My Struggles in Finding a 1st car... Pt.1

Hidden problems, Sketchy deals, Overprotective parents, The whole internet, and one oblivious teenage petrol-head... What could possibly go wrong?

Backstory

So a few months ago, I was scrolling Craigslist, looking for any decent deals within the Covid Market (hah, good one), when one in particular came across my screen. A bright red Porsche 944. Upon Telling my parents my findings and that it was safe and reliable (again good one...), its a 85 Porsche, and that it Runs and Drives (remember this for later) and had recently had a lot of the wear and tear parts like the belts replaced, and that it was a GREAT deal -only $3,000.

not the exact one, but nearly identical to it...

not the exact one, but nearly identical to it...

Once Granted permission from said parents I messaged the owner, asking for more info and tidbits. As it turned out, he was just the next town over. The car was relatively basic, N/A 4-banger mated to a 5 speed manual. Eventually My dad and I decide that we are going to go take a look at it. Even though I know the area, it was more for safety and so if I did buy, he could get his Nissan Frontier, that i currently use/ borrow home. Eventually the time start to roll around and the day before we are scheduled to go take a look, he hits us with this bombshell:

"You are bringing a trailer, right?"

Immediately, i got on to my computer and asked him why, when it stated in that ad that it "runs and drives". To which he replied that while it does run, and does drive, it has no brakes and doesn't stop... In doing so, I also found out that it had been in storage for nearly 10 years and hadn't been driven in just as long.

Me being Me however, I decided to start searching up the prices for a brake job on the car. Unsurprisingly, because it is a Porsche, the Job would cost an additional $1-2,000, which is way out of my price range. Again Rather then call it there, i began looking at the price for just the parts, as while i am no mechanical genius, i know my way around the basics of a car. Again it came back at several hundreds, still more than my teenage wallet had (the $3,000 alone was pushing it...) At this point I finally admitted defeat, and went on to continue my hunt. However on the bright side, the next time i was on Craigslist, he had updated the posting to mention the issue, potentially saving somebody else from the headache i nearly got myself into.

Overall, it's Probably a decent thing i didn't get involved, I just get that feeling that not only would it have costed my wallet, but also my sanity. So in the end, the search goes on i guess... until next time, goodbye.