Howard

Nic. As I've said before, out of all the cars I've owned over the years, my Reatta was hands down, my favorite. Perhaps, someday I will get another. When I purchased my 1989 in 98, I had two jobs. Today, I've only one. With the economy still in the tank, I don't want to make any "fun" purchases. I am very lucky to have a job. As some of us know, that could change at the drop of a hat. That said, I do keep an eye open, if ever so slightly, for another 89. What can I say, I like the CRT. Maybe 2010 will be the year that our economy will improve and many people will get back to work and I would be more comfortable buying something I really don't need. Again, to all of you guys and gals (I think there are a few), I offer glad tidings for this holiday season. May Santa bring everything you want. May you share the joy of family and good friends. May you and our great nation prosper in 2010. As another post stated, thanks to all who keep this forum on the web. I'm a member of several other sites, by far this forum is the best. Not only the running of it, but the great people who participate. Peace.

Here is wishing all of my Reatta friends a very Merry Christmas and a great 2010. It hard to believe that we have already used up 10 years of the 21st century. Stay safe.

One of the engineering firms involved in the development of the car was in England. The company was called Lamb Scepter. I know of no such name being attached to the car, other than the internal GM code name "GM33". I'm going to attach a portion of the Automotive Quarterly article discussing the name: "Sometime after the full-size fiberglass model was completed developers began calling the car, then known only as GM 33, Reata. David North chose this tag, which is the Spanish American word for lariat. A second T was added for emphasis by Lynn L. Salata, Buick Strategic Planning Manager."

I'm writing this not from Texas, but from Arkansas. Visiting friends. While I don't visit Reatta forum much anymore, since I'm Reattaless right now, I did want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I have not missed this greeting for 11 years. I think about you guys often. I want to thank everybody who helped me during my 10 years of Reatta ownership. Without your help, I would have not been able to enjoy my car as much as I did. Happy Holidays to all.

Unless I'm overlooking something, thankfully there were no Reattas on the list of cars that were surrendered under the recent Cash For Clunkers Program. What is shocking, is some of the cars that do appear on the list. A shame, a real shame. The rules of the program state, that a vehicle had to have insurance and have current registration in the last year. It would seem that all of these cars were drivable. There was many cars I would think, as running vehicles, would be worth more than $4000. Maybe some people did not know what they really owned. Here is a link to the list: http://www.cars.gov/files/official-information/trade-in-vehicles.pdf

Well, I can only speak from the past tense. I no longer own a Reatta, but I do miss my little car. I've owned many cars over the years and I can say without hesitation, my Reatta was my favorite. I owned mine for about 10 years, but it succumbed to a blown motor and some moron running into it while parked at the shop looking at the dead motor. The car is currently owned by another forum member. I liked the Reatta from the time the car first appeared in the showroom. Many years later while working part time for a used car, the owner drove up in this silver Reatta. The rest is history. The car had great style, very roomy and comfortable interior, pretty good gas mileage, and more gadgets that you could shake a stick at. It was a great car. I sure spent a lot of money on it over the time I had it, but it was one of the few cars I owned that I would always turn back to look at it as I walked away from it in the parking lot. It short, it just made me smile.

The topic of windshields have been touched on in the forum a number of times. The reason the windshields sell for so much money, is the fact that there are so few left. Once the current supply is used up, there are no more. For whatever the reason, repro windshields are not made for the Reatta. It appears doubtful that they ever will. Perhaps it's because of the encapsulated weatherstrip. As an aside, I have owned for almost 30 years a 1956 Continental Mark II. Only slightly more than 3000 were built between 1956 and 1957. If I need one, I can easily get a windshield for it and not pay the kind of price it costs for a Reatta.

A few years ago I got a new switch from from Vintage Auto Parts, Efficient. Effective. Organized. - Vintage Parts . The part # is 1648389. I just ran a quick search and did not find the part at that location. I may have done something wrong with their search engine. You might give it a try. My guess is, that there are no new window switches left.

My thought is that there is a vacuum problem. The first place I would check is the Climate Control Module. The location of the module has already been touched on. It's behind the glove box. As F14 pointed out, there is a metal "arm" connected to it. All the vacuum lines for the A/C/heat unit go through this module. The vacuum lines are attached very stoutly, but I know when replacing my ECM, it's rather easy to pull the main vacuum line off. If everything is attached to the CCM, then I would try to follow the lines under the dash that run to the vacuum motors mounted on the A/C/Heat enclosure. It should be a easier to see that the glove box is removed. Also while the glove box is removed, as F14 mentioned, check the operation of the arm. With engine running, move the temp control from MAX Cold to Max Heat. The arm should slowly move full right and full left. Lastly, if everything appears to be connected under the dash, the "arm" is working, and there does not seem to be any rubber vacuum hoses not connected to the CCM, then I would check in the engine compartment for any vacuum lines that are not connected. Usually when a vacuum line is disconnected, the engine runs rather roughly. If you find nothing amiss then, I'm not sure what else to do. I supposed the CCM could be bad, but that would be my last guess. I hope I'm have helped you somewhat.

The blue stickers were for cars that the new owners purchased the GM extended warranty plan, GMPP. They came in a "welcome" kit given to those who purchased the warranty plan. As for reproductions, I don't know. I'm not sure, but perhaps customers still get the stickers when they buy GMPP. You might check your local GM dealer to see if they have any extra.

As for the "extra" button, the part you have is not for a Reatta. It's from a Buick Riviera. The Reatta shares many of it's power train and electrical components with the Riviera. The Twilight Sentinel is a device that turns the headlight on at dusk and off at dawn. The Reatta did not have such a function. However, it is my understanding the you can use the Riviera pod without an issue. Ronnie asked the question, if your CRT is bright when your lights are on? If that is the case, there could be three areas to look at. On the top of the dash near the center of the windshield is a light sensor. These sensor do tend to fail in time. It is not too hard to replace. You do have to be very careful removing the top of the dash. Some of the old plastic breaks very easily. Another more common cause is the headlight switch itself. My suggestion is to take a can of WD40, make sure it has a straw on the nozzle, and spray between the buttons on the headlight/parking light/off controls while pushing the buttons off and on. When I got my car in 1998, the dash lights did not work. I used the WD40 and they worked flawlessly for the 10 years I owned the car after that. Some people use contact cleaner, but some such cleaners can score plastic. That is why I prefer WD40. Lastly, those lights are actually electrolumiance panels that require high voltage to function. The Reatta is equipped with two inverters. One for the dash lights and the other for the PRNDL and power window and mirror controls. Sometimes those inverters burn out. I would try the WD 40 first and report the results back.

Ronnie, just signed up. I want to thank you for all the hard work that you have done to your site. It's really a plus for Reatta owners. While I'm at it, a tip of the hat you all the folks that make THIS forum possible. While I don't own a Reatta anymore, I visit rather often. It's still a great place to visit.

Hi again. You asked what I think would be costly. The paint work, if done correctly, I think will run in excess of $2000 (unless you can provide the labor yourself). By correctly, I mean removing all trim, all the paint off to the bare metal. Metal prep, priming, color coat, sanding, all the steps of a quality job, the clear coat. Next we move to the interior. Again, if done with new materials (carpet, headliner, leather seats, used door panels and trim) and labor, my guess again is going to be close to the $2000 mark. One poster mentioned brakes. The system used through 1990 is an extremely complex system sometimes given to many problems. Many crop up without notice. I too I'm surprised you have not had more issues with the brakes already. Rebuilt pumps are around $500. The fact the car has been sitting so long, I would guess a number of other issues are going to show up soon. A starting investment in excess the $5000+ would not surprise me. Believe me, I owned a Reatta in very good condition when I purchased it in 1998. I recently sold it to a fellow Reatta fan and was shocked when I was cleaning the glove box out and saw how much I spent on the car during my ownership. Please understand, I'm very happy you saved the car and I am in no way trying to discourage you. I wish you all the best. The good news about parts, we have a few members that do sell Reatta parts. I have had a number of transactions with Jim Finn. Very reasonable on his prices and great service. I've had some transaction with Mike as well. Again, I was pleased with the service. Headlights? Contact Barney Eaton. He's got a kit that will fix you right up. Please keep us updated on your progress. If you can, post some pictures. We all would like to see your car.

Welcome aboard. You will find the people on this forum very, very helpful in the restoration of your recently rescued Reatta. I don't want to be a killjoy, but from reading your post more than once, it appears that while your car does have a straight body and runs, it needs a great deal of costly work. If you are restoring this car for your own pleasure, that's wonderful. However, it you are restoring this vehicle with an eye to turning a profit as an end game, I think you better rethink your plan. I fear that the investment you make it this car will be far greater that what you could buy a fully functional Reatta that requires little, if any repairs. However, with that said, the members here are the most knowledgeable and helpful people I have ever found on an internet forum. With your elbow grease, and their help, you will have your restored car and on the road in no time. Good luck.

I was in same boat as you. My Reatta had about 156,000 and the engine failed. Why? I have no idea, but it did. While it was sitting at the shop, a wayward moron put the final nail in my Reatta's coffin. The a-hole ran into my car and drove off! On that note, I decided that after almost 10 years and many dollars, it was time to say goodbye to the favorite car I've ever owned. Enough was enough. The good news, the car is now in the hands of a fellow forum member and I hope he will once again get the car road worthy again. I mirror everything you had to say about this forum. The best one by far to which I belong. Great, great people. Always helpful. The best forum on the internet. I don't visit everyday, like I used to, but I still stop by from time to time. I'm sure you will do the same. Perhaps, someday, we will both have "new" Reatta in our garages. For now, I'm just a visitor, but who knows what the future will bring. In the mean time good luck and don't say goodbye. Just say I will see you later. That's what I've done.

My story starts in August of 1998. For those of you who are long time members of the forum, many of you may recall that I worked in car dealerships for almost 25 years. All of my life I've been a huge car fan. However, in 1995 the last dealership I worked for closed, so I had to find employment in another type of business. In the first part of 1998, I received a call from a person I used to work with a number of years before. He had opened a used car lot and wondered if I would help him with his accounting, part time. So, every Tuesday and Thursday after my regular job, I would head there for a few hours. In August of the same year I pulled into the lot to find a pristine 1989 Reatta. I always thought they were neat cars, but had never driven one. As they say, the rest was history. The car had just turned over to 80,000 miles and really was very nice. Out of all the cars I've ever owned, the Reatta was hands down, my favorite. While the car had a number of problems over the years, with the help of this forum, I was able to do many of the repairs myself. In September of 2005 my hometown was forced to evacuate due to the approach of Hurricane Rita. I used the Reatta for my escape. After 19 hours, I had covered only 60 miles. A large hunk of the harmonic balancer broke off during the trip. Really after that, the car was never the same. The car simply would not run correctly. Finally, I was back on the road, but that was short lived. The car started to make a load hammering noise, which I thought was the belt tensioner. Wrong! The engine was burned up. As to how and why, I have no idea. While at the shop, the car was crashed into by a hit and run driver. I decided I did not want to spend the money to put another engine in it. I sold the hulk to a fellow forum member, Alex. I hope he will be able to get the car road worthy again and enjoy it as much as I did. Someday, I would like to own another nice 89, but that will have to wait for a while.

I started a tread a number of years ago on this very topic. My thoughts, the car would be just about the same size and general shape as it was. However, there would only be one model, a hardtop convertible. As such, there would be a flush rear window. No retractable headlights, however there would be a HID headlight band to would look similar to the taillight array. The headlight band would include the turn signal/parking lights/driving lights/cornering lights and the headlights. The all in one unit would go across the entire front of the car, very much like the taillights. Like Philip said, sequential LED light tubes, but with clear lens that turn red when the lights are on or when the brakes are applied or when the turn signal is on. The rear lamp unit would also include a row of white LEDs across the entire bottom of the lens. This would be the back up lights. Again, all contained in a single unit. The reflectors would be in the rear bumper. The rear of the car would also have chrome duel exhaust pipes. Inside, much better quality material and fit and finish. In front of the driver would be a large analog speedometer and tach. Between the large gauges would be the fuel, temp, amp, oil. In the center would be the standard GPS screen. Below would be a smaller screen that provides control for radio/air, etc. very much like the 88/89 Reatta. Like Philip stated, color of course. The new Reatta would have state of the art sound system. Blue tooth, On-Star, and home-link, a given. Seats would be not unlike the older 16 ways seat, but much higher quality. As to power-train? Given the EPA mileage requirements of the future, a V6 would be the largest engine. Perhaps even a gas/electric set up. Six speed automatic or manual would be the transmission selections. The new car would have RWD, perhaps an AWD system. Fully independent suspension with traction control, GMs Stiblitrack system, and ABS. Sadly, we will never see the likes of the Reatta again. We must enjoy those that still are roadworthy, are try to keep them that way for as long as we can.

Well, very soon 2008 will close it's calendar door forever. What a year this a been and I don't mean that in a good way. I think most of us will be happy to see the old year depart. I hope all of you, my Reatta friends, have a wonderful 2009. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who make this forum possible, in front and behind the scenes. It is by far best automotive forum in cyberland. To all the members who give freely of their advice, thank you. You guys saved me countless dollars during my near 10 year ownership of my 89 Reatta. Conversely, I hope I was able to help a few owners as well. Again, Happy New Year!!!!

Yep, that's normal. The seat back will only lock when the car has a panic stop, or if parked with the nose facing downhill. It's a simple pendulum device that makes it work.

Well, it is true. We are told that time moves faster as we age. When we were children, it seemed Christmas took forever and a day. Now as adults, it seems Christmas 2007 was just here. May all of you have a great holiday shared with close friends and family. Stay safe and may Santa bring every item your heart desires. Merry Christmas everybody.

Ship: I guess you could say we have just come out of the garage. Sequential turn signal pride forever.

Just some useless information. The first car to have the signals was the 1965 Thunderbird. The feature remained on the model till the 1971 model year. The Mercury Cougar offered them from 1967 till 1973. I owned both a new 69 and new 73 Cougar XR7. I used to turn on the turn signal and sit in my driveway, just to watch them work. As you can see, it does not take a lot to entertain me. The circuit was rather complex and all mechanical. Sometimes when you stepped on the brake, you could here the relays in the trunk. The cool turn signals were also used on the Mustang Shelby Cobra and for one year on the Chrysler Imperial. The only non Ford car so equipped. As already stated, the new 2010 Mustang (assuming there is a 2010 model year or a Mustang or Ford for that matter) will have the units. This time with LEDs and all electronic.

I had a problem with my car like this some years ago. The problem was not the motor, but the console switch. I replaced the switch, and the window worked great after that.

I was once told when I was a little lad, "just wait till you get old, time goes by so much faster". At the time, I thought the statement was stupid. Now that I'm older, it appears that the saying bears much truth. It seems like just a short while ago I was offering Thanksgiving greetings to you guys on the forum. Wow, how time flies! Again it is my honor to wish each and everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. May your holiday be filled with great food, great family, great friends, and great fun.

Having owned my 89 for more than 10 years before I sold it in September, I know the car rather well. The one area that can be a serious problem, as already mentioned, are the brakes. Do take the brake test and make any repairs to get the brakes working top notched. I would also drain the fluid at least once a year. There is a thread on this forum that describes the proper way to do it. Buy a shop manual, very important. They appear on eBay from time to time. If you can do auto repairs yourself, you are ahead of the game. Shops simply hate these cars! When you drive up in a Reatta the employee's eye glaze over like deer caught in headlights. There is really nothing magical about a Reatta. It's powertrain is the same as any number of GM products of the period. Many parts are the same as a Riveria. Body and trim is unique to the Reatta. New parts, for the most part, just are not there anymore. However, our own Jim Finn has some parts cars and is very reasonable and helpful. Parts are not too much of an issue. The Reatta is a great little car. Just remember that an 89 is a 20 year old car. Things will go wrong. The people on this forum know these car well and can offer good advice for most repairs. Enjoy.