Is it worth buying a car if the tie rods need to be replaced?

I'm looking into buying a car and someone is selling a 2000 Ford Mustang for only $1000, but it needs the tie rods and muffler replaced. Is it worth buying?

Tie rods are cheap and easy to replace, if that is all wrong with it then you could do it yourself. Question I would be asking is why hasn't the owner not already done them themselves?

I expect these faults are the start of a very long list. Or, as Who is Jack says, the seller would do the work and sell the car for double the price. Be very careful.

No it's not worth buying. It is not a collectible, and not worthy of restoring. It is a beater, that has been beaten and broken. It is very likely that there are more repairs needed than just the few that are visible. Expect to be putting more than $3000 into the car for repairs within the first 6-18 months you own it, if you buy and plan to put it on the street. Expect it to last maybe another 3-7 years, which the last 3 are usually the most expensive as mechanical failures start to nickel and dime you to death ($500-$1000 per instance or more).

Sure, tell the seller to replace the tie rods and the muffler and raise the price to include the cost of those repairs in the selling price. Then buy it after the repairs are made.

Neither of those things are expensive repairs. Chances are that these small repairs are hiding much larger ones and the seller using them to distract you from the real problems the car has. Ask the seller why he hasn't been maintaining the car properly.

My guess that these are not the only things it needs. You should have a mechanic inspect the car before you buy and tell you what it's going to cost to fix everything.