Need Advice- 1991 Buick Park Avenue

[EricBeau]

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but here I am. I have an opportunity to buy this 1991 Park Avenue with 205k miles (2-owner car) for $1,000.00.

Any reason I shouldn’t? It would be a “fun” car; consider it my first “classic”. This car was sold to its first owner only four days after I was born; I think that’s a sign!

It’s in really good shape. Sure, it has a few minor leaks (coolant and oil from what I can see) but it wouldn’t be a daily driver; I have a 2016 Civic for that job.

Let me hear your thoughts!

 

[atikovi]

Sure, why not. If it runs and drives ok, that's a $1500 car on Facebook, easy. Even with the cracked fender.

 

[Chris142]

Plan on retrofitting the ac over to r 134a.

 

[carviewsonic]

For $1000 and assuming it drives o.k. why not, as long as:
Coolant isn't mixing with the oil, steering gear and brakes are safe, and the check engine light isn't on.
They are reliable cars and easy to repair, you just don't want to sink too much money into it.

 

[Dinoburner]

Bought a 1992 Lesabre new and ran it 12 years then the mechanic who bought ran it 6 more years. Got sick of it actually.

 

[eljefino]

Today I learned that 90s cars have a unique, dated style sought out by collectors who were too young to remember when they roamed the roads.

 

[Brian123]

I test drove this same car back in the early 90's when my friend worked at a Buick Dealer, great cruiser, so YES!

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but here I am. I have an opportunity to buy this 1991 Park Avenue with 205k miles (2-owner car) for $1,000.00.

Any reason I shouldn’t? It would be a “fun” car; consider it my first “classic”. This car was sold to its first owner only four days after I was born; I think that’s a sign!

It’s in really good shape. Sure, it has a few minor leaks (coolant and oil from what I can see) but it wouldn’t be a daily driver; I have a 2016 Civic for that job.

Let me hear your thoughts!

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View attachment 90159

You had better jump on that deal!

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Any car that runs and drives is worth $1000

You and you car can even celebrate birthdays together

 

[blufeb95]

With the way the market is now, you can pretty much only get scrap for $1000

 

[Bladecutter]

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but here I am. I have an opportunity to buy this 1991 Park Avenue with 205k miles (2-owner car) for $1,000.00.

Any reason I shouldn’t? It would be a “fun” car; consider it my first “classic”. This car was sold to its first owner only four days after I was born; I think that’s a sign!

I had a '92 Buick Park Avenue Ultra (Supercharged 3800 engine, black exterior, grey leather interior) that I bought used back in 2000.
That car was the last GM product I will ever buy.

When it worked, it was a fantastic highway car, and was also decent in snow.
Good long distance highway mileage, too, about 30 mpg on trips from NYC to New Brunswick.

But, oh god, was it a never ending saga of replacing parts.

Rear air adjust shocks x 2.
Front struts.
Harmonic balancer.
Crankshaft position sensor.
Cam position sensor magnet fell off of the cam gear, but I never replaced it, and just lived with the CEL for years.
Front engine mount failed twice, replaced it once, and just lived with it for years.
Every year, like clockwork, I would have to replace the ignition wires, because they would ground out on the engine block somewhere, and cause misfires.
Bose radio died, and I replaced it with a Sony head unit.
Headliner unglued itself from the ceiling, and annoyed the heck out of me.
Transmission failed, had it replaced, and the first drive after getting it back the differential part of the transmission literally exploded right around the corner from my house when I was going to the grocery store.
Nosecone on the supercharger always rattled, and leaked oil.
Water pump died, and needed to be replaced.
Exhaust system rotted out, so I had to replace it.
ABS pump always had an internal seal leak, and lead to a squishy pedal feel, until the abs kicked in, and then the brake pedal was nice and firm.
EGR valve died, and was replaced.
Every time I accelerated the engine past 3/4 throttle from a standing start, it would blow the fuel pump fuse. Never found the cause of the short, and lived with that, and a bag full of fuses for years.

Eventually, the hood release cable stretched so much from overuse that you couldn't pop the hood anymore, and when the battery died, and I couldn't get under there to fix it, I had it towed to the junkyard.

I actually moved from NYC to Denver in 2006, and I moved on my '89 Honda Pacific Coast, because I couldn't get the hood open in order to change the battery, so I just moved away without the car, and called the junk yard to come and get it.

By the end, I hated that car with a burning passion that hasn't left me to this day, even though its now been almost 16 years since I was freed of its death grip on my wallet.

BC.

 

[nwjones18]

Go for it if you like it. My dad has a 95 lesabre he still drives on his 100 mile commute a few times a month. He loves that thing and it is a comfortable highway cruiser.

 

[Malo83]

Go for it, let a detailer clean her up and you a nice cruiser.

 

[brianl703]

For $1000 and assuming it drives o.k. why not, as long as:
Coolant isn't mixing with the oil, steering gear and brakes are safe, and the check engine light isn't on.
They are reliable cars and easy to repair, you just don't want to sink too much money into it.

Those things have such rudimentary diagnostics that anything causing the check engine light to be on isn't likely to be very difficult or expensive to fix.

It's not like OBD-II where a check engine light could mean that a $1500 cat is bad.

 

[michaelluscher]

Running driving car for that money, I'd take it in a heartbeat

There's a whole series of Buick know how (vintage dealer training films) on YouTube to help you troubleshoot it

 

[Gyro Gearloose]

I bought the 1992 version of that exact car from my parents for a daily driver with only 65K miles on it. I actually loved the car but it just fell apart on me. The ignition switch had to be replaced, the electronic heater controls quit working and I could not find replacement electronic parts for a 12 yr old car so I had to hotwire the blower with a mechanical off/on switch. The electric rear windows had an intermittent fault nobody could find and before I sold it the driver’s window had quit totally. I sold it with only 85k miles because the rear ball joints had worn out and it couldn’t be aligned without new ball joints. The rear ball joints had grease fittings we were not aware of so they had never been greased. It had also developed a weird loping motion in the front end when pulling hard in top gear which somebody told me was half shaft cv joints worn out. Oh, and as Bladecutter mentioned, the shocks and struts had a very short life and I had to replace them too. Proceed with caution and a volt/ohm meter.

 

[Dave9]

The question is WHY? My family had 3 GMs of similar vintage and tech, and they all rode (handled) like CRAP unless it was just a straight, smooth highway. Handling was a joke, even steering ratio was a joke. The pontiac version, stiffer suspension tried to improve that, but it just had too much weight outside the wheelbase.

Even so, the 3800 was bulletproof except for that fact that it wasn't. The aluminum intake manifold is good, a little loss of HP but less risk of getting brittle and cracking causing a coolant leak and possible hydrolock. Even so, expect to need to replace the intake manifold gaskets at some point, even again if it's already been done once which is likely at that mileage.

Look at the engine subframe, it may be rusted out at the mount by now. My last of that vintage looked perfect from the exterior bodywork when that had already rotted.

I don't mean to imply that it's especially troublesome. Well it is compared to a Toyota or Honda of that era of same size selling for more, just sayin' that I've been there and been sole maintainer of 3 very similar vehicles and in retrospect, have a negative feeling about them, like they were horses that should've been shot to be put out of their misery because they weren't all that great even when brand new and working as well as the design allowed. lol.

On the other hand, it could still be the best you can get for $1000. Once a vehicle reaches a certain age, owner maintenance means a lot and repairs are inevitable anyway. If the underbody rust is minimal, with some repairs to keep it going, it could last a long time but that almost seems like a negative to me (see above, putting a horse out of it's misery) as it's a really terrible ride like you are floating out of control, which is fine if you are on your couch tripping off LSD but not so much on a road with other maniacs. lol.

 

[clinebarger]

If it has Auto HVAC.....The system is overly complicated & quality replacement parts are hard to come by. The Harrison H6 compressor will leak if it isn't already.

Can't live with Coolant Leaks, They become large "engine destroying" leaks in the blink of an eye! If the radiator is full of rust....Run away! This is an neglected "Old Car" thing, Not anything particular to this car.

The 4th gear hub splines are a weak point in 4T60E units, While not as bad as early 4T65E about stripping the splines.....It can still happen in the 200,000 mile range. The Side Cover is sealed with a Cork Gasket & is notorious leaking after 20 or so years.

I think someone already mentioned the Harmonic Balancer, Especially if it's still original is a weak point.

C & W Platform cars were pretty good in their day, I had a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville that my wife put 300,000 almost trouble free mile on, The 4th gear hub did strip not long after I sold it to my cousin. He drove it in D3 for a couple years 'til it was totaled in an accident.

Buying a 30 year old 200,000 mile anything doesn't sound appealing to me.

 

[Redright9]

My vote is to buy it. For $1000 now days, you cannot find a car hardly that runs and drives. Those cars (with the exception of some) generally have great reliability and reasonable fuel economy. I say buy it and enjoy a cheap car that is saving you money on your nice expensive cars.

 

[Lubener]

Can't go wrong for $1k if the transmission functions. It has the potential to be a money pit. I wouldn't get carried away with it since it will never be worth much no matter what you do to it. Keep it safe to drive and run it till it you can't economically keep it safe to be on the road. It's a puddle jumper.