Purchasing a car from a private seller. Nightmare.

billccm said
Does 9 grand buy a better A body?

Absolutely. 9 grand should buy you an absolute peach of an A-body as long as it's not some original big block or 340 car.

You're not going to get some Barrett-Jackson show car for $9k, but you can absolutely buy a nice, clean, rust free driver car for that.