Car Question

[Kikiyo]

I have a car question. Figured this would be the best place for it since a lot of my friends and co-workers aren't car people.

I am looking to buy a car for cheap. Something that I would drive during winter or a really hot summer day when I don't want to walk to the bus stop, or to a mall or family. Not a lot of driving as I hate driving.

My friend's sister has a car for sale, it's in great condition. It's a 1996 Buick Riviera with 130,000 miles on it. For $2,000, is this a good deal and does someone know anything about this car that they can share?

[Berae]

The red ones go faster.

[Kikiyo]

But the black one is harder to get.

[Domathoine]

Kikiyo: I drive a 1999 Buick Riviera and love it. We paid 5k on the nose for it, I think, and I feel it has been worth every penny.

[Peotr]

Thank you, Berae, for another unhelpful comment.

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I love Rivieras, and 1996 was an especially beautiful car (I used to own a 1969 'Dominator' series Riviera with the 360 hp 430 V8.)

The only thing I'd say about the car is a generalization: The Buick Riviera is supposed to be a sporty luxury coupe, designed to be feature-compared with a BMW or Mercedes. Cars of this class (in this era) are loaded with second-generation electronics (first generation being things like electronic ignition, fuel injection, computer controlled timing, ABS - stuff that has trickled down to the economy cars) and include features like traction control, speed-assisted power steering tension, cabin humidity, driving position presets, variable engine compression, computer-aided shift dampeners, computer-monitored maintenance intervals, hub-based system electronics, and a host of other shit that is expensive to fix.

BMW and Mercedes are expensive cars, but they are engineered for greater reliability, and these second-generation features were put on a larger portion of their product line. The Rivieras are made by GM, and although they are beautiful they just aren't built as well, and the second generation features that GM built for the Riviera may have appeared on less than 100,000 cars. That means when it breaks you could pay as much to have it fixed as you paid for the car.

I would also find out how much a new set of tires cost. This was the start of the transition to non-metal reinforced belting and super-short sidewalls, and if you get the wrong vintage of car you could be paying $1,000.00 just for replacement tires.

[Lonskils]

Find a Honda.

[Aerothas]

I just sold a 2000 Toyota Solara (V6) SE with 90k miles for $3750 last Friday. Just thought I'd throw that in there. I know nothing about Buicks. :(