Buick Park Avenue - worth saving?

[Ian Nexus]

Doing some electrical work at my in-laws earlier this week, I noticed their previous daily driver is still sitting under the oak tree and is gradually getting covered with debrits.

Its a 1993 Buick Park Avenue 3.8 V6 auto, it was replaced when it developed starting (electrical) problems early last year.

Any opinons if this example of eighties styling would be worth spending a few dollars to get going?, I really need something practical to replace my old Toyota truck.

Car has no rust underneath and did not have any other mechanical issues before being left. Paint has flaked off from sunlight on the roof (a GM nineties specialty)

[Albert Ross]

New battery, drive it away.... save for certain.

[wuvvum]

I do like these - they were sold officially in France for a short while in the early '90s, although I don't think they sold many. I think they're quite nicely styled for an early-'90s Yank tank. Shame they're FWD though. I know the engines themselves are pretty ancient (and therefore simple and reliable) technology, although I would imagine there was a fair bit of electronics controlling the thing by the time this was made. What electrical issues does it have exactly? (Not that that makes any difference to whether you should save it - you definitely should.)

[Ian Nexus]

Electrical problems where cutting out at idle while hot and eventually difficult starting, its going to be either Crankshaft Position Sensor or Camshaft position sensor, these are both weakness of the 3.8 OHV, the ignition amplifier and coil pack have already been replaced in an effort to diagnose problem before it was "abandoned".

Most of the other electrical items seem to be working including the complicated climate control.

[gtd2000]

Personally speaking, looking at the ridiculous prices for used cars in the USA, if that car needs a minor amount of work done, you'll be quids in selling it when it's up and running.

 

I've been trawling the used ads here in California for a shite "beater" but my jaw is almost on the floor looking at some of the shit on sale!!!

 

Seems to be that if you can find a 17 year old Japanese car with dents and less than 200,000 miles on it for less than $2500 you are getting a bargain!

 

A pal of mine who sells RV's in Florida reckons that any car that runs with A/C in Florida gets $2500 no matter what the condition...

[Ian Nexus]

Yes anything "running" is worth $1000, there is a big market in shitters here too. I sold my 1996 C250TD Merc estate when I left the UK last year for £1500, was horrified to find similar car was worth around $8000 here.

Considering shipping cost to Houston would be about $1000, it could be a good business to ship old tat here...RHD has instant kudos too.

[gtd2000]

Yes anything "running" is worth $1000, there is a big market in shitters here too. I sold my 1996 C250TD Merc estate when I left the UK last year for £1500, was horrified to find similar car was worth around $8000 here.

Considering shipping cost to Houston would be about $1000, it could be a good business to ship old tat here...RHD has instant kudos too.

 

That thought has been crossing my mind - lots of big engined tat in the UK at a low price - the trick is finding something with the same model sold in the USA

 

That way you don't have to go through a registered importer (= big bucks) as the car is already approved for use here.

 

I looked into bringing a Skyline over here back in 2001 and it would have cost me $25,000 just to get the car registered officially!!!!!!

 

As I understand, if the car is 25 years old or more you don't need to worry about that aspect.

 

Must be some good money in sending £1500 quid 2009 Model KIA Optimas/Magentis here

[Ian Nexus]

The regs for importing vehicles are really stringent - even if the vehicle meets safety and is type approved for US, unless it has EPA approval stickers you can't import it unless its over 25 years old.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/importing_car.xml

There have been quite a few minis brought in over the years with a bit of sneaky alteration of VIN numbers to allow them to be registered as over 25 years old.

[Ross_K]

I looked into bringing a Skyline over here back in 2001 and it would have cost me $25,000 just to get the car registered officially!!!!!!

 

As I understand, if the car is 25 years old or more you don't need to worry about that aspect.

 

I thought post '98 Skylines were illegal full stop. Homeland Security and Customs have been confiscating them... Time to move to Canada if you want a Skyline

 

http://jalopnik.com/5775509/feds-launch ... ine-owners

[purplebargeken]

Save it and enjoy it!

 

Ken

[scooters]

Ship over a Volvo 900 or an 850 t5...you can get em for buttons over here and the parts availability in us will be no problem. Lots of nice t5 s over here...if you look hard you can get a 940 sport estate...hooligan o f a beastie of a motor..

[eddyramrod]

Yes anything "running" is worth $1000, there is a big market in shitters here too. I sold my 1996 C250TD Merc estate when I left the UK last year for £1500, was horrified to find similar car was worth around $8000 here.

Considering shipping cost to Houston would be about $1000, it could be a good business to ship old tat here...RHD has instant kudos too.

 

Know anyone who wants a manual Mk1 Granada, 40 years old this month? I'm beginning to think it'll sell much better off-island, as nobody in Cyprus appears to want it at all.

 

Buick: ABSOLUTELY SHOULD! Fix the technical issues and drive it as-is, perfect. I would! Buick is well up the GM luxury hierarchy, and the 3.8V6 is a doddle to live with. You won't want to give it back, I can tell you!

[Morgan84]

If you've even considered saving it,then something inside is telling you to do it - listen to the deamons !!

[rml2345]

Do it! You know it's the right thing to do...

[Shep Shepherd]

I'd totally save it, fix it, clean it up and use it as a daily driver

[Formula Autos]

Aside from the fact that this car is definitely deep in Autoshite territory (and therefore an utter WINMOBILE that you should be taking on as a light resto project), on an economic level saving this car surely has to make sense as well?

 

I live in the UK but download NPR's Car Talk as a podcast each week, and am always astounded whenever the value of shonky old cars is mentioned on the show. We really (as 'shiters) have never had it so good here in the UK. Even something that barely runs seems to be worth several hundred dollars in the US - in stark contrast with the UK where things are binned for needing a couple of hundred quid spent on them.

 

I'm also surprised by how many people seem to ring the show to ask questions about what's wrong with their Volvo or Subaru. It sounds as if they sell well in the US and survive to a good age in big numbers as well.

 

Maybe we should all start buying up all the big pez engined Volvos over 25 years old (which will be cheap because of OMG fuel prices/ strike kaos etc.) and shipping them over to the US? Or maybe even old Jags and what-not?

[Split_Pin]

Cutting out when hot sounds like it might be the coolant temp sensor.

 

I love the styling of it and 100% think you should save it!

[blakey79]

Do it...

[woolleyiain]

Those things are truly awful. Do it!

[Skizzer]

Of course it's not worth it. THEREFORE YOU MUST DO IT

 

Seriously, what did you think we were going to say? "It's a crap old car, cube it?" This is Autoshite! Get fixing man and post up lots of pictures

[AnthonyG]

These Buicks are still quite fancied in OAP-heavy areas like bits of Florida, like Caddy DeVilles and Lincoln TCs. They are one of few GM models from that era which seem to have lasted well. I would definitely fix it - and it would bring in a nice profit were you to sell.

 

These cars were built on the H body platform, and that was launched as a new FWD platform in 1985 - replacing the Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac versions of the boxy RWD Caprice (the B body).

 

The 85-91 ones all looked very similar, in 91 GM had the bright idea of giving the different brand versions unique styling to make them all look different from each other -the Buick outsold the others and, IMO, has aged the best. In the 1990s this was one of GMs best sellers. The 3800 V6 is one of those engines that virtually any US mechanic knows and parts will be cheap and plentiful.

 

I've seen a few of these in the Illinois/Michigan area given the silly big chrome wheels treatment - which makes them look really 'budget pimp'.

 

If you're using it in the South you'll want to budget for getting the a/c back online!

[Ian Nexus]

I am going to my in-laws this afternoon to see if I can do a deal to get the Buick, then I will start working on getting it going. My neighbor is a car mechanic (also drives a Toyota pickup truck) and has given me the low down on common faults with these, check the wiring back from the crank sensor (it can chafe and short out) check crank sensor, and check fuel pump is delivering around 40 PSI.

I noticed that local Harbour Freight is selling a rather nice Towing A frame for $69 so might be good insurance against breaking down or just an easier way to get it home http://www.harborfreight.com/5000-lb-capacity-adjustable-tow-bar-94696.html I have use of a F-250 Diesel truck (6.9L Turbo) if needed to pull things. but it has faulty PAS and its a bit heavy on the steering for me.

[Ian Nexus]

The F-250 is a red one of these http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_F_Series.JPG its used mainly as a utility for pulling mobile homes and larger trailers has mas tow capacity around 8000 LB

[gtd2000]

I must admit that over here used cars are ridiculously over-priced but if you go to the "pull your own parts" type breakers yards parts can often be extremely cheap.

 

Some of the online places can give great deals on new parts (e.g. RockAuto.com) and there are online discount (5% off coupons) available at Fatwallet.com or Slickdeals.net all of the time too.

 

Saw a 2002 Hyundai XG on Craigslist "won't last long at this price" for $7500....

 

Then again, there was a 1999 Toyota Highlander for $11,999... makes the Hyundai XG look cheap!