A) Why don't you change your own oil? Save that 20 bux every 3000 miles for go fast parts.
B) I have a 95 with a 3.4 v6 in it and it's had a dead cylinder since I got it in 2004. Mine just needs head work. My best advice if you want to keep the 305 is to tear it down and find the problem before you over-react and but a new motor.

To all you guys hating on 305's, my first car was a 1972 Nova with a 305 and after some mods it made 300 hp. It was a movin little car.

 

i live in an apartment building

 

Watch buying cars off ebay. I know some people that had to have a later modeldiesel suburban. They found one in Arizona on ebay from a dealer so they got it. It has problem after problem starting from the drive back to California. Look at auto trader. You should find a lot and close to you. Or find some where to park your car and fix it. Hmmm. Can you rent a storage to fix it in

 

So, um, ok...........why exactly is your 8th cylinder dead? Bad rings? Broken rings? Bad bngs? Or is it fuel delivery? Maybe ignition?There are way too many (simple) reasons why you have a bad cylinder. Find out why. Walmart is great for socks and paint and slurpees, but their auto advice is less than solid. Id look into it further.......

 

the funny thing is that they go "yup, you got a bad cylinder your gonna have to replace the short block"?
like ScootD and many others here have said, it can be MANY things. I'll def. gotta take it to the city in the next week and have a REAL mechanic take a look at it, just to stay safe i WILL NOT tell him "i think i have a bad cyl, can you check"
then if it is a bad cylinder, i save up and drop a 454 in it.