How much is my 1990 Coupe worth?

[Guest Thomas Foraenos]

I want to start by saying that I have loved this car, the last three and a half years have been fun, but I'm looking to go to college later this year, and cannot afford to fix my Reatta's issues and take classes. So rather than let it sit and rot, I'm hoping to sell it to someone who can take care of it, and do a better job than I've done. I've tried to make sure I've listed every problem of which I'm aware, and openly invite any questions you may have. And due to the problems below, I have no idea as to the relative value of the car. Overall the body and interior are decent, but the drivetrain has some significant issues I've listed below. I'm open to offers, and I am hoping it's worth at least thirty-five hundred dollars. that said, I realize that some of the repairs it needs will not be cheap, so i'm hoping to hear what a reasonable value for the car is.

Thank you for your time!

Year: 1990

Body Style: Coupe

Mileage: 96000

Considered Correct? (Y)

Location: Machesney Park, Illinois

VIN: 1G4EC13C4LB900042

Title:

Vehicle loan was paid off in full just over a year ago, I have the title in hand.

Any Accident History?

None while I've owned the car, and the Carfax didn't list any when I purchased it.

Asking Price:

That's why I'm asking, I'm willing to hear offers, and I realize due to the problems listed below, it's not going to be anywhere near what I might hope.

Willing to take trade:

No, I'm looking to put a down payment on a brand new vehicle,

Exterior Color:

Red

Interior Color:

Tan

Paint Original?

I believe so, if it is a repaint, then they did a great job, because the pinstripe is still painted on.

Paint Condition?

I'd rate it fair, it's swirled but still quite clear otherwise

Belt & Bumper Molding Color:

Body Color

Body Dents: (Y)

The front bumper seems to be misaligned, and there are two small dents in the driver's side quarter panel. One at the very top of the wheel arch, the other is a crease of sorts in the panel, right above the trim line. I pointed it out in the picture of the quarter panel, because it's barely noticeable.

Body Rust:

minor scale on the underside, otherwise none on the bodywork proper.

Windshield Chipped or Cracked? (N)

Vent Glass Intact? (Y)

Rubber surround molding for windshield condition? (Good)

Rubber surround molding for rear window condition? (Good)

Out Side Mirrors Intact? (Y)

Headlight Motors Function Correctly? (N)

Neither pops up on its own, and they flop up and down while driving after being manually lifted.

Tail Light Lens: (Cloudy)

Interior Original?

The interior appears to be mostly original, but several things have been replaced/removed: The radio, the instrument cluster, the cluster panel, have all been replaced, and the inflatable lumbar bag has been removed.

16 Way Seats? (Y)

Seat Condition? (Fair)

Seat is worn, and starting to crack, but no holes or tears.

Drivers interior door panel condition? (Poor)

The arm rest is heavily cracked and in need of replacing.

Passengers interior door panel condition? (Good)

I rarely have passengers in the car, so the wear is almost exclusive to the driver's side.

Center console top armrest condition? (Good)

it opens and closes well, and aside from a bit of wear, isn't cracked or torn.

Door weather stripping condition? (Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor)

Looks good, but there is a bit of wind noise. Every other car I've owned had framed windows so I don't know if that's to be expected even in an excellent condition car

Headliner Condition? (Good)

Only concern here is that the dealer didn't seem to know how to get the overhead light out when I had it in there three years ago and partially pulled the overhead light housing out. It locked back in place when i pushed it back in, but it doesn't feel very 'firm'

Carpet Condition? (Fair)

I work a dirty job, and the car could greatly benefit as it stands from a deep scrubbing.

Original Floor Mats:

I don't know, they match the interior, but they lack any identifying emblems to match them to the car proper.

Floor Mat Condition: (Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor)

Condition of Steering Wheel Leather: (Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor)

Steering wheel is worn, but the stitching is all still intact.

Sun Roof? (Y)

The sun roof opens fine, but is difficult to close, it feels like something that should be making contact isn't.

Functional Keyless Entry? (Y)

Both Remotes? (Y)

Problems with Electronic Dash items? (Y)

At about 85000 miles, the cluster started dying, and the one I replaced it with doesn't quite fit right. It slots and screws in fine, and functions with the dash panel off, but

Power Windows Work Correctly? (Y)

Power Seats Work Correctly? (Y/N)

The Driver's side seat joystick doesn't make good contact forward, and the inflatable bladder has been pulled out of the seat, but all the electronics work otherwise.

Power Door Locks Work Correctly? (Y)

Power Antenna Work Correctly? (Y)

Original Sound System? (N)

Factory CD Player? (90-91 only) (N)

Sound System Fully Functional? (N)

The tape deck in the head unit has jammed, and the quality of the sound coming through the radio itself is mediocre.

Aftermarket Sound System Equipment? (Y)

The car's factory radio had been replaced by a single DIN head unit prior to my purchasing it, though a factory-style radio (I presume to be original) was in the trunk.

A/C Functional? (N)

Should just need recharged, I've not done that in the four years I've owned the vehicle.

Has the A/C been converted from R12 to R134A?

I do not know, for the life of me, I can't locate the charging ports.

Does the suspension require any attention?

I have not done anything to the car's suspension in the four years I've owned it, and the ride is starting to get pretty harsh on bumpy roads.

Tires:

I would replace these fairly soon, the front ones are almost completely worn out, and have never been rotated, however the alignment is spot on, they're all evenly worn in that sense.

Factory Wheels? (Y)

Factory Wheel Center Caps Condition: (Good/Fair)

I would rate them somewhere between good and fair, they're a little scuffed but nothing unusual for almost 100,000 miles.

Any Brake Components Replaced? (Y/N)

I recently did the front pads, but I lacked the proper tool to screw in the rear pistons, so I left them alone.

Engine?

This is where it all falls apart, sadly. I'll try to tell this in full, to the best of my memory, but to start, within a week of purchasing the vehicle, the check engine light came on. I don't remember off the top of my head what the repair in question was, at least in part because the dealer that sold the car to me did it free of charge. Then, about a year later, I took the car on an almost 600 mile round trip, from Chicago, IL to Eau Claire, Wi in the middle of winter, without stopping to check the coolant. Anyway, after spending most of the evening in Eau Claire, with temperatures well below freezing, on the drive home I had warning lights pop on, and the car started overheating. All at about two in the morning. I was dead tired, so I just gave up for the night and pulled into a motel, and drove it home from the dells the following day. I took it to a dealer when I got home and the repairs they did cost me seven hundred dollars, and told me that a freeze plug had started leaking down between the engine and transmission, and that the only way to replace that particular plug would be to pull one of them, at a cost of six hundred to one thousand dollars, which I just didn't have. So I put stop leak in the car, and that seemed to hold it back, though there has been a slow coolant leak since then.

Recently though, a new problem has emerged. First, in early april, I got a check engine light, with the code E041. I looked it up when I got home, and by the time I got home, the code was no longer current, only showing in the history. Second: As I was driving home two weeks ago, I was accelerating when suddenly the engine note got much louder, and much deeper, without the needle moving, and the power output dropped considerably. The mechanic I work with thinks it may be that the exhaust, most likely the catalytic converter has plugged itself.

How often do you change the oil?

Every three to four thousand miles. Though I only do so by mileage, so that roughly translates to twice a year, typically in spring and fall.

Original Transmission?

See Engine

Does Transmission require attention?

It shifts rough sometimes, but I've never had a problem with it otherwise.

When was last Transmission Service?

I don't know.

Any Transmission Leaks? (N)

Have CV joints been replaced? (N)

Not while I've owned the car anyway.

I have (no) receipts for this vehicle's service history.

There were none with the car when I purchased it, and I can't find any of the receipts in my room from the services I've had done over the years.

Does the car have the owners manual portfolio?

No.

In General, What items need attention?

A few quick other thoughts. There have been intermittent electrical warning lights, and SIR warning lights. I was never able to find codes for them though. A full engine service is definitely in order (belts and gaskets, as well as a quick check of the plugs and wires, I did them last year, and used pre greased wires, but it couldn't hurt) as would a replacement of the exhaust system before any significant driving is done.

http://forums.aaca.org/f116/my-1990s-dash-keeps-staying-blank-361186.html

I posted this a few years ago, shortly after the engine problems I had in wisconsin, if anyone remembers seeing that.

My Reatta Drives: (Poor)

I am the second owner of this Reatta.

I have owned this Reatta for three years and nine months.

Contact Me at 815 713 9330 or email me at

Ethanedlefsen@Charter.net

Edited May 5, 2015 by Thomas Foraenos
Forgot the exterior pics, I will be adding interior pics later. (see edit history)

[Ronnie]

With all the problems you describe that have not been fixed I would think your car would be worth $800-1200. If you are handy with tools you should fix some of the problems yourself to save on repair costs then try to sell if for a higher price. I don't mean to run your car down but right now it doesn't have much going for it that will appeal to a buyer.

EDIT:

After going back and carefully reading the paragraph about the engine problems I'm thinking the range of $500-1000 might be more in line with other cars I see on the internet for sale in a similar condition. Unless someone is willing to spend money on this car just to save it, this car is bordering on being a parts car. Although the mileage isn't bad there are a lot of expensive items to fix.

A/C with unknown problems: $$$$

Rough shifting transmission: $$+??

Electronics: $$

Seats: $$$

New tires: $$

Headlight repair kits: $-$$$ depending on who you buy them from.

The bottom line is if you invested the money to fix all the problems by doing a lot of the work yourself to save money, you are still going to end up with the a car worth about $3500 or less. With scaly rust underneath and flaws in the paint, that is about what the car would be worth if it was in good driving condition.

There are people here who track the Reatta prices better than I do who will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think I'm too for off

Edited May 5, 2015 by Ronnie (see edit history)

[Guest obx]

have to agree with Ronnie,suggest you check your local Craigslist-go to autos and type in buick reatta to get some comparsions---for example I have a 90 sedan for sale local that looks great compared to all the issues you have for asking $3200 with not much interest will probably have to lower price and expand the ad coverage

[KDirk]

I hate to say this, but if I'm being honest, this car is not a $3500 car in the current market. Maybe about 25-30% of that value as it stands. Some of the problems could be simple, or not. Transmission for example might be a bad vacuum modulator. Not too difficult or expensive to fix. Or it might be an internal problem requiring a rebuild to correct.

Things like the dents could probably be satisfactorily removed by a good paintless dent guy. A/C is always a crap shoot on a car this age. If it is original and still works, it could fail anytime. If it doesn't work, it is a $1000+ repair at a shop so that comes right of the cars value.

The freeze plug issue is a big value killer as it needs to be fixed, or the engine is at risk of spontaneous loss of coolant. That is probably the single biggest major problem here. Not an easy job for a DIYer and not cheap to have done by a pro. The headlamps are not that expensive to do yourself if so inclined.

At this stage, you are probably better served to do the critical repairs like the headlights to keep it roadworthy to operate and keep driving it until something catastrophic fails and then sell it for parts. Selling it now as-is with the work needed will render a relatively low sale price, though that may be the better option for you if you can't do some of your own repair work and can't have an inoperative car sitting around.

I bought an 88 with fewer miles needing far less mechanical work for $900 about 2 years ago. That may have been an outlier, but what I am seeing in asking prices, and what appears to be selling (and for how much) the daily driver cars with multiple issues are simply not getting much interest and thus the selling prices are low. This makes sense when you weigh the dollar amount of work need to bring such a car back to reasonbly reliable status, much less get it looking good.

I've bought one moderate priced and three inexpensive Reattas now, and all have required the equivalent of thousands of dollars of work to get decent. I do most work myself so the sting isn't quite so bad. But, even then, my cost in parts and time spent is not inconsequential by any means. I also have the luxury of taking my time since I own multiple vehicles and always have something I can drive. Had I only one vehicle there is no way I could deal with the amount of work put into any one of my cars or I'd have been walking a lot.

That's my completely objective take on it.

KDirk

[Guest Thomas Foraenos]

Thank you for the responses. It wasn't what I was hoping to hear, of course, but that's why I asked. I had looked around on craigslist, but the only things locally are a 90's vert and an 88 i believe. Otherwise i was looking at prices on cars.com for what i could see there.

Unfortunately i don't really have much time or money to sit down and fix it myself, doubly so if the repairs will be complex. I'm trying to get my shop's mechanic to come look at it, but i don't know when he'll be able to sit down with it.

[ol' yeller]

When checking pricing on Craigslist you have to realize that those are asking prices. There is an overpriced Reatta on the Seattle CL that has been listed for 3 years that I know of that has never sold. It too needs a lot of work. At $2500 it is probably $1500-$2000 above its value.

[Guest Thomas Foraenos]

I realized i never actually posted pics of the undercarriage, and I only realized after seeing them when clearing out my phone.  Not that I suspect they change much, anyway.