Just do what you think is right. There is no shortage of these cars. I bought the service manual and owners manual, the 1993 Road & Track special edition that covers the 850's development & introduction (Very informative, just read around the PR stuff) read the NHTSA recall and customer complaints pages. I also searched the web for anything I could find out about the 850s before buying. I knew more about the car than any salesman or average owner. When I was ready I bought a month's worth of Carfax access for $20 and ran the VIN of every car I considered.

End result? I found, locally and quite by accident, my 1-owner wagon which belonged to the daughter of the senior salesman at the dealership. Checking all the dealer service records (they knew the car and her very well) showed it had been brought in for any little squeak or thump and she followed the service schedule, and responded to the check engine & service lights, fanatically.

I don't have the means to justify or rationalize financing a depreciating asset, read "new car", so I research and buy cars that are a few years old. In this case, I bought a $30,000 car for 1/3 it's new price with only 77,000 miles on it. It's not perfect but it's close. Just keep looking. Your's is out there!


--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t - fast & comfy, '86 Guzzi LeMans - fast & loud, '76 Montesa 348 Cota - slow.