What indicator lights are on when starting

It absolutely should. You shouldn't buy the car until the light comes on with the key in the first position . It should go off when the car is started. It's not hard to disable by simply loosening the gauge cluster and removing the bulb. The owner may be hiding an expensive problem, and the car will not pass an inspection in states that require one with the CEL inoperative. It's good that you caught it.

Thanks! I wouldn't let him buy it last night cuz i just didn't feel comfortable not seeing the CEL, even though everything else looked, sounded, drove fantastic. I had him call his dad to see if he can take him to look at it again this afternoon. One of his dad's friends has a scan tool so he'll bring that with him & check it out. If it passes the dad inspection & something big goes wrong in the future, at least I will feel more comfortable having someone else to blame for possibly missing it up front. :)