Have you had a look underneath? The car is 24 years old only worth what you want to pay for it

The last tester to do the car's MoT will (should) have looked underneath, reporting any serious corrosion.

Have a very good look at it, including underneath. Have a look at the MOT history to see if that flags up any warnings re corrosion. Fairly simple cars mechanically, so not too much to worry about, esp if you are handy with the spanners yourself. I wouldn't be too concerned about the service history if the car looks like it has been looked after and drives right.

These were pretty well protected against rust when new, so the rust on the rear arch could point to accident damage. This could be minor though, but obviously it will need dealt with to prevent it spreading.

The asking price seems pretty reasonable if the condition is as good as you say (bar the arch). So if you like it, go for it, it isn't that much money to lose should it all go pear shaped!.

Good looking cars.

It isn't a "mundane " car. Its a 1998 car.

That makes it rare, plus inherently superior to...oh lets say 99% of the other stuff out there.

Less is 99% more. And 99% of punters are 99% i****.

(Well, they are in Taiwan, anyway)

Yes, have a good poke around underneath. My 2001 Pug 206 looked great, until you squeezed the main box section which just crumbled. The underseal was doing a great job of holding the rust in.

Another car succumbed to the 'corrosionvirus'!

In a car of this age, the service history would be immaterial. Far more important is the extent of corrosion,

That's true, John, but a decent history is definitely not immaterial if it proves the car has been properly maintained. The history for my 28-year-old Pug 306 is missing before 2006 but complete from then on, and as it was with the original owner for 20 years I am pretty certain it had FSH from the Pug dealer that sold it.

If the OP particularly wants a Bravo of this age he may well pay the asking price - he isn't looking for a banger, which could well be worth very little.