Update! I just got back from looking at the car. It seemed very nice for the price. Im not picking it apart, because it pretty much looked like the pics, but here are the negatives.
It has a small amout of bubbling by the windshield and rear window trim. Very small bubbling, smaller than a pencil, but its the preview of whats to come. The door and quarter windows need new seals bad, and the drivers door window is WAY out of alignment. The paint looks great, even from 2 feet, but you can see overspray on things you should not see like window seals, door jam dome light switchs, etc. Just something I think should have been neater. But then again, this is a 8500 car, not a 18500 car.
The underside seemed very solid. Great floors, great frame rails, the torque boxes had the slight bit of swelling at the rear seam - not bad at all tho. It was not super clean underneath, but not bad at all. Minimal issues. I did wipe a good amount of rust chunks off the torque boxes at the rear shelf. Undercoated tho so it may be hiding a little more than meets the eye. Ran my finders around the wheel lips and didnt feel buildup of bondo or anything.
Needs a little interior work, rear seat lower had 1 split, and buckets, and door arm rests. Headliner was fine.
Car ran great - had a hard time starting cold but it was a fuel issue, once started, ran great. I drove it 10 miles or so. Ran perfect! NO, its not 375hp...lol. Felt more like 225hp to me! Shifted great, ran great, everything was great except very loose steering.
Thats about it - there is the review!! I didnt jump - maybe Im crazy. Hes pretty firm, will lower a tad, but nothing less than 8k. I probably should have jumped. The small bubbles in the paint bothered me. I just dont want rust holes to deal with in a few years. Thats not a cheap fix if u need a whole repaint. Im sure it has a little bondo here or there, but nothing stood out as bad. I'm probably being picky for 8k tho.
I think its a car that will be fine for a nice driver for years but eventually will need that once over (torque boxes, a little body work, and paint), and when that happens, open the wallet....lol.
I need to sleep on it. Im just starting to think hard about the Cougars vs my Mustang basket case which I'd sell if I buy a Cougar. Hope this helps answer any questions! Its a sweet looking ride!!
Now what do you guys think????
btw - heres another one that looks even cleaner, 1 hour farther away (I have not looked at this one in person but being a cali car, its prob solid) - but I really like the orange better than the red.....
http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/3287622445.html