Ask you dad if he has a bunch of stuff hanging on the keys. When my ignition switch started to go bad the ABS light would flicker off and on if I wiggled the key slightly. It's a relatively easy $75 part cost fix. The tranny "bang" doesn't sound good but maybe a fluid change would help? My '95's been doing that for a few years now after it get's warmed up. A CV joint could be going bad too but 85K is sort of early for that unless a boot has split due to age and the grease has come out.