I remember watching that 60 MInutes expose’ mentioned by VDCdriver. Those charlatans were gigging people right and left; mostly tourists who they figure would feel they were in a panic situation and would agree to anything to hit the road and feel safe again.
Over time, I have learned is, don’t waste time on cars that anything is iffy about. No clear title in the sellers name, move on, lift the hood and engine bay smells like old dirty oil, move on. Door sags when you open it, move on. Car has a funny stance, move on. Seller needs cash upfront to pay off loan to get title, move on. Car, just needs a thermostat, trans fluid change, tune up, move on. Car has 4 different brand tires, anything over 2, move on. The trick is you are looking for things to disqualify a car before you even drive it so you wast the least amount of time.
Used car buying is much more work than new caw buying for me. I am amazed by people who go to a car lot and buy whatever a salesman recommends.
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Years ago I looked at a 66 Mustang back when I thought they were cool. It had new paint and new quarter panels but they were attached with stove bolts instead of welding. Yeah I moved on.
Back around 1963 or so, one of our neighbors “fixed” the body rot on his '56 Olds 88 by attaching some very badly-aligned pieces of sheet metal with stove bolts. He then hit the sheet metal with some spray paint that… almost… matched. He was very proud of his… craftsmanship… but the rest of the folks in the neighborhood had a different take on the matter.
The '65 I looked at in '90 had great paint, too. Then I looked underneath - I could see the carpet…moving on…