Craigslist is perfectly fine for buying airplanes. I've bought more there than anywhere else. But like with everything else, you must know what you are looking at and know the difference between RTF, a simple fix up/clean up job, and a basket case. I'd call you plane just slightly more than a fix up/clean up job, but it's still considerably less work than building an ARF would have been. I look at a potential buy and start calculating cost and time in my head to get it airworthy. If those exceed the price I can buy a RTF used plane for, I'll make an offer based on the used value of the engine and servos. Sometimes the seller gets offended, and sometimes he accepts. The very best way to get good bargains is to buy a large lot from someone who has decided to get out of the hobby. If you'll save up $500-$600 and wait, you'll see an ad eventually. With those big purchases, you may wind up throwing away one out of 5 airplanes, but you'll also probably resell one or two and get half of your money back. But the best part is that there is usually a big box of assorted parts and accessories that comes with the planes. I once paid $150 for 3 planes and a box of stuff. I dumpstered one airframe immediately, but what I didn't need from the box of stuff recouped $125 on Ebay. The rest I fixed up and flew until I crashed one and traded the other for a huge box of NIB fishing lures (probably $150 worth). So it pays to scan the ads on Craigslist, but you have to educate yourself on what a good buy actually looks like.