My neighbor is selling his '84.5 244 turbo intercooler. The car has been garaged all its life, and has only 143,000 miles on the odometer. He is asking $1500 for the car. I am seriously entertaining the idea of buying this car and fixing her up.

Issues: Clutch slips, throwout bearing is noisy. Rack leaks. Needs rear bushings (clunk, clunk). Has original POS plastic radiator. Blower motor is dead. Usual underhood wiring crapola.

I drove the car and it is FAST!! Low-end power isn't that great, but it hauls major ass on the highway. I floorboarded the throttle and she accelerated from about 60mph to 90 in no time at all. Great for passing those large tractor trailers on the interstate. ;-)

The turbo seems to be in good condition. It is the original, but this guy is very fastidious about maintenance and has records that show that he has changed the oil religiously every 3,000 miles since day one. I asked what kind of oil he uses and he said Mobil 1 10w30. I noticed that the engine had a "Puralator One" filter on it when I looked under the hood. Is this kind of mileage excessive for an original turbocharger? Will it drop dead in 10K miles? It doesn't make any weird noises or blow smoke out the tailpipe, but I'm still wary.

Does this sound like a good buy, overall? How much would it cost (roughly) to fix items mentioned if I did labor myself? How much life is left in the car?