Reply to "Buying Pantera Soon"

If you could persuade her to let you throw another $5K into the ring, you would stand a much better chance of finding something that is not going to have issues that need to be dealt with in the short term. At $25K, you will be extremely lucky to find something that doesn't need oneor more of the four costliest areas addressed (rust, transmission, motor or paint( or a lot of little stuff. Ask yourself: does that $25K include tax, license & registration? How handy are at working on a car, and willing to do so? Are you in an area where you will have a good Pantera support group to answer questons and show you around your car? How much are you able to budget yourself down the road for anything else, other than the areas mentioned above, that will need to be dealt with?
I did find a good car for $25K that only needs a few things, they are out there. You're off on the right foot by doing your homework, but at that price you need to decide when you are ready and be able to jump, and include up to about $1K in inspection and retrieval costs, depending on how far the car is from you.
If you haven't already done so, join POCA and PI now, and join the forum at realbig.com/detomaso and search the archives; study all you can. Welcome to a great club, you are embarking on a ride you will never regret!