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jwalker's advice is right on.
You just need to get under it and poke around. I've got 3-4 in the barn that we took off the road because of rust. One 90 has the driver's seat falling through the floor; a 92 (Cleveland car) rusted around the carrier support and that ripped lose; our old 245 (Detroit) rusted around the wagon door hinge - there's a hole in the roof; etc. I just replaced trailing arms on a friend's - the coil spring broke the rusted bottom support.
IME it depends on where the car was driven and the maintenance. Just got an 89 244 for a friend's daughter. 285K miles, from Pittsburgh. One owner, washed and oiled underneath; I found surface rust on one seam but that's in. And it drives like a car w/ 100K.
Get underneath it. Nothing else will tell you condition. If you have others, you know what to look for.
A related consideration: look over the mechanical components underneath - hoses, lines, calipers, ..... eg. if a rear caliper fails, what are you going to have to replace with it? I've got a friend's 92 right now. Years of Ohio salt. Rusted and need to be replaced: PS lines, trans-cooler lines, a U-joint, some brake lines, a caliper and perhaps lines with that, hoses, steering u-joint, OD solenoid, more; some bolt heads are rusted down 1-2 sizes. It has some mechanical problems as well and interior is shot. My recommendation is to scrap it.
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240 drivers / parts cars - JH, Ohio
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