On Mon, 22 Jun 2020 10:29:15 -0700 (PDT), TimR wrote:

I moved to a southern state some decades back, '
with a good car for my wife and a beater for me.
As I arrived one of the brake lines blew.

It happens.

Over my 60 years of driving, once I lost vacuum on a downslope, and had to
mash the pedal to get any braking; another time I lost a rubber brake line;
and a third, more recent time (couple of years ago), the master cylinder
needed to be rebuilt.

No brakes is no fun, but luckily, the parts are usually trivial to replace.

The shop said the frame was rusted through

Lots of debate, but what the "frame" is on a modern car is up for grabs.
In the rust belt, it's normal for the underbody to be rusty.

the next bump I hit it might break in half

Yeah. That sounds like the typical "scare tactics" I heard the tire shop
feed the woman in front of me that her tires were "dangerous", when they
had plenty of meat left.

it couldn't be repaired or safely driven.

Hmmmm.... sounds like scare tactics, which I think you'd agree.

He wouldn't let me take it home for fear of liability.

Hmmmm... can someone legally impound your vehicle like that?

I made him show me, but he was right.

Hmmmmmm.......

It had been a Wisconsin car driven in heavy salt.

The rust belt exists.
Cars rust.

The OEMs know that, so they design it in, so to speak.

I sold it to a neighbor for parts, full disclosure,
not safe to drive. Next week i saw his wife driving it,
with a new inspection sticker.
He said you just have to know where to take it.

Seems like the brakes were probably a line or two that needed replacing (it
happens), while the "frame" probably want's necessarily a "frame" but just
the underbody (which rusts as part of normal wear and tear).

In summary, it seems the repair shop tried fed people on fear.