[inthedoghouse]

I just had an out of state PPI done and the car checks out great expect for one concerning thing. Cylinder 1 has 35-38% leak down. Its an 1985 3.2 with 139k on it.

Here are the numbers:
Compression 1-6
177, 190, 193, 185, 188, 190

Leakdown 1-6 (%)
38, 5, 3, 5, 5, 5

The car had even leak down numbers in 2004 and 20k miles ago. Its been driven only about 5k miles in the last 5 years.

Questions
1 - does this mean top end needed for sure for ~$6k or is there anyway it could be carbon fouling from limited use recently?

2 - What are the implications if I drive it like this? How long can this go?

Thanks in advance for the advice. I have airlines tickets booked for Thursday to go buy the car and now I am on the fence.