car foo

[danaeris]

So Unseelie and I went to look at a car today in Sunnyvale.

It was a 1988 Toyota Corolla FX Hatchback for $500.
The right light was broken. The grill was out but in fine condition. The tires were functional but needed to be replaced. And there were two small dents in it.

It ran very well, possibly better than Unseelie's car. Looking under the hood, Unseelie couldn't find anything wrong with it. No A/C though.

I was too depressed to make the decision on it, and Unseelie was unwilling to make the decision for me, so we walked away.

Did we make the wrong decision? There was someone else looking at it at 5, but if that person didn't buy it, maybe I could make arrangements for someone to pick it up for me... Any opinions?

Comments

[auros]

I think whenever buying a used car from a random individual, it'd be good to either get it looked at by an expert first, or get in writing that if you discover some grievous problem in the first week or so after buying it, you can return it.

That aside, Corollas do tend to last a very long time, so it's entirely possible that the car is fine. I'm not sure what year my friend larksdream's Corolla is -- I think possibly even older than 1988 -- but it putts along valiantly.