The market is good for a buyer and bad for a seller. Too many people in financial trouble. Wait another 6 months for the real good deals where the sellers have exhausted almost every other liquidable asset to keep their houses..

And the car is the last thing, usually, to go.

I would always look for a numbers matching, mostly complete and solid car in primer that needs some interior work and no sheet metal replacement. By the time you get into repairing sheet metal versus buying a solid car (initial expense) You will likely save 70% of the repairs on a buying price of $2-3k extra for the solid car.