i have deleted my opening post. the three responses below have given me all i need to know. thanks.

 

the car is 30+ years old...a lot of the items listed are weekend DIY easy fixes. Nothing in the PPI shows up that would indicate you are in need of a rebuild (THAT is what would bite you in the ****). If that was the case THEN I would press him to budge on his price. In a way I can see his point...the bottom line is do you think you can find a car in better condition than his for a cheaper price? If you had people lined up who were willing to part with more money without the hassle being "low balled" (not saying this is what you are trying to do)...what would you do if you were in his shoes?

 

It doesn't really matter so much what we think in this case the question is what do you think? He wants to stand firm on the price and now you have to decide if the car is worth the purchase price and all required repairs.

PPIs are to give you a heads up on what shape the car is in and to act as a condition of sale, not to set the purchase price (unless that is what you both agreed to prior to the PPI).

 

I think you're w/i your rights to renegotiate based on the PPI for items important to you. These do seem relatively minor, so as noted above, you have to decide if you will be happy w/ the car, w/ the issues identified at the price the seller is saying.

I view the PPI as no different than an inspection on a house. Now that's more formal obviously, but when items are found in a house inspection, I think it's quite normal to go back and negotiate fixing those. sometimes that is the seller actually addressing them, sometimes it's coming off the purchase price, etc.

Good luck!

 

You negotiated and agreed on a price before PPI, so it's hard to come back and ask for more afterward . If this is the car you want then pay the negotiated price and don't worry about the $377, which is small change in P-car repair land.

If you choose to keep searching, next time wait until the car's had a PPI to negotiate. There's no reason to agree on anything but a deposit amount to hold the car. You have no leverage here, so you shouldn't have any hard feelings about the seller's lack of rationale for denying your offer.

Good luck!

EDIT: I notice that OP deleted the original post. What's discussed here may be of some use to someone else down the road, so please don't do that in the future. Thanks!