Sales advice sought - 1986 Riviera

[Guest GeneS]

Hello. I need to sell my mother's 1986 Riviera, and need help pricing it. I can find very few other 86's online and the prices vary widely. The NADA prices are low of $3307, average of $4777, and high of $7140. I found a beat-up looking 86 online for only $2500 and a nice looking one for $4750. Can you please help me?

The car is in beautiful condition (see some photos in the members gallery). It has 57,804 miles on it. My mother was the second owner; I am the third. From the photos you can see the exterior and interior are in wonderful condition, so it looks above average to me. I have little experience selling cars, and no experience selling a car in good condition, and want to price it fairly.

My mechanic has kept it tuned and running well since my mother bought it in 1993, so there are no mechanical problems that I know of. Because it was my mother's transportation I never let it hiccup without getting it checked, and it had regular maintenance. The only problems I know of are the following:

• The radio is poor. I cannot tell if it is just a ground wire or worse. It plays clearly for a few minutes then turns to static, especially on AM. Sometimes it will suddenly become clear again, but usually not. Usually it is bad enough I just turn it off. I had my mechanic look for the problem years ago but he could not find it. Since my mother did not want the radio on while she drove I did not want to spend more money to have it fixed.
  
• The Graphic Control Center (GCC) itself is showing its age. Periodically it will flicker, and more rarely, it will go blank for a few minutes (usually 1-10 minutes). During those moments only the radio page of the GCC will work; all others, including the summary page, do not respond. Moments later the computer will come back on and all is well again (except the heater has reset itself to 76 degrees). This happens two or three times within a day or two, and then will not happen for weeks or even months. Then it will happen a couple of times in a day or two, then not again for weeks or months. I have seen no pattern related to use or weather. Many years ago I bought two used GCC computers from junk yards, and my mechanic replaced the original one with this one. (Since the radio was bad from the time we bought the car it makes me think the radio problem is not the GCC itself, maybe a ground or some other wire that wiggles loose, but I really do not know.) I still have the second used GCC, but have not installed it since it has a crack on the screen. I kept it as a back-up.
  
• The driver's power seat control is a six-way control. The Tilt Cushion control does not work, but the other controls do work (Forward-Back, Up-Down, and Tilt Back). I do not know if the problem is the switch or a motor.
  

The car is Silver with silver leather upholstery that is in perfect condition. It has a sunroof. It has always been garaged. The only two things I have done to the car is to convert the air conditioner to R-134a, and added seat heaters that have very small low/off/high switches on the tunnel (see the tiny button behind the litter bag in this photo). The car has always lived in the Seattle area, so it has seen no (or maybe few) salted roads. And as you can read in my introduction, it has always been driven by little old ladies in tennis shoes (except for me).

Can you help me fairly price it, and tell me anything else you or a potential buyer would want to know about it? Also, is Craigslist the best way to sell it, or what do you recommend? I thought I would post on the Buy/Sell forum here and post to the Riviera Owners Association members website.

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[JohnD1956]

Gene, I am sure it is a tough decision to sell the car. It is even tougher to figure what the price should be. As you have seen the guides are pretty wide and what they do not tell you is what effect the local area has on the price. In some markets the price will have to be considerably lower and in others you may find you can go considerably higher. One thing is for sure, you need to figure what is the amount of money it will take for you not to regret selling the car. Then you can look at the guides and see how your price compares to what the "experts" think you should be able to get.

You can certainly start with Craigslist. As long as time is not of the essence a month or so invested there may result in an easy local sale. However if your price is higher than the guides price, you need to find a market that will fulfill your bill. In my opinion, that is most likely E bay. And I say this having never listed a car for sale there.

I appreciate your honesty in pointing out the problems the car has. Based on this I would not think you could get a price towards the top of the guides projection. Electrical problems are difficult to trace and pin down. There is a lot of labor to tracing the wires. Plus I understand those GCC's are not cheap either. Worse yet, many times if you change the odometer you will get an error reading that may not be correctible. You could have a one mile car, but if that odometer shows ERROR, it will be difficult to convince someone to pay top dollar for that car.

So the question becomes what can you do with it? And I suggest the following. Establish a price somewhere between the top and the middle figures on the guide, if this meets your no regret price. Then try Craigslist, and then try E bay and if unsuccessful, then donate the car to a local charity which accepts them and resells them. You will have to use their price as a tax write off, but if you cannot sell the car for what you want, it may be one way to move the car out and still feel good about it. Otherwise the car will wind up sitting around and deteriorating from lack of use.

I also hope you are posting on the Riviera's board below. Some of those guys do not come to this part of the Forum and some may be very interested in a car thay can essentially drive across country for pennies.

[DAVES89]

I can help with advice on the repairs but cannot comment on your cars value.

Your radio issue is bad capacitors. You can get a replacement radio/stereo module it is located in the console. When the capacitors go bad you get a popping noise as well as cutout [no sound] This units are cheap and easy to replace.

Your touch screen issue is most likely another module. It is called a Central Power Supply [CPS] I believe [0n your car] it is located also in the console. When this unit fails the Touch Screen defaults to the radio page.

Jim Finn at the Reatta site should be able to help you on parts. His service is good, parts are tested and he is reasonable on price.

Your mechanic can install both parts in about an hours time.

[Guest my3buicks]

The CRT screen is showing the typical signs that it needs rebuilt or replaced, this is a common problem with these and the early Reatta's, once rebuilt or you buy a rebuilt one, the problem is solved. The rebuilders fix the problem that causes the problem to begin with. it is easy to pull them out, unplug them and plug in the replacement and you are good to go. The issue has nothing to do with a module, it's the unit itself.

[Guest GeneS]

Thank you John, Dave, and Keith for the kind answers. I will post in the Riviera forum and Craigslist (for starters, anyway). I appreciate the suggestion about pricing, John. I had not thought about a "no regret" price but now realize that's how I feel. The car is special and I want it to go to someone who will enjoy it like we did, and I want the price to be fair to both of us. So I will decide on a price and see if it sells.

By the way, the odometer is somehow separate from the GCC, and has not been affected by the GCC outages or the replacement of it. I don't know enough to know what might affect the odometer, but it has never flickered or changed through the problems with, or the replacement of, the GCC. Again, I do not know enough about this to speak with any authority, but all of the gauges in the instrument panel seem to be separate from the things the GCC controls.

I am glad to learn about Jim Finn in the Reatta forum and will look into that and the radio issue if the car does not sell soon.

Thanks, all three of you. I'm on my way to Riviera forum!

[NCReatta]

If you are not having problems with your speedometer, your CPS is not at fault. More likely to be a GCC problem. Yours can't be rebuilt, you'll have to buy a later unit that has been rebuilt (there are two different models, but they will work interchangeably)

The radios are easily fixable as well. I have rebuilt radios, as well as rebuilt and used touch screens available on my Website: eastcoastreattaparts.com

[Guest GeneS]

Hi Marck,

This is very encouraging; thank you. I will contact you privately, or at your website, for more information.

Regards,

Gene

[ted sweet]

imho you will be lucky to get 4500. car isn't really very collectable

[60FlatTop]

Leave the car in the Bella-Napoli Bakery parking lot over in Latham, have a coffee and something special on a Saturday morning. Sit in the window a watch the response to the car. Just a little for sale sign saying "Wave to the guy inside."

You never know.

Ooops! The response was from Albany. Well, try a place in Washington. I'll meet John and Jene for donuts instead.

Bernie

Edited July 9, 2013 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[John_Maine]

I agree with Ted - it's a nice, newer old car and not a particularly popular Riviera. If everything was working 100%, I'd say $5K tops, somewhat under that with the radio and screen problems.

[Guest GeneS]

Thanks, Ted. I guessed the 86 was not too popular, since there are so few mentions in the forum, and they are hard to find other places. Too bad, since they are so attractive.

And Bernie, that's a great idea. I know just the place to substitute for the Bella-Napoli Bakery. Our favorite little bakery is the Hillcrest Bakery in nearby Bothell.

[Guest GeneS]

John, thank you. All you guys are being very helpful. I had decided on somewhere under $5000, but am feeling a little lower is probably better. I am also pretty sure I am going to replace the radio.

I just want the car to go to someone who will love and enjoy it. In 1974, while I was still in the Air Force, I sold my 67 Plymouth Barracuda to an airman on our base. Three days later the car showed up in the parking lot all tricked out with fake fur on the steering wheel, the dashboard(!), and around the mirror, plus outlandish seatcovers and some other horrible decorations. I nearly cried.

[JohnD1956]

Gene, without prying, is there some reason you cannot keep it? I have sold a few cars over the years but only those without any sentimental value. I once sold a car with sentimental value, I think it was in 1988 or there-a-bouts. Still miss that car.

[Guest GeneS]

John, I have waited two days to answer you in order to give me time be sure. The day you wrote your message I had been out running errands in my Lincoln. One-half mile before I got home the water temperature shot up to HOT and I limped home and took the Buick to finish my errands. It was so much fun to drive that car! I began to think about keeping it. I even wondered if I dared sell my 2000 Lincoln and keep the 1986 Riviera as my only car. I was enjoying it that much. When I came home I saw your message and wondered if it was some kind of confirmation I should keep the Riviera. That's when I decided to give myself some time to think about it before responding to you.

(But I also ordered a rebuilt CRT and the next day I tried to dissasemble the console to see if I can get to the radio, to replace it.)

Well, I have given myself some time to be sure, and I have decided I cannot keep the Riviera. I am the only driver in my family, and I cannot justify the extra expense of a second car, especially a car that would be a hobby and not a primary means of transportation. I retired two years ago and must really watch my budget. I am getting my home ready to sell so I can move 1100 miles away. I will be towing my Lincoln on a trailer behind a rental truck. If I kept the Riviera I would need to store the Lincoln, tow the Riviera, and fly back here and drive the Lincoln to my new home. Then I still would be the only driver in the household. I am retired, but I am the caregiver for a family member, which is the real focus of my life. When it gets down to it, that is the reason I cannot keep the Riviera. And since I am sentimental about the car I want it to go to someone who will enjoy it and care for it the way I would like to if I could.

So, I know I am going to be sorry to sell the Riviera, but I am not going to regret it. Thanks for asking. It helped me to be sure.

[37_Roadmaster_C]

Gene,

You might want to contact one of the 'North Cascade Buick Club' people. They might be able to point you in a good direction. Check out their web sight for info and contact numbers: www.buickshoprag.org

Robin

Edited July 12, 2013 by 37_Roadmaster_C
correct url (see edit history)

[Guest GeneS]

Hi Robin,

Thank you. I did not know about this club "up the road" a bit. I just looked at their photo galleries. What an amazing variety of cars.

Gene

[JohnD1956]

Glad to have been any help sorting this out. Now that you know it's got to go, you should be able to establish a price and get started advertising. Good luck with all your responsibilities. caregivers are a special people.