Tell your mom there is somebody in NY who drives 2 hours to work and then 2 hours back home in summer and winter (home is in the Catskill Mts) and has 300,000 and still running.

It would be a lot wiser to find why the 93 cuts out on you. Might be as simple as an old battery that needs replacing or a cam position sensor. A salvage title generally will just mean trouble. Bent frames, paint that will be peeling in a year, who know what internally has jusy been 'patched' - are there still air bags in it or just the cover?

Plus a turbo will get maybe 20 mpg if your lucky (being salvage I'll bet something expensive will make it more like 15). I get about 30 mpg with my '93. Something to consider if you are doing a 2 hour ride to college.

Not to mention insurance might be less for non-turbo.

Personally speaking, I'm sending my son off to college in a Volvo for safety - a '88 240. Having been a college student I know better then to send him off with a turbo. I got in enough trouble in my '71 Camero with only a 307 V8 (the GM version of non-turbo back then - for turbo type fun my friend had an Olds 442 w/ hurst shifter etc, but that would be for another post)

Save the money and take your 93 to a good shop, not a dealer.