Carfax, Buying Used, & Craigslist.org

I finally got serious about looking for a second Honda 
Civic, c. 1989-1997. A few observations:

-- A friend of mine convinced me Carfax was worth $35 for 30 
days, unlimited checks. For the four cars I checked, it 
revealed: (a)
Odometer tampering with two, with the advertised mileage 
being over 100k lower than the Carfax title re****ted 
mileage; (b) lying about the number of owners for a third; 
it had had four owners in 18 months. Many re****ts attest to 
how Carfax is not perfect, but so far it sure saved me some 
trouble.

-- Most persistent major mechanical problems have been poor 
air conditioning and suspect CV joints. I watch especially 
for blown head gaskets. So far for around half a dozen cars 
I have actually examined: no residue on the oil cap; oil in 
the reservoir; smell from exhaust pipe; white puff from 
exhaust pipe.

-- craigslist.org has been my best resource. (Thanks to 
regular poster JT for sending me there!) Ebay, 
autotrader.com and dealers have turned up little. Dealers do 
not like to deal in cars that do not involve financing, so 
low price beaters generally are not advertised for sale by 
them. Though oddly, on my Carfax checks, there's always an 
advertisement by dealers for a 199- Civic, complete with 
VIN. Then I call the dealer, and the car is not there. Maybe 
when a car is traded in, carfax automatically retrieves it 
and its filter puts the ad up? But in fact most of these 
cars are sold at auction? Craigslist people have all been 
good about meeting at the designated time and test driving 
(though I almost always have a friend with me). Craigs list 
sellers where I am have been mostly but not entirely honest, 
at least insofar as the carfax checks indicate.

-- used car dealers are a hoot! Unless you know what to look 
for on these older Hondas, do not buy from a used dealer. A 
fine looking Honda Civic DX came up on Craig's list at a mom 
n' pop used car dealer****p. I went to see it. Great body, 
engine compartment sparkled, fluids looked clean and topped 
off; but no muffler; no radio; check engine light was on; 
wind****eld was cracked, miles advertised were 124k and 
carfax said it was in fact over 271k miles a year ago. I am 
considering making a very low offer (after telling the 
dealer****p about the flawed title tampered odometer) just 
for the shell.

Further advice?