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1988 Buick Electra Park Avenue For Sale With Just 3,000 Miles On The Clock

A like-new 1988 Buick Electra Park Avenue with just over 3,000 miles on the odometer recently appeared for sale via an online auction site.

This mint Buick Electra Park Avenue was listed for sale on Bring-A-Trailer earlier this week. According to the listing, the seller acquired this low-mileage Buick sedan in 2019 from the original owner’s grandson and has driven it sparingly in the time since, putting just 300 miles on it.

Power in the Electra comes from a naturally aspirated 3.8L V6 engine, which sends power to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. The battery, crankshaft position sensor and air conditioning compressor were all recently replaced and it also underwent a recent oil change. There are a few small problems with the vehicle, including a non-functioning fuel gauge, a sagging headliner and some small corrosion holes in the muffler. The vehicle is also being sold with the radiator removed, but the radiator will be included in the sale and can easily be re-installed by the new owner. The FM radio is also a bit staticky, the seller says, and the tape player may not be functioning properly.

The Buick Electra was positioned as a relatively affordable daily driver, so there’s no very many left in good condition like this one. Considering the seller purchased this vehicle from the original owner’s grandson, we can only assume that this vehicle was only driven so sparingly because it was owned by an elderly person for most of its life. A clean Carfax report and a clean Florida title in the seller’s name are included in the sale, giving interested parties some peace of mind when bidding on this 33-year old Buick four-door.

Bidding on this Electra sits at a surprisingly high $5,000 as of this writing with still five days left to bid. Check out the listing here for more information and photos.

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Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. I loved these old square bodies and a lot of other people did too actually they would sell for as much as newer models at auction.

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    1. I worked at a Buick dealer part time washing these cars while in high school. These were nice cars all around and they were solid. The Oldsmobile Ninety Eights were the same body and they were nice too.

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  2. I remember well when these downsized FWDs “full-size” cars hit the market. They were very disappointing because they were just as floaty and poor handling as their RWD predecessors, without the fun of being able to drift in the snow. The only exceptions were Buick’s T-Type which offered improved handling. This may be the best condition 1988 Park Avenue left but it’s not a car I would want!

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    1. Children were not the target audience for these cars. That might explain things. And, the cars sold well, and were sturdy.

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      1. Children? My 91 year old father was the target market for these cars as he owned a ’78 Park Avenue and an ’87 Electra T-Type (whose transmission failed at 40k) and still enjoys a smooth power slide in the snow. Fun driving isn’t just for the young.

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        1. That is not my down-tick. Your father reminds me of my late mother. She bought the first CTS sold in the Coachella valley and was 82 when she did. The salesman was very surprised that a little old lady from Sun City would buy a CTS. Her reply was: “Cadillac is looking at chronological age, but, they don’t consider those who are young at heart!”

          Mom was always the one my friends thought was cool. Their moms had station wagons and sedans; mom had things like Hudson Hornet convertibles, and a GORGEOUS 1953 New Yorker convertible in caramel brown. She was young at heart right until she passed just shy of 91.

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    2. The Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Touring Sedan, which was the same body, handled very well, had nice supporting sporty seats and rode on Goodyear Eagle GT’s. It was the car to have if you didn’t want the floaty. But these Buicks were meant to be floaty. They beat Cadillac for the money.

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    3. Handling upgrades were just 27 dollars away on the options list and by 1988 you could upgrade from the std 14″ tires to bigger 15’s.

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  3. “Originally owned by an elderly driver, obviously.”
    Never assume. ‘Obviously’? Not necessarily. There are more and more older cars with very low mileage out there for whatever reason, besides being owned by an ‘elderly’ person.

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  4. These cars road like a champ Had nice quality seats, engine is so easy to work on That’s why I like the square bodies YOU HV ROOM UNDER THE HOOD! As far as handling Well I drive straight way more than going around sharp curves you could easily put 16” Buick rims on it with better handling tires that would help like 30-40% good enough for me. But the way it sits now it can go through the snow passing these new cars all to hell the majority of these new vehicles have very low profile tires and they don’t bite in snow This Buick has a v shaped tire. In addition 90% of a regular new car rides like a log wagon This car will put u asleep, heck u can drive 400 miles straight and not get tires. These auto makers should realize that most older people wants a simple car no touch screen crap, heck Im 54 and I don’t like that stupid looking big ass screen sticking up out of the dash. I like 2 knobs on my stereo. A damn computer chip is the reason why u don’t see new cars these days, but we have a livable space station. Yeah!

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    1. The space station didn’t depend so much in Chinese suppliers.

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    2. I’m 90 and own a 2017 CT6. But I kept my 87 Brougham D’Elegance.
      I get more positive comments on the 87.

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    3. They handle just fine if you don’t drive them like a complete goon….

      If you’re going to complain about this, then I guess you would complain that a sporty car doesn’t float down the road like a cloud either…..

      What does everyone complain about on the new sporty Cadillacs? That they don’t float down the road like PeePops old Sedan deVille…..you can’t win.

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  5. Not bad, pretty stately even, except for the chrome door guards, pin stripes, and that godawful trunk mounted luggage rack.

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    1. That was the style for its target audience at the time. You could get a Electra T-Type if you didn’t want to leave Buick or Olds Touring, Bonneville SSE, and (if had the money) Deville Touring if you wanted a sporty H-body.

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  6. While some may gloss nostalgic on these cars the problem was this was the decline of GM. The RWD Park Ave was a much better car with its own personality.

    When GM forced these V6 fwd cars they all became just clones of each other. Sure Buick hinged the hood backwards but the cars were all the same.

    Pontiac even made a pro type of the Bonneville in a 2 door built on a Buick. coupe it too little work to make the Buick a Pontiac.

    These cars got better in the next gen but by then the damage was done.

    GM got away with these cars because they fooled many. Based on comments they are still fooled today.

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    1. It really was the expense of the W-body program and Saturn that got GM to get out of cars, those 2 programs alone in cost could had started a car company or made the GM core products competitive.

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      1. GM-10 (W) was a money pit disaster! Trillions spent and a noncompetitive group of cars resulted. With ALL THE MONEY thrown at the program the petty cost cutting was incredibly frustrating. They still haven’t learned..

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        1. The W body at one point was the 3 best selling car platform for many years, only bested by the F-series and the C/K pickups, the ludicrous stories about the W-body get more ridiculous every time they are repeated….

          Trillions….sure, why not, are you sure it wasn’t Kagllionzillionbilllions?

          They made the platform through 2014, I’m sure they made their ZILLIONS back at some point, maybe they even had enough left over for a cup of coffee…..

          At lot of people like to blame that pesky “FWD” which never caught on I guess, no one even makes FWD cars these days…..

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      2. The trouble at GM started in the 70’s. GM was hurting for money in the late 70’s to where they started to consolidate engines into corporate engines. This was to reduce the number of engines. Included in the plans were to cut the V8 engines and go all V6 and 4 cylinders. Yes even the Corvette team was looking at using two V6 engines for fear of the loss of the V8.

        They also looked at cutting Pontiac in the early 80’s. Only the draw of the new Trans Am and Fiero helping people to discover the Gran Am to record sales saved them.

        GM wanted everything FWD on as few platforms as possible. This lead to the disaster of the cars from the 80’s. They all looked alike and were all very compromised in styling. It was so bad at Cadillac it went for a immediate restyle. Ev3n the F body was planned for a modified H body called GM80. Luckily sales were lack luster so GM revised plans and acted to improve the full size car program.

        The later cars were much improved in the 90’s styling wise and build wise. Most of these 80’s cars are gone rotted out or just not worth fixing.

        My parents LaSabre was a much better car in 97 than any of these as was my 97 SSEI. Even then they still suffered FWD.

        The W cars were a disappointment at first but again they had to be updated to be what they needed to be by the late 90’s.

        Saturn was an entire different issue all to its own due to neglect, miss management and under funding.

        GM may have grown money at these programs but they still never spent enough to finish the cars right. They wasted much in the poor management of these programs.

        While there were some good things with these cars as they were still better than the Chrysler cars and many Fords they still were just poorly planned for the market.

        GM management and marketing of this era was at it’s worst and they were lucky Ford and Chrysler were nearly as bad off. But this is where Honda and Toyota gained ground as did BMW on Cadillac.

        Hey I get it these cars are nostalgic to think about as I remember the good parts too. But the history is clear that they lacked what GM needed and did not cause but continued the decline of the company to bankruptcy.

        As the head of the Camaro program told. He said they were always funded well for the drive train and the suspension. But when they looked inside the money was never enough. This is why headliners fell and the the power Windows failed.

        There was not one single person, car or issue that killed GM it was a series of individual mistakes and failures that killed GM. These GM cars of the 80’s were just a poor decision that required much money and time to fix.

        While GM is not perfect today a smaller less complicated GM is operating much better and much more tech based vs where they were. There is still room for improvement but at least they are improving.

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        1. As a Flint native born and raised in GM cars from the stylish ’60s through the awful ’80s, I also remember it all too well.
          Please, no more Roger Smith nightmare tales! The horror. The horror.

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        2. I think the militant “hate your company but love their benefits” UAW labor might need to be added to this list, you know, the guys that showed up to work high or drunk or both, when they bothered to show up at all…..

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    2. They didn’t “force” anything. They offered these cars and those who wanted them, bought them.

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      1. And for many it was the last gm product they ever bought

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    3. I rarely if ever stand up to defend GM, But this platform (H) i think cant remember, was a massive improvement over the old 1977 BOF layout. Ride, aerodynamics, build quality, performance and efficiency were all improved. The reduction in wind noise was incredible.. I was never a fan of the cars that the 1985’s replaced. My one disappointment was that they could and should have been larger. Even 6 inches more wheelbase would have been good.

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      1. These cars were basically locked in around 1981, and they were really due to launch around 1983, for GM’s 75th Anniversary. They were designed after the 3rd gas crisis in 1979, when people were predicting $2-3.00/gallon gas by 1985, if it was going to be available at all, combine the fuel shocks with the MASSIVE downturn in full size cars sales between 1979 to 1983 and you can see why these were why they were.

        You can see that GM moved to correct the “too short” styling starting with the 1989 Cadillacs and the 1991 Park Avenue and Ninety Eight.

        I like the big BOF B and C cars, but these C/H body cars were really great cars too. Its not like GM didn’t still offer a RWD car through 1996 for ever decreasing people that still wanted them, we’ve come full circle today, GM most popular cars today are over 5000lb BOF bruisers……

        But everyone here is an armchair CEO…..

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      2. And the 1977 B and C body cars were massive improvements in every way to the 1971-76 generation overweight and oversized land cruisers before them so time era context is important. The drastically downsized 1985 C body and 1986 H body cars was a case of taking things too far, especially considering how the economy and market improved and sales of larger vehicles rose. Sure they handled and maneuvered better and were quicker and a bit better on gas. But as noted by many at the time width and trunk space were down to the point that only 4-5 could ride comfortable and much less luggage could be brought along. The RWD cars also had better ride quality and isolation with their full frames and were easier in some cases to work on and more time tested and reliable. I do remember the 1985-1987 versions of these having 440 trans axle issues, steering rack problems, sensor failures and climate control bugs to name a few. Thankfully much of this was worked out by 1988 and the LaSabre and Park Ave were named most reliable American sedans of that time era.

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  7. Ah, now those were the day I miss. I started in my auto sales career in 1988 at the Buick, Cadillac, GMC and Honda store. I sold a lot of these including to my parents. They actually had a 1985 PA which was a great car after the trans problem was fixed. It was the car that got me interested in the Buick line. They got the 1988 from me and then a 1991. When my dad passed away, they had a 2007 LaCrosse and then my mom ended up with a 2011 LaCrosse till she stopped driving last year. Every Buick they ever owned was super reliable.

    Funny how comfy those seats were. The car could hit 32 mpg on highway all day long, was reliable and plenty of room. This car would be an easy project to get into perfect shape. The headliner, radiator and radio are all normal. It just goes to show that a car sitting too much can develop issues too.

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    1. My parents owned one of these and I still have memories of how incredibly comfortable it was. The seats and carpeting were velvety soft and super plush. These cars were never meant for track day but they had a very nice ride, were reliable, decently quick and got great fuel economy. While the current flock of cars have improved in many ways they could still learn a thing or two about comfort from this era.

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      1. The seats! somehow they were everything you mentioned – velvety soft, incredibly plush, comfortable – but still durable. even with over 200k miles on these cars, the seats would hardly look worn.

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  8. i have a sky lark biuck
    very good car

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  9. These were the cars my siblings and I had in our high school and college years. Our family had an ’86 PA, couple ’89 LeSabres, and a couple ’90 LeSabres over the years.
    Maybe it’s the nostalgia kicking in, but those were great cars. Great gas mileage, comfortable ride, all kinds of room, and easy to work on.

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  10. Nice big comfortable seats because… NO CONSOLE!!!!

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    1. The T type had a console that I was grateful for. Personally have always perferd consoles.

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      1. They were fine when they weren’t the size of a young chest freezer.

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    2. Not only no console, but also fairly flat and with actual cushions. You can thank the auto magazines, the German car buyers and GM for chasing after them for all this.

      I personally know numerous people who stopped buying Oldsmobile when they stopped putting split bench seats in. Probably no truth to this, but I’ve heard that was the beginning of the end for Olds. If I could buy a car with today’s reliability, overall fuel efficiency and safety but with split bench seat that are comfortable (like in this PA), I’d buy that car!

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  11. I believe most of the negative comments about this period of Cars come from people that never owned one or were not around at that time. They seem to have a chip on their shoulder are negative about everything and the world.

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    1. They were nicely done cars. A lot of criticism over the shared roof line with the olds and somewhat Cadillac.

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      1. The funny thing is that the cars aren’t as identical as people make them out to be, they just look alike but virtually none of the body panels will interchange between a deVille, Park Avenue and Ninety Eight…..

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  12. When first drove the new 1985 Electra was so impressed by how the 3.8 V6 got the car around. Soon later got hold of a T Type and the handling was great… Had so much fun seeing who could figure out how to open the hood. It slid forward then hinged up. No one got it first time….

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  13. I have had several of these cars of the years. I think they are completely underappreciated. Very Roomy and comfortable on the inside yet not that big and cumbersome on the outside. The 3.8 V6 was bulletproof. Sales were actually pretty strong for these – here are the numbers for 1988 (per Standard Catalog of Buick) Electra Limited 5191 Electra Park Avenue 84853 Electra T-type 1869
    I think the Oldsmobile numbers were similar.

    Here is the list of what I have owned over the years:
    1988 Buick Electra Park Avenue with the 3.8 gas
    1985 Buick Electra Park Avenue with the 4.3 diesel
    1985 Oldsmobile 98 with the 4.3 diesel
    1990 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan with the 3.8 gas (my favorite of the group)

    *yes they sold the 4.3 V6 diesel in a FWD version in a very limited number it was also available in the RWD Cutlass Supreme. I had one of those as well. Much better engine than the 350 diesel. It was actually built as a diesel from the start and has nothing to do with the infamous 350 even though many think it did

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    1. I had one and loved it put over 400,000 miles on it Electra t type easy to work on the engine sideways copied the Honda Accord was a much better car then the Accord that was when it first came out and the Honda engines to I’m not sure how Honda became so popular with all the problems it had

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      1. Other cars had transverse engines before the Accord, the Mini starting in 1959.

        GM had a transverse FWD V6 in 1980 before Honda ever thought about making a V6 in 1986.

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    2. @Scott: You not only had one, but two of the 4.3 Diesels? Wow! I’ve been watching for one for years (I’m kind of strange with the older cars I like, such as the Cimarron and these with the v6 diesel).

      How did you like those? MPG? Boy, there were very few of those ever produced. At one time, I did find a 1984 Century with the 4.3 Diesel and drove that for a while. I liked it.

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      1. Yes the diesels were fun. More than once somebody tried to stop me at the diesel pump from putting diesel in my Olds 98 diesel! I found the Buick diesel first and had it shipped to me. I did not have that one long though before I found the Oldsmobile which was much in better condition. They do not come up very often, for sure. I sold the Buick to a college professor who altered it to run on french fry oil and then used it in one of his classes.

        I also have a strange attraction to cars that are maligned by the media, but are often actually pretty decent. certainly helps with the price. I passed the two with the 3.8’s on to my daughters who both ran them to around 200K without problems and then sold them running perfectly fine to someone else.

        Funny you should mention the Cimarron. It may only exist on paper but I have been watching for an 85 or 86 Cimarron with the V6 and a manual for years. I have only ever seen the manual in the 82 and 83 4 cylinder cars, but I do not want that engine.

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  14. Our driver ed car was that era Buick LeSabre. It was a darn nice car.

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  15. The saying goes if you dont use it you lose it

    I found that out in 1968 when I bought a 58 Pontiac chieftain convertible with 17000 miles. It leaked fluid from every orifice
    NO THANKS

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  16. I had one and loved it put over 400,000 miles on it Electra t type easy to work on the engine sideways copied the Honda Accord was a much better car then the Accord that was when it first came out and the Honda engines smoked out the tailpipe bad I’m not sure how Honda became so popular with all the problems it had

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  17. The85 m

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  18. I would LOVE to buy this car! It was my dad’s last car… even the color is the same. He’s been gone 11 years and would have turned 100 yrs old this year. The last several years he was alive I drove him in this car. I had to laugh when I read the description as his radio also didn’t work well. And his headliner was coming off in many places !! Oh what sweet, sweet memories looking at these pictures!

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    1. That’s the best post yet! Love cars that bring back fond memories!!

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  19. We had a couple of “Parks” in the family when I was a teenager and got to drive them once in a while. I absolutely loved these cars. They were super comfy with those big pillow-top seats, easy to drive, great in snow, very reliable, built like tanks, and were very well-thought-out. I loved the clamshell hood and other slick Buick-only features like the drop-in rear license plate holder, and hinged taillamp assemblies for easy bulb replacement. The “electronic touch” climate control was pretty slick as well. And best of all, it was a true Buick with a Buick engine.

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  20. We sold a crap load of these cars whether Buick, Olds or Pontiac. The first couple of years from 1985 to around 1987 had known issues with racks, transmissions, sticking doors and climate control units going wonky in the rain. Most of this was sorted out by 1988 as they even smoothed out the 3.8 with the balance shafted 3800 version which also added 15 horses up to 165. These 3.8’s were capable of lasting over 300K and it was actually quite common to see these cars with 200-300K on the odometers from folks that traveled in the auctions going for peanuts.

    I owned a 1985 Park Avenue coupe in brown with a tan leather interior and loved that car despite a few issues. We picked it up for a mere 500 bucks as part of a used car package from a new car dealer. It had well over 100K but ran flawlessly. The 3 problems it had were the rack which stiffened up on left turns, a 440 trans axle that was long shifting and I later discovered the wonky climate control that would error out after a good rain. Surprisingly all 3 were super easy fixes. A good transmission service and replacement modulator valve had it shifting like new again, some trans X and replacement steering fluid eliminated the hard left turn steering and a simple 15 dollar sensor behind the grille cured the climate control. After doing these items this car was super reliable and I drove it for several Winters because it was so good in the snow and put another 50K on it. We then cleaned it back up and re-sold it at the dealership and got 1500 bucks for it. Lots of fun memories with this one.

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  21. It’s a park avenue not an Electra park avenue

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  22. I had a ’86 Electra 380 which was the fwd replacement for the rwd Electra Ltd. Living in Mn., it was a Georgia car with new motor & trans. but what a money pit. Replaced just about the entire brake system, discovered the gas tank had a hole in the top of it due to the previous owner drilling holes in the rear floor under the seat cushion for his cell phone base, but patched it. I also replaced the headliner & got rid of those horrible wire wheel covers, the kind you could flex & replaced them with some decent salvage yard aluminum rims. After all, it was my year around car to protect my ’84 Cutlass Supreme Brougham.
    Overall, it was a decent car & I made out ok when I collected for some hail damage.
    Then I owned a ’91 Lesabre Ltd. Had to replace the trans. on that.
    Now I own a ’09 Lucerne CXL. Love the car but just got done drying the carpets because the a/c drain hose unknowingly plugged up on me and I had soaked carpet padding and only noticed when the rear carpet showed up wet one day. It all goes back together after I re-dye. This happens more often than you think.

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