I try to pay less than $200 for cheap guitars, but this one was around $220 because it’s a proper American made Fender Stratocaster w/ a fancy pickup and hardware. I think it would retail used for about $700? But this looks like a shop project for the last owner. It appears s/he tried to sand off the finish, got into trouble when they started gouging the wood and then applied some bondo to build it back up. The net result is a fugly guitar with bondo, but in great working condition. Sounds great, though.
I kind of like the messed up bondo job so I’m leaving it as is. I believe it’s of the late 90s or early 00s. Anyone know how to tell?
See more progress on: buy a cheap guitar
Daniel Spils 
You can date Fenders by their serial numbers. It helps if you have an idea of how old it is first, though, because the serial number schemas have changed over time.
Call some shops that deal used guitars. They can tell ya for sure.