My Red '89

[DAVES89]

I am coming up on 10 years of ownership of the Red [owned since December of 2006] and I thought I would share my repair/maintenance experience with you. I found the car on Autotrader in Fort Lauderdale and after a brief negotiation we agreed on a price and I flew down to get it.

 The PO didn't disclose some of the repairs he had done but after I got it home I looked it over and here is what he did;

 New A/C compressor, GM rebuilt transmission, Rebuilt radio module/new speakers, Headlight switch. There might be more but it has been 10 years and I didn't write down what I found. All the service work was done at the local Buick dealer. He was the second owner buying the car from his boss with about 10,000 miles on it.

 I am the third owner buying the car with 113,700 miles on it.

 He told me it needed paint [hood/trunk lid], but everything else was in great working order except it needed struts.

 I put it in storage only getting it out to take to my buddy's house for some preventative maintenance and then to get repainted and a sunroof installed, and carpeting replaced.

 So here we go;

 02/07 115,000 miles ;Front rear struts, tranny lines, oil level sensor, heater hoses, water pump, intake manifold gasket, valve cover gaskets, thermostat, plugs/wires, serpentine belt, alignment, wiper pod [no illumination], photo cell, oil pan gasket

 07/07 128,000 miles ;Fuel filter, Fuel pump relay

 06/10 173,000 miles;Plugs/wires, Brake fluid flush, Anti Freeze flush and fill

 06/12 195,000 miles;Front/rear struts, Drivers front ball joint, Alignment, Rack and pinion, tie rod, oil pan gasket, Radiator flush and fill

 09/13 213,000 miles; spark plugs 

 05/16 248,000 miles; Front brake pads/rotors and front rubber brake lines, rear brakes doing the Cadillac brake upgrade

 08/16 254,000 miles; Plugs/wires

 10/16 258,000; Rear caliper[Driver side] rear brake pads 

 I must have done pads/rotors other then the couple of times I listed but for some reason I didn't list them. I probably figured it as regular maintenance like clening the idle control, Mass Air Flow Sensor, etc.

 I guess what I am showing by listing all this is how dependable my car has been, and how I was fotunate to buy a "unmolested" car that in turn delivered 1000s of dependable trouble free miles.

 I did have some ABS brake sensor issues [as any southern car does] but I resolved those with replacement leads.

 The Red is stored every winter from early November to Mid-Late March [depending on the weather]. It is a daily driver and gets about 15,000 miles a year and the Black for the other months gets about the same.

 My plan for next year is a different motor, transmission and if I do that Rack and Pinion, struts/mounts and an alignment.

 Regarding the Black after a little more then 7 years of ownership [coming from Arizona by way of Minnesota] has had pretty much the same repairs and maintenance. I did have to put a tranny in it last year and other then a headlight relay issue has proven to be as dependable as the Red. I am at least the 4th owner of the Black but it too was mostly "unmolested". BTW the Black has about 280,000 miles on it with a second engine and now third tranny.

 Don't want to sound like a braggert but I am proud/glad for the dependability that Buick built into the Reatta. 

  

 

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, DAVES89 said:

Don't want to sound like a braggert but I am proud/glad for the dependability that Buick built into the Reatta. 

 

I like the dependability of my Reatta too. Sunday my daughter and I took a trip through the rugged mountains along the Tennessee/North Carolina border to view the Fall leaf colors - which were absolutely beautiful. She was a little apprehensive about traveling in a such an old car thru such a rural area as the Pisgah National forest and over the Great Smokey Mountains where repair help would be a long way off. Once you leave the small town of Hot Springs, NC there isn't much out there in the way of help. You are pretty much on your own. One stretch of highway 209 called the Rattler had about 250 curves with only a few places to pull off if something happened to the car so I had concerns too (but I didn't let her know). The round trip was 295 miles. Before we got all the way home she was on her cellphone telling her friends about what a great road car the Reatta is on the back road trips and what a great time she had. That made me smile. The Reatta ran flawless on the roads through the forest and on the interstate as we made our way home. "Hand crafted luxury for two" is a good moniker for the Buick Reatta.

[Pensive Scribe]

I value threads like this, because it is very encouraging. The "read" on this site can become overwhelming when it's so much problem solving. Don't get me wrong, I value the tech info and thorough detail one can discover too, but I go through all that reading so I can get back on the road fast if something needs tweaking.

 

My first journey in my second car involved a 600 mile trek right out of the gate, just to get it home. The fact that it has less than half the miles of number one, coupled with having made the same trip twice in the high mileage car without mechanical failure, instilled a lot in the confidence department. I sure needed that confidence when I got to the stretch where the first car met its demise back in May.

 

I've put close to 2,000 miles on it since purchase in August and every time I get it up to speed the ride and quietness never fails to provide more grins to the gallon than any other car I've owned.

[DAVES89]

The weather is changing to rain w/snow flakes this weekend so this should be the last week for the Red until spring. My daughter was using the Black due to a fender bender with her car, but now the repairs are done so I should get that back by Sayurday. So an oil change, hub assembly swap [again], wash and vaccum and into storage she goes.

 It really is my favorite, but the Black is a good alternative, it actually has more pep so that part will be more fun.

[ski.dive]

On 11/2/2016 at 10:02 AM, DAVES89 said:

I am coming up on 10 years of ownership of the Red [owned since December of 2006] and I thought I would share my repair/maintenance experience with you. I found the car on Autotrader in Fort Lauderdale and after a brief negotiation we agreed on a price and I flew down to get it.

 So here we go;

 02/07 115,000 miles ;Front rear struts, tranny lines, oil level sensor, heater hoses, water pump, intake manifold gasket, valve cover gaskets, thermostat, plugs/wires, serpentine belt, alignment, wiper pod [no illumination], photo cell, oil pan gasket

 07/07 128,000 miles ;Fuel filter, Fuel pump relay

 06/10 173,000 miles;Plugs/wires, Brake fluid flush, Anti Freeze flush and fill

 06/12 195,000 miles;Front/rear struts, Drivers front ball joint, Alignment, Rack and pinion, tie rod, oil pan gasket, Radiator flush and fill

 

Dave,

I just noticed that you replaced the struts at 115k and then new struts again at 195k

Is 80k miles the average life span for struts on the Reatta?

  

 

 

[89RedDarkGrey]

You also must remember- the OEM parts like struts, ball joints, wheel bearings- even tires- were made way differently in 1989. It's all pretty much mass produced by slave labor junk now, heavily recycled materials, unleaded solder, environmentally friendly crap.

[DAVES89]

3 hours ago, ski.dive said:

 

The "trigger" was doing the rack and pinion and ball joint. As long as I was getting an alignment for the rack it made sense to me to do the struts. Why pay twice for an alignment?

 As an addition I am now at 265,000  and at the end of April did an engine, tranny, and rack. My mechanic buddy looked at the struts and said they were still good, so I left them alone. Hopefully I will get another 40,000-60,000 out of them. I do mostly rural/highway driving so I should be able to make it.

[padgett]

Have owned the Blue since 2001 but do not drive anything much so coming up on 100k and the vert is about 108k. Have replacement struts and a steering rack but have never needed them. Have had both resprayed and new top on the 'vert. 134 in ACs, Delco ignitions, AGM batteries, Michelins on 16x7s, and Mobil 1. Did need to replace the sunroof track in the 88 which also has a rebuilt cassette (with Handsfree) and 'vert has a Bluetooth head unit. Silverstar headlamps in both. 

 

ps I have AAA Premier plus RV - 200 miles towing.

Edited July 24, 2017 by padgett (see edit history)