The wife's car is an 87 we have had sense it was new. As others have stated the two potential problems are the wiring harness, and rust.

If the harness is bad it can be changed out, no big deal. The rust issue is the challenge, they didn't improve on that until 88.

Open the doors and look at the sills, the portion that would be the topside of the rocker panel. Rust often starts here as a spot the size of a dime, and will advance rapidly.

Between the 87 and a 83 I once owned is where I became familiar with two of my favorite rust repair products, PC-7 and POR-15. Rust is your major concern with this car.

The other thing I will mention is, yes this is the small rod engine with the short piston skirts. And it started to rattle and clatter on start-up until it gets warm, at about the 100K mark. It now has over 240K, still runs strong and does not smoke or burn oil. I have no problem with the LH 2.2, the way I look at it is this car is as reliable as my 2.4 without the hassle of diagnosing or changing a CPS, whats not to like?
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Bruce S. near D.C.