I have a friend of a friend that has a samurai for sale that is WAYY cheap and I really am considering the buy.  The problem is that I do not know much about the vehicle.  Its an 88 and is baby blue.  In the pictures I have of it the body is in awesome shape and it still has the factory rims.  Paint is fairly faded but that is expected.  I havent had the chance to talk directly to the seller yet to confirm any of my questions.  I do know that it will need a drive shaft and plug wires.  These are the only problems that have been mentioned.  Do any of you have any insight on where the cheapest, easiest, or best fixes are for these two problems?  another question.... admittedly dumb question.....  are all samurais 4x4? 

Buy a used driveshaft (there are 2 different bolt patterns used on "88" samurais, so you will have to verify which one you need).  Buy new plug wires at an auto parts store.  No, not all samurais are 4x4.

So how much is way cheap  ? I see used drive shafts pretty often on the forums, inexpensive .

$500 seems pretty cheap to me to be in as good of shape as the pictures show.  

and after looking around I see that the repairs wont be very expensive at all.  Forums/ebay seem to have drive shafts for very little money and plug wires are an easy fix.  If I can figure out how to post the pics of the ride I'd love for you guys to tell me what you think.  

http://photobucket.com/jonesbtbatmansuzukisamurai

maybe that link worked? 

http://photobucket.com/jonesbtbatmansuzukisamurai

Just looking for some honest opinions and possibly some more info on it.... provided anyone can tell me anything just by looking at these 3 pics. 

http://photobucket.com/jonesbtbatmansuzukisamurai

maybe that link worked? 

http://photobucket.com/jonesbtbatmansuzukisamurai

Just looking for some honest opinions and possibly some more info on it.... provided anyone can tell me anything just by looking at these 3 pics. 

Looks to be in pretty good shape.  But it is hard to tell, without looking closer.  The main rust places are inside the front and rear fenderwells, under the rear seat, in the front floorboard and the rocker panels (under the plastic pieces).
The spare tire mount is missing on the tailgate. 
The drivers door has been replaced (unless it is just the camera angle and it is making it appear like it is a slightly different color blue). 
It has had a bra on it at some point (you can see where the paint is not faded on the front edge of the hood...where the bra would cover). 
The left brakelight/tail light lens is broken. 
The left rear bumper endcap is cracked (probably got broke the same time the tail light lens did). 
From the looks of the soft top windows, the top is older.  Looks to be in decent shape though and you might be able to clean the windows up.  But it is probably shrunk up and stiff....so it won't be very easy to remove and install it frequently.
Overall, it still looks like a good buy for $500 (assuming the rust isn't too bad), even if you have to spend another $500 on replacing broken/missing/old parts.