94 prizm transmission issues

We just bought a 94 prizm 5 speed manual, for my girlfriend with only 114,000 miles and the first few days it drove fine. Every once in a while you'd wind up in neutral and couldn't get to another gear besides reverse though. But last night she was driving it and it did it more and more and because she's a learner and occasionally kills it, when we started it it would lurch forward on its own. Also it was occasionally just dying when we came to a stop regardless of the clutch. Any ideas on what some of these symptoms mean?

My first guess is a problem with the clutch linkage.

I think you have a hydraulic clutch. If its low on fluid and/or has a bad master or slave cylinder, you may get the problems you describe. Check the fluid level in the clutch master cylinder first.

Agreed... classic symptoms of a failing hydraulic clutch.

Call several shops and get quotes on replacing the slave cylinder and master cylinder for the clutch. Then buy a Chilton's or Haynes shop manual for your car ($14) and see if its something you want to tackle yourself.

I would think more along the lines of the clutch itself. Those are all symptoms of a worn out clutch.