Looked at the bike but didn't pull the trigger. Frame seemed to be in good condition, no dents, just some surface scratches. Front wheel was slightly out of true, but didn't look at rear wheel.

Shifting was a pain in the butt though, lots of grinding (maybe is cross gearing?), but the non-matching cassette/shifter was definitely contributing to it. When I was shifting apparently I didn't push the brake lever far enough so the derailleur didn't go far enough, so I had to give it a little tap again for it to sit properly. Is such finite adjustment always necessary when changing gears?

He's putting in a proper 9 speed cassette, so I'm gonna go by and look at it again, and decide then.