1994 Cabriolet - Need Help, Opinion (s) --(a bit long)
 

All, Anyone :)

I have in my 'possession' a 94 Cabriolet. The owner of the car is one of my daughters friends, who essentially gave up on the car. The car got away from her, complicating that, she ran something over on the highway, destroyed what appears to be the 'downpipe' off the driver side header, balance of the exhaust looks ok. I am looking into possibly fixing the exhaust, but there are several other issues with the car. She has been offered $800 bucks for the car, but as I have always admired the car (prior to running it into the ground), I have first right of refusal. So starting at $800 , Ill try to fix the exhaust, then im trying to get an idea if I should invest in the car based on difficulties and money. It kills me that its in rough shape, love to put it back to operating order, love audis etc. I need opinions on some of the problems listed below and whether I should sink the money into it. My intention would to only have fun with it, not retore it to showroom condition ... here we go

145,000 miles 'Rough' shape - needs paint, seat a bit ripped , interior is generally cleanable

Items I need opinions on and level of effort (and money if possible) to fix ---

*Car occasionally stalls in part of Nuetral, but not drive. Is there some type of switch involved here ? Is this common ?

*Brakes - It seems like the ABS is not working correctly- occasionally when almost stopped, the pedal 'feeds back' almost as if the ABS is being applied, and you feel it in the pedal, and hear the pump / actuator ?

*Back 'glass' plastic is very cloudy - top itself pretty nice

*Oil leak - fairly widespread - anyones guess. I know crankshaft and camshaft seals were done at 80k (with the belt)

*Driver door latch - only works from outside, not a big deal, likely linkage ?

My wife is saying to stay away ! Id love to drive it (kids too) for the summer ... it kills me that this car is in the shape it is. Id love to rescue it, but dont want to be stupid about it as far as money goes and headaches ..

John