With a majority of production taking place during the malaise era, the tenth-generation Oldsmobile 98 is indicative of its time period – boxy, floaty, and hugely inefficient. Today, you have the opportunity to purchase a 1981 Oldsmobile 98 Regency that appears to be in great condition despite its age.
This particular Oldsmobile sedan is posted for sale online, and is in unrestored original condition. Listed in the Cleveland, Ohio area for nearly $20,000, this 98 Regency features just 13,000 miles.
The most notable aspect of this 1981 98 Regency is undoubtably the powertrain, as it’s equipped with the infamous Oldsmobile Diesel. For those who may be unaware, the naturally aspirated 5.7L V8 LF9 diesel engine is well known for its various shortcomings. More specifically, General Motors decided to keep the head bolt design and pattern the same as the original gasoline 5.7L V8 the LF9 engine was based off of. Unfortunately, due to the immense pressures diesel engines experience, catastrophic head bolt failures were a common occurrence.
Another noteworthy piece GM skimped out on was the lack of a water separator. During this time period, high-quality diesel fuel was difficult to come by, and was often diluted with water.
Interestingly, sales of the LF9 diesel peaked in 1981 at 310,000 units. However, demand drastically dropped off shortly thereafter, and the Oldsmobile Diesel was discontinued following the 1985 model year.
Getting back to this 98 Regency, the exterior is painted in a stark white and is complimented nicely by a red interior colorway. The seller notes that the 80s sedan is equipped with a limited-slip differential, as well as extensive documentation.
So, what do you think? Is the $19,900 asking price too steep for this 1981 Oldsmobile 98 Regency due to infamous legacy of the Oldsmobile Diesel? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comment section below!
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Comments
Trey, let’s clean this up some ok?
First you say ” boxy, floaty, and hugely inefficient.” So this large and very comfortable car that will consistently get 30 MPG highway while having a roomy interior and trunk is a bad thing? Few vehicles sold today that can carry more than 4 people in comfort still don’t get the MPG this car would get.
Second, anyone who knows anything about the Olds diesel from 1978 (late 1977) also knows that it was the first couple years where these issues were prominent. This one (1981) would have the completely re-done 5.7 diesel with the many upgrades/changes. There were tons of these that ran up 200K plus with little to no issues. We also know the water separator was missing (wrongly) at first, but GM corrected that early on and many buyers were able to have them installed for free.
There, now this article will be correct and informative as it should have been to start. But back to your actual question: Is it worth the nearly 20 grand? No. IMO, this is a very serious car at 10 grand and if it’s truly mint and runs well, it could easily bring more. But not 20 grand.
I owned 2 GM diesels. Both Cadillac’s. Had several mechanics tell me the best thing to do with the 5.7 liter diesels is to drive it like you stole it and beat the crap.out of it. These engines don’t do well with prolonged idling and love to rev. They where most happy running highway speeds at 70 mph. Buy diesel fuel from truck stops or stations that have high turn over of diesel . And last but not least be faithful with oil changes. I did all of the above and never had any issues with these engines.
GMC General: You nailed it. Even some of the early ones (pre 1981) did well under those conditions or close to that. I also found that many farmers loved them because (at that time yet) they could just pull up to the diesel tank and fill them up! Because farmers understood diesel’s better, they had less issues and did most of the upkeep themselves. I have personal experiences with these where farmers owned the exact same car, year, model of car as friends living in town. Not all cases, but in many the in town owners has more issues than the farm owned cars.
LOL, Dan B. When I saw the picture of this car on GMA you popped in my mind, somehow, I knew you would be the first to comment and set the record straight. Thumbs up to you my friend. As far as the 98, it’s a beauty.
My neighbor had a 98 Regency just like this one here and it was a beautiful car, except for the engine. He couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.
This is very similar to my first car which was a 1981 Oldsmobile Delta 88. Literally, “my father’s Oldsmobile.” It was a love / hate relationship with that car. I was 17 in 1990 when the car was handed over to me. The boxy, old man design of the car couldn’t have been more dull to me. Light beige exterior with dark brown vinyl interior. BUT, that car could fit myself and 6 more friends at the time and had a trunk which could store at least 3 bodies. It was “floaty” but you could steer the power steering wheel with your pinky. Blew ice cold AC better than any car I’ve had since. Took some great road trips in that machine during my coming of age years. Now, would I spend $20k to relive that memory, no. Maybe $5k….but my wife would kill me even at that price point!
TriSt8Z: Your comment about the “myself and 6 more friends” and “trunk which could store at least 3 bodies” cracked me up. I admit to nothing, but I recall (a friend!!!) who’s parents had a 1979 Cadillac DeVille. When my (Ahem, I mean my friends) parents purchased a brand new 1985 Chevy Cavalier sedan, they liked to drive that most of the time. That allow me……….my friend to drive the 79 Caddy a lot more. I recall a specific nice summer night when there were about 6 of us in that car with the huge sunroof open. One attractive young lady decided to stand on the seat next to me and stick her head out the roof as we went over a hill at, let’s say, a reasonably fast speed and caught some air.
Dangerous and stupid? Yes. But fun at that moment? Also yes. Let’s just say I’ve matured over the years.
Dan B: Haha…those were the days!!
Scary thought! I don’t think I’d stick around! Sounds like you have a target on your back!
Family had an Olds diesel wagon of this vintage. The 5.7 blew up like many did, but instead of converting it to gas (like many also did) the previous owner put a 6.2 diesel in it. Now THAT was a tank, comfortable and IIRC 30 MPG too. Wish we still had it.
Official car of the church parking lot
You could drive for hours in these cars. So comfortable. Great visibility and quiet. Family had several scans and wagons from 1977-1995. Nothing like them anymore which is probably a bad thing. Getting in and out front or back seats was never a problem for any age group.
WOW dreamed once to live in Florida and have such… now too late.
Not my style but I would buy it for the engine. A coworker had a diesel Cutlass and it was a great car. It got 30 mpg which was unbelievable at the time. Back then diesel fuel was cheaper than gas so it was super cheap to drive. We were working on a power plant construction site in northern Indiana in the early 80’s. I remember getting in it on a very cold dark winter morning after a night shift and wondering if it would start. He hit the glow plugs and waited a bit and it fired right up!
No not worth $20 grand I would say about $10,000 would be itI owned 2 Chevrolets with this engine and got in the 30,s with them and put over 150,000 miles on them. IThis injection system was susceptible to bad fuel and it would clog the inlet filter and deteriorate the o rings in the injection unit. I had it rebuilt and told to be careful where you buy your fuel.Overall they were fine cars and diesel fuel wasn’t outrageous in cost.
My Father owned 2 of these faux Oldsmobile diesels. 1 Delta 88 sedan and 1 Cutlass wagon. They both blew up. The wagon had low miles & Olds still wanted about $3500 exchanged. As part of the HUGE Class Action Lawsuit Olds put a motor in it. I grabbed it and sold it cheap just to get rid of it. I then ordered my Father a brand new Crown Vic that lasted until he couldn’t drive any more.
All I ever had was good luck with my 5.7 diesels. The record was my 1981 Coupe DeVille. 277,000 miles. The only hiccup was getting the pelthane ring in the injection pump replaced around 200K. Like others have said, religious oil changed and clean fuel. Only other expenses were tires and brakes. The only reason I traded was I needed a change. Went to a 1983 Riviera diesel.
Would love this exact car but with the Olds 307 not the diesel. I would have ordered it with the optional 3.23 rear gearing, firm ride HD suspension and gauge cluster. Those items made a big difference in the way these cars drove and felt and totaled under a hundred bucks for all 3 when new!
The car looks good, but i wouldn’t tough anything with this engine. My parents had a Chevy Caprice Classic Station Wagon with this engine and it was awful. We took it on three vacations and it broke down every time. It would stall, had a lumpy idle that made you think it was going to die, and would often spray diesel fuel out all over the top of the engine. When i was 16 years old, I fired the car up to go somewhere, and the engine was surging and bucking. I pulled over and fuel was dumping out on to the ground. I turned it off, walked home, and called my dad. He was upset that i didn’t leave it running! His hope was that someone would steal it or that the fuel being sprayed out under the hood would ignite and burn the car to the ground! Neither happened. Instead he sold it for a massive discount when it was only three years old. I never saw a man hate something as much as my dad hated the GM 5.7 diesel engine.
Dave T: Stories like yours are (I am assuming) true and real. It’s sad that people had issues like that.
I don’t want to sound like I’m just defending the 5.7 diesel, because there were issues. But I often wonder when I hear (read) stories like yours, what the rest of the story is/was. What year was that one? Did your parents buy it new? Who worked on it? Stuff like that.
My thought process seems to always go to the fact that there are a lot of bad mechanics (now referred to as technicians) who just didn’t know what they were doing. I’ll give an example for me personally. It’s on a 2005 diesel Jeep Liberty. This was the first year for them and I jumped on the first one that came to the dealership I was working for at that time. Within a short time, I was having issues with the check engine light coming on and the Jeep kept burning through EGR valves. That dealership had just gotten a brand new hand held scanner/computer and the tech who was working on my car had zero idea how to use it. I was standing right there when he just started pushing buttons as it was hooked to my Liberty!! Long story short, he completely eliminated the vehicle’s computer programs and the Jeep was dead. They couldn’t even move it, so it sat there for 3 days as they ordered an entire new computer system for it. I’m sure that cost Jeep at least a couple grand under “warranty” due to the tech’s incompetence.
So my point is that your story sounds a lot like a tech who messed stuff up and caused many more issues.
Follow up on my diesel Jeep EGR issues. It ended up that the fuel in the US at that time was NOT ultra low sulfur content and my Jeep was built for the European diesel standards with the ultra low content. What Jeep ended up finding out was the high sulfur in our diesel at that time was causing the issues I and many others had.
You may be on to something. This does happen. As a rule most dealership Tech’s are well trained and are the cream of the crop. There are exceptions. If you’ve ever been tasked with hiring people, you’ll understand. Some less than satisfactory ones can get through under the radar but are usually found out soon. In a good shop, Tech’s help each other out if one gets stuck on something. Understand something about diesels though. They are NOT gas engines (obviously). They require specially trained Tech’s and that is something you are much more likely to find in a new vehicle dealership. The shade trees and many independents just don’t have the finances for the special tools and training required.
Dan B, my parents bought the car new, a 1983 Chevy Caprice Station Wagon, at Conrad Chevrolet in Lexington, KY in January of ’83. Because it was under warranty, and because my parents bought the three-year extended warranty, it was always serviced there. I took my drivers test in this car. It only had 105 hp, but it had tons of torque. It was nice to drive, when it ran, but it was the most unreliable car they ever owned. They replaced it with a new 1983 Caprice Classic Wagon with a gas 5.0 and a four speed automatic. Other than having the transmission rebuilt once, that one was almost bullet proof. They kept it for 20 years and ran it into the ground. Good vehicle.
I had that same Olds. Worthless motor in a comfy car. $10 K tops.
Diesel? stay away. head aches waiting down RT 66. it is a beautiful car, if it were a gas engine.
The diesels were hit or miss. But the old oldsmobile v8 gas engines would last 300k plus. Alot were put into Chevrolet trucks in the late 70s when they had all those quality issues. The most comfortable cars ever built nothing today is as comfortable.
The left front fender seems to have mismatched paint? I don’t think it left the factory at GM this way?
Just my opinion!
I grew up driving my dad’s 1978 Buick Park Avenue which is basically the same car right down to the bordello red velvet interior. Except mercifully, it had the 350 gas engine. Boxy, floating, and hugely inefficient are understatements. Don’t forget downright ugly. Knowing these GM-era cars as well as I do, you could not put enough cash in the trunk of this 98 to park it in my garage.
On the other hand, I would take my dad’s ’55 Olds Super 88 in a GM heartbeat!
It was really the last of the luxury cars. I had an 1982 Diesel Toronado that I put 489,000 miles on and never had any engine issues. Today I drive a 1984 Cutlass Ciera with a 4.3L Diesel and gets 40+ mpg.
It’s worth the 20 grand considering how rare it is and great shape it’s in, to me, if I had room for it it’d be mine😊
Ed yes, I too own a Pontiac grand am 4cyclinder, tricked out. Curb finders, and all. I added a super turbo, but it didn’t work out the way I wanted. So I put a Hugh spoiler on the trunk. I painted it neon orange to get the attention. Now o just park it at car shows. Never won a ribbon yet, but soon.
Nice car love olds. Should of never stopped making them. Would love to buy but fostering 6 kids is expensive. The price is a little high considering we know how much they went for brand new. But it is an eye catcher