[Rude-Boy!]

Chimuyo1, your not serious are you? Piston rings? Your talk about stripping the block! thousands of dollars for those repairs or as you say preventative maintenance.
These cars seem as troublesome as DSMs and I don't want to join, or should I say...have my mother join a camp like that as that is who this car would be for.

true...you're right on that...and my intention in bringing these up was not to cast a shadow on the car to the effect that it was unreliable...like smth hckr said it is one of the most reliable engines of its time - as well as any other...but checking about the other two would still be a good idea...
PS - by the way i'm not making these up...there is a thread for this particular topic and the dominating diagnosis were pcv valves, valve seals, and a few others that i can't think of right now...but anyway like the other dude said haggle for a good price and have a blast