Im currently looking to get my first rx and im currently looking at an 88 fc. Any advice on what to look for that might help me decide whether or not its worth purchasing

 

briefly, if you look at the car carefully it will tell you its story. the seller will also give you a story, but often the seller doesn't know much, so take what they say with a grain of salt.
look the car over, and you will find some stuff, and as long as the car is priced accordingly its ok.

the interior is the hardest thing to put right, so start there. is it clean? stuff broken? missing?
the next hardest thing, is the paint and body. the sunroof likes to rust, so start there, and then just look. dents, scrapes, missing trims?
electrics, you want to try everything, windows, wipers, horn, does the clock work? its normal for the sunroof to be sticky and need help. everything else isn't too bad to fix, but you want to know before you buy it.

engine; it should just run like a normal car, a puff of smoke on startup is ok, but no more than that. look for leaks, they are pretty common, none are particularly hard to fix. the transmission can be a little noisy, but should shift nicely.
the brakes on these cars have a long travel compared to newer cars, but should be linear, if that makes sense.
the stock suspension is quite soft, so if the car is just a car, it can be kind of floppy. a good alignment, and the right tire pressure makes a huge difference.

if you get service records and or other papers with the car, all the better, good luck!