Hello there,
I recently started taking driving courses and I came across a family friend that has a 2004 Lexus ES330 that they are willing to sell. According to them it needs a new muffler and for some reason the brakes on the car run out quite fast. The car still runs from what I can see but their cousin who is a mechanic (although be it, not a good one) suggested that the car should be dumped. The car has 180,000 miles and it looks in very decent condition. As I said it still drives around and the price of the car would be the highest price they get offered by junkyards. As a first car for a 22 year old, would it be worth getting it for cheap and then fixing up the problems? Or should I stay away from cars with any sort of pre existing problems ?
Have a trustworthy mechanic check it before making a decision.
Like @yaser says, get it checked out. That trusted mechanic can give you a cost estimate for "things you gotta fix now" like the muffler and "things you'll need to do in the next year" like new calipers (bad calipers will wear out brake pads fast). Then you'll know what you're getting into, financially. Given the current car market, if you fix the right now stuff you could probably flip it and get money for something you like more.