Reddit mentions of Volkswagen Cabriolet, Scirocco Service Manual: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993

You must be a masochist! As /u/verdegrrl mentioned, the corrado is an absolute nightmare in terms of reliability, but they are super fun and very unique cars. A low mileage, well cared for Corrado SLC would be a fantastic car to own, but they are highly coveted by enthusiasts and typically sell for wayyyy more than they're actually worth. The Corrado G60 is an interesting car from an engineering standpoint, but the superchargers are not very robust, and they're very expensive/difficult to [repair and replace] (http://www.bahnbrenner.com/vw_audi/products/606/G60_G_Lader_Supercharger_Rebuild_Remanufacture).

From 1983-1993 the Cabriolet was more or less unchanged. The 1993 model year is when VW introduced a new Cabriolet based on the A3 platform. Honestly I'm not really sure if the A3 version would be better than the older A1 version. I think whichever one has less miles and is in the best condition would be the best choice.

I think you're on the right track though- look for something with reasonable milage, that's in good running condition, and that has some sort of maintenance history (in other words, a stack of receipts for past repairs and maintenance).

Owning an old VW will certainly be a good learning experience for you. I learned a ton about cars from owning a couple VWs over the years (1973 bus, 1984 GTI, 1984 Cabriolet, 1989 GTI, 2010 TDI. Wow, I never realized how many Volkswagens I've owned, haha). You can read up on common problems and maybe even look for a car for sale on [the vortex] (http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisplay.php?152-Cabriolet). Its a pretty good resource. And, I said it before, and I'll say it again, get a [Bentley] (http://www.amazon.com/Volkswagen-Cabriolet-Scirocco-Service-Manual/dp/0837616360) to go with whichever VW you buy. Good luck!

oh shit my man, i might be able to actually help you out. first of all - older VW's are easy as shit to work on. secondly, get parts from www.germanautoparts.com thirdly, look here and here for DIY tips and other helpful things. If you have the money, buy one of these as it'll have info on how to fix pretty much everything on the car.

If you look, you should be able to find enough DIY info to replace your timing belt and water pump pretty easily.

Also - unless I'm looking at the wrong info, the water pump shouldn't be driven by the timing belt. It should be a small 'V' belt that is run off of the crank shaft pulley, which should also run the power steering pump (assuming you have power steering) - so your timing belt may not even be in jeopardy... I've had friends that were big into their VW's and worked on them regularly that confused the V or Serpentine belt with the timing belt.. actually, this looks to be a good DIY for replacing the water pump...

if the belt in question is one like these: http://www.germanautoparts.com/Volkswagen/Cabriolet/Engine/15/1 (notice the size and the slight V shape, smaller width on inside than outside) instead of one of these http://www.germanautoparts.com/Volkswagen/Cabriolet/Engine/223/1 then you're not dealing with the timing belt.. Note: click the images for a larger view.

Also, where are you located?