hesitate to say anything---but the people probably did know what they were doing. this machine has a bad case of "aluminum rot" from sitting in water or something like that.
she can be saved, but with lots of scraping, sanding, etc. and will need a new paint job. the "guts" of these machines rarely have problems & it will sew well when cleaned, oiled, etc. but the outside may be an expensive problem. when you are done, you will still have a bargain machine. have fun with it !