Uh, that sounds dangerous to me. Looks are an important aspect of your plane, but looks don't tell you much. I am guessing the AP who did the last annual knows the owner and, you never know how that plays into the equation.
If you wouldn't know what you are looking at anyway, that is genuine honesty, but find someone from this Club in your area who does know what to look at and have him/her go over for a good lookover. Also, have someone who knows spend hours with the logbooks and try and make sense of them.
I have been there before and I know what I am talking about. There are so many resourceful people who belong to this Club and you must use one to help you through this very important process. Otherwise, your checkbook will suffer. Caveat Emptor...my friend.
Good luck and may the force be with you.
