Then there are the ones like the Miata mentioned above that you just can't pry loose. I have always lusted for a J-H, several yearsago a guy brought me one that ran like crap. Compression testing indicated valve problems, so I checked the valve adjustments (no easy task, BTW). Most of them had ~zip~ clearance, so I swapped shims till they were sorta halfassed close then ran another compression check, still way low. Pulled the head, several burnt valves. Lotus parts are outrageous, we were talking about a K in parts. 
The guy owed me about $300 at this point, I offered to waive the bill and give him $500 for the car like it sat. He wasn't averse to the price, he just kept saying 'But you can fix it'. So? The car's not worth anything not running and I'm giving you an easy out. He was stuck on that one point, he finally paid me $300 and towed it off. He put it in the parking lot behind his office and it just sat there for at least 2 years, getting worse and worse. I made him one more offer, still no. About 4 years after that (total of about 6 years) I stopped and looked at it one Sunday afternoon. The top was toast, the interior was all rotted out and the passenger floor had a huge hole in it. A few months later it disappeared. Damn.
