RUST! RUST! RUST! Avoid a car with rust, you'll never be able to eliminate it, and life is too short to fool around with an old rusty car. Avoid automatic transmission - what a stupid thing to install in a sporty, nimble small car with a 101 HP 4 cyl engine. In general, check if the previous owner took care of the car and if he was the type who seemed to care about his possessions (i.e., is it clean, are the seats neat, was the finish waxed regularly, are the manuals and papers available, are the repair receipts available). Buying a car from a "I don't give a crap" type of person is deadly.