At a 166k mine is pretty darn good, only a couple of mm to each side and no adjustment either.

The search
 

Being from New England, I agree 100% with the rust. I spend 6 months looking for a suitable canidate. I found mine was from central TX. Sure there is the other issues like a/c, cruise and the locks that I have to deal with but, I can always justify working on a solid shell. I gotta say that I was lucky as I only spend $1900 and I'm sure that I'll spend at least 3k getting things the way they ought to be. But she drives smooth and solid. It helps if you can find a good parts car if you can swing the storage.:)

Thats the way to do it, its worth fixing up a solid car because when your done you will have something. But a rust bucket will always be a rust bucket.

I am no expert (and maybe I am just defending my rust bucket a little bit), but vanity issues aside, if a body has a little rust on it and the buyer realizes that and doesn't have a problem with it, what's the big deal? I am not talking about structural issues, I am just talking about body rust.

Rust is one of the few issues a newbie car buyer can actually identify (if they know where to look) and make a judgement on, vs. other internal problems which may not be as apparent (ie: what is the reason this car shifts weird).

Personally, I'd take a rusty/ugly car with everything else in good shape (solid drive, everything in order under the hood) versus the opposite. A rusty body isn't going to leave you stranded on the side of the road or unable to get to work.