Hi everyone! I saw this ad, "1985 BUICK RIVIERA, 69k, wife owned, must sell soon, white w/ blue int, paint in very good cond, $2,100", there was a picture with the ad and from what I could tell it looked like it was in pretty good shape. I know very little about Buicks. I'm 28, recently got a Bachelor Degree in Social Science, broke and with my degree probably will stay that way haha. I've been a VW lover. I've owned two Scirocco's, my first car ever, an '80 and my car for the last 6 yrs. an '88, and have also owned a Hyundai Excel (LOL) and a Honda Accord in between the VW's. There's always been something that has caught my eye about the body style on the Rivi and Eldorados and am very interested. It would be quite the transition from what I'm used to :grin: So I was wondering if somebody would be kind enough to share some information with me. 1. Their experience with this car (direct or indirect), reliability, maintainance, maintainance costs, any well known problems or issues with these cars, '85's in particular. 2. Share their routine on how and what I should do when looking at the car (assuming it hasn't been sold). Questions to ask, things to look for, test (oil [level & color], tranny [level & color], listen to when test driving, etc. Any help would be very much appreciated, thanks. Edit: Please use less "colorful" language in future posts. Brad Conley, moderator.
I can't really help you out but I'll throw a pic up for people unfamiliar with it. http://musclecarrestorations.com/gallery/GM-Buick-Riviera-85-000
front wheel drive boots and knuckles I think you need to check the boots to make sure they are not rip and letting water and dirt in. Ask if they have been replaced. Listen for clucking noise while turning sharply or have it checked out at a shop.
Cool - Check for any rust. Look for bubbles in the paint and blisters under the vinyl roof. Ask about any body damage /repairs. Ask if the car has been "garage kept". Ask if it has been driven in snow.(You don't say where you are) Look at any maintenance records and check for routine things like oil change etc. If any of this looks suspicious, run away. There are many of those years available and usually cheap. Good Luck - Bill PS - we are a friendly bunch here but please use less colorful language: Edit: Removed refrence to "colorful" language in first post. Brad Conley, moderator.
