There are hundreds of superior console pianos going to the dump in my area every day. The brand names are not supported by pep talks from good looking salesmen, or ratings in magazines, so nobody wants them. Most pianos in the 1950's and 60's were bought as furniture, status symbols, or for children that never learned, so most of them are hardly worn. What people want is some piece of imported trash made of mystery woods that comes with a great warrenty (piece of paper) and a glowing testimonial by a team of good looking smooth talking sales people. Ask my retired friend about his "superior" 2009 Pearl River studio piano that has broken three strings in the same location. "Nobody" can repair it, and the dealer refuses to "send a tuner that far out" to fix it under warrenty. He lives in Hitchcock TX about 40 miles from Houston. The 2008? Yamaha studio my church bought is so dull and lifeless, you'd love it. They have had to spend $500 on a mike and set of powered speakers to make it audible to a congregation of 200. I play a 55 Baldwin Acrosonic at another church for charity dinners on Saturdays, that is loud enough without any amp whatsoever that it can make diners raise their voices to be heard .
A great console can be bought for $200 if out of tune and picked up quickly, before the carpet installers come. Look on craigslist.
I like a loud bright piano, so I won't mention my favorite old brands. Don't buy a 36" spinet unless going to college, the actions are a bit slow, though they are quite portable. You probably want a 39,40 44 or 46 height You might like (all brands mentioned before 1988? when factories were closed and the names attached to second rate imports) Wurlitzer, Story & Clark, Hamilton, Mason & Hamlin, Sohmer, Goodall, Everett. First line Baldwin Acrosonics are quite bright and loud which you won't like, and Steinways are usually loud and often beat to death by school use. (My 1941 Steinway 40 was apparently lightly used in a home, except for the distressed veneer that chased away the pro Steinway flipper. My 41 Steinway has holes in the front rail to make it louder for the player).
When buying a used piano without involving a tuner, try all notes chromaticly to make sure none are stuck. Using two fingers on opposite hands, play a single note as fast as possible to see how fast the action is. Some are too slow for my reperetoire. Open it up, make sure there are no broken strings, mouse eaten parts (except leather return straps are cheap to replace with polyester material) hammer shafts warped by moisture, hammers scooped in the middle by too many hours played without revoicing. Make sure bass, two string and three string notes match each other in tone in volume. Make sure the soundboard and steel frame are not visibly cracked. There are often problems with the damper pedal mechanism not working due to poor moving; these are usually easily fixed without resorting to a professional. See how many dampers are missing at the top and determine if the ringing of the notes without dampers bothers you (they all are missing an octave of dampers, many more than that) DON"T worry about intonation at the $200 price point, it will be bad. For triple the price you can buy from a flipper that has moved the piano to a flea market and rough tuned it. My 41 Steinway required seven tunings to get there - then it was stable for a couple of years. I did these tunings myself. Don't expect a pro to pull a neglected piano up to A440 in one pass- that breaks strings. A single loose pin is a nuisance you will have to risk at the $200 price point, as you can't really tell until you get the piano tuned a couple of times if you have one or not.
So have fun. $3000 is way too much for a console piano IMHO. Baby grands, $2500-3000 is about right.
Topic: My parents bought a lousy secondhand piano??!