Buick for a buck ???

[sublime4372]

So my phone rings the other night. Its my dad telling me that I have to buy his car (93 Park Ave.) Im thinking "oookkkkkk..whats the deal here?" I asked him how much? He said "how much you got in your pocket?" I told him "umm, 7 bucks..." He says "good, you only need one".

He then preceeds to come down here and give me an imaculate 93PA with about 60k on it. This thing has been to church and the grocery store. (and thats only when it wasnt raining or snowing..) Apparently he bought a new one and he has a van as well, so 3 were out of the question.

Well, now that Im done gloating, heres some questions for ya. Ive been over this forum and dont see to many complaints. Do these cars have a good or bad reputation?

The book says plugs every 30k. They easy or am I heading to the dealer?

Premium or mid-grade?

any idea on worth? (everything power, cassette (ew..) super clean in and out. new brakes and tires as well..

$$ on factory cd player??

[tman]

Excellent Deal!

Firstly, excellent reputation, They are Ultra(no pun intended) reliable, powerful, and classy!

Plugs depend on how much time you got, and how big your arm is. The front 3 are changed easily, the back 3 gives larger people, like myself trouble, but it can be done. If it runs fine, don't worry about the plugs and wires, but as soon as it acts up, that'd be the first thing to suspect...

premuim or midgrade? If it's an Ultra, go premium for better performance, but you should be alright with 87, unless you get knock, then try midgrade

worth- try http://www.kbb.com for pretty accurate results, don't be suprised to see a low number, these cars are underrated for their quality.

CD player- ebay usually has an ample supply of radios, just type in "Delco cd radio" just make sure that It's the correct size to fit, you'll find two versions however. One has an EQ, which is super expensive, and one with bass and treble toggle switches. The EQ one is better, but is a lot more money.

[parkavenuechrome]

Excellent Deal, Excellent Rep, plugs not to bad, if you not mechanically inclined go to the dealer.. Can be a bear. Get it serviced, and keep it well with that little mileage you have a car that will last you 200,000 miles plus if kept in great shape!

[avatar307]

Plugs....... sm...ugs. They are not that hard to change. NOTHING compared to the Water Pump! LOL

On the front, the flanges around the electric fans will leave your hands a little scrapped up. On the rear... the hardest part is getting in the best position. If you lay on top of the motor, you're in the prime position. In fact, that makes them EASIER than the front plugs.

The absolute hardest part of the whole deal is getting the new plugs in the holes... because of course, they don't all go in at the same horizontal or vertical angle. With the all the <stuff> 'they' are packing into the sides of the engine compartments, a '93 is probably a lot easier than a forward mounted late model V8.

Try finding and replacing the door lock relay on a 1995 Buick LeSabre. It under the drivers electric seat. Not only under the seat, it's under the carpeting AND the padding. So you have to unbolt the seat and pull it out. That alone will permanent rearrange your neck. Then take out the seat chassis. Then take out the trip strips holding the carpet down. (I recall breaking part of mine, as it is a continuous piece from front to back that is pinned under the trim covering the inner middle pillar.) -- Anyway, seems water seaps through the carpeting and shorts the relay out.

Two side notes. 1) The air bag DERM is under the passenger seat. Yeah... the Air Bag MIL light is still illuminated on my dash. Why? Because the dealer wants $180/hour just to diagnose and estimate the repair. 2) On some year models of the Park Avenue (1993, 1996, 1991, I can't remember), GM located the door lock relay in the driver front wheel well. It gets wet, shorts out, and starts a fire. GM has issued a recall.