Buying advice for an '87 beater

[billy in slo]

Looking to buy a cosmetic "beater" for my son from a friend. Body is rough, interior is fair, no tears on the grey cloth seats. Engine replaced by owner w/ a used 150k unit. 4 cy./5-spd. Runs great, smogs easily, big tires, mechanically sound. He's talking 1500.00 which seems fair considering Toyota reliability. Is there more or less a rock bottom price on a good running rig? I'm an old bimmer guy w/ 5 cars between 1980 and 1990 model years so I know the basics of old car/stuff breaks/no big deal. I just want to avoid the major repairs and pay a fair price. I am in CA and these things are very popular and expensive here.

 

[fourwd1]

Here on the right coast mid-Atlantic area it'd go for more like $600-800 uninspected, maybe $1000-1200 inspected.
So maybe $1500 isn't bad for Cali, esp if inspected.