this has been my experience as well. owned by cheapskates, or hand-me-downs to college kids, they're all abused and beat up, neglected for years, with many broken and missing parts.

every few months a rare clean low mileage one will pop up, but it's never by a private seller, it's always a dealer, and they're asking $17k for it.

i gave up trying to find a decent one at a fair price.