credit rating is everything. Be kind to your self and smart about your money instead.
Make a plan for pay off - set a timeline - establish an EF - and everything will fall into place all by itself.
Surely you can allow yourself 12 months of financial recovery:), grit your teeth and baby your car and who knows you might be tempted to add another six months of driving it just to enjoy not having a car payment for six months - you deserve it after you worked on your plan for over a year:).
I can think of a whole lot of better things to do with my money than having a murderous, usurious car payment - can't you?
Shift your perspective - there is no law that says one has to have a car payment, it is a depreciating asset as you have become painfully aware.
You'll be all sorted by Dec 2020 with an EF in place - ready to cruise for a good car deal in Jan/Feb or just drive the old beater for another six months enjoying the freedom from car payments.
You'll be fine.
To the OP - I'm not sure about adding him onto your credit card right now, I'd do it like say in 12 months from now, in Sep, when most of this is already resolved and you can see your friend has indeed done all he could to take back control of his finances.
It would give him a nice push in time for a new/used car purchase.
... and yes, Dave Ramsey podcast - just so he knows he is not alone and that there are plenty of people out there who are way way worse off.
Ramsey advocates cutting up your credit cards, but imho it is enough to not add or add very little when you are in dire straits.
Most of all he needs a good plan and regain the confidence that he can do this on his own - one step at a time.
From what I can tell, he is simply floundering and looking for a quick fix instead of addressing the real problem - he needs to get back in control of his finances, his life and his future plans, that means a real budget, a plan and a real commitment from him to fix his financial life one step at a time.
One year in a lifetime is nothing - he needs a change in perspective, just sayin'.
Maybe help him find a cc that he can transfer his 2100 balance or at the very least the $900 balance - at zero percent interest. It will make his life and payoff plan easier and save him some money along the way. See doctorofcredit.com blog - search for zero percent interest credit cards (some include zero percent for new purchases as well) which would be helpful if something important is coming up that he has no funds to deal with - say the AC or new car tires or whatever.