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... you can build exactly what you need
Can't believe you're being downvoted for telling the truth! EVERY ship you can buy from an in-game vendor is pure trash compared to what you can build for yourself. At the very least, you're going to need to upgrade most of the core parts.
I was able to steal a ship from some colonists that randomly landed near me and they had a lot of good parts that I couldn't buy yet but I was able to change the habs to better ones like to workbenches. I think getting lucky like that and editing it a bit is the cheapest way to go
I do find one thing important: mass manufactured ships are for common people.
You of course have more stringent requirements, such as smuggling, 1v5 combat, perfect 30LY jump, manning full crew, or something similar. Those showroom stuff won't cut it.