I've bought 'a' car from Craigslist. Took us about eight hours, from 'first car' to 'I'll take it'. Looked at ten cars in person. In one day.

Granted, we were motivated, needed a car that day (long story) but it doesn't have to take weeks, if you just need a car and your value of 'acceptable' is flexible.

is it still worth it to save an extra 1-2k

Yes. $2,000 dollars can buy a lot of hamburgers.

YMMV.