Three very important things to check for on this car:

Make sure the engine is COLD when you start it. The warm-up valves on these are VERY pricy and tend to go out after about ten years. If the car starts and idles fine when the engine is cold the warm-up valve is OK.

If the seller says he just had to drive the car for a moment then come back when the engine is cold. If you don't you will wish you had.

The valves on these engines are manually adjusted. If you hear a ticking noise coming from the camshaft area it is not a sticking lifter, it is a flat or dished out camshaft. There are two cams on this engine and both are a little over $600 each. You also have to pull the head to replace them.

Not only do the cams go flat, but the cam followers get dished out. These are not cheap either.

Adjusting the valves is easy but you need a special tool to do it quickily. You can do it with a 17mm crowfoot but Hazet makes the special tool and it is about $70. These do show up on Ebay from time to time.

Also check under the car and see if the cat converter is OK. These are pricy as well and tend to go bad about every 200,000 miles.

If you do buy it you can plan on getting about 17 mpg.

On the plus side these are very nice autos to drive around in. Trips of 600 miles a day are not hard to do.

Good Luck!

Pooka