Lifter Tick or something worse??!

Hey Im about to buy a 93 talon awd, and its nice and stock(something you dont find much over here) low miles, sounds great for 2300. The only thing is that the guy says it has lifter tick, which is suposedly a harmless ticking sound. I just have two questions before I really6 start thinking about buying the car. Can lifter tick eventually lead to something worse or is it really harmless? Also...could the guy selling it think its lifter tick or could it be something else wrong with the car? How do you know its lifter tick and not anything else? Thanks a lot

I don't know much about the engines other than the non turbos but I am on my second 1g and both had lifter tick when I got them so there is a very good chance that is all it is.

Lifter tick..... if you have it, you know you own a DSM!!! Just turn up the radio... he he he

well I dont really mind if the car has lifter tick, and I guess Ill try one of the various ways there are on the internet to get rid of it, I just want to know thats all it is. Is there anything else that could go wrong with a car that would make the same kind of sound of is this ticking underneath the valves particular only to lifter tick?

99% of the time it's lifter tick, ESPECIALLY on a dsm.

read this thread, it should help you out a little.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=107945&highlight=lifter+tick

lifter tick is sometimes picked up as knock by the knock sensor. some refer to it as phantom knock, which i have plenty of. new lifters is the fix, but you can try seafoam or MCCC kind of product.