reattadudes

Kevin, you're applying production line logic that just doesn't exist here. the only good sales year for the Reatta was 1988. a convertible was promised for 1989, but we all know that didn't happen for another year. by 1990, dealers were chopping the roots from Reattas in their inventory. it was so bad that GM offered dealers a $5,000 incentive if they put the cars in demo service, and drove them until they hit 2,500 miles. my very first Reatta, a 1990 driftwood coupe, was one of these cars. it originally went to a dealer in Kansas City, went to auction with 2,512 miles on the odometer, and was sold to Ewing Buick in Dallas. GM also used Reattas as an incentive for dealers to get more desirable, fast selling models like Regals, Rivieras, and Le Sabres. you want twenty more LeSabres than your allocation called for? well, take four Reattas. this procedure is VERY common in the car business, regardless of make. so what could they do to move more Reattas, and keep things humming at the Craft Centre? build special cars! former Louisville Buick dealer and forum member Tom Payette told me (and others) many times that the Buick rep would show up and ask, "what kind of Reatta can we build for YOU?" when I stopped to leave my business card at Lake Buick in Cleveland back in 2002, the same thing happened. the parts guy ran to get the dealer principal, Greg Lake, to talk to me. Greg took me to his office, and pulled out a notebook with photos. inside were photos of about twelve Reatta convertibles, all with white interiors. black with white, silver with white, white with white (and NOT a Select Sixty), and red with white. its all about "moving the metal", and the Craft Centre was designed to accomodate quick changes. it was perfectly suited for this. and let's not forget that Frank Sinatra Jr's three Reatta convertibles all had their custom exhaust systems installed AT the Craft Centre. it must also be remembered that one of the main things that aso gave the Craft Centre a lot of autonomy was their location. the Craft Centre was a Buick factory in an Oldsmobile town. how many Flint-based Buick executives do you suppose relished the thought of a 60 mile (one way) drive to just "pop in", and see what's going on? as more and more of the 1990 Reatta Comp Nine information is decoded, you'll see just how many of these special cars were actually built. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

Marck, thanks so much for the recent post! this is indeed the almost-twin to the car I reported on way back in 2003. that car was built for the 1990 Canadian auto show circuit, and like all export Reattas, had 16 way seats as standard equipment. I joined the forum over 13 years ago, and from nearly day one talked about unusual Reatta color combinations. of course, I was shot down and villified at every turn, with excuses like, "it wasn't in the catalog, you couldn't get that", or "where ARE they?" ditto for the factory cloth tops on convertibles, until they began to appear, and LOTS of them. in 1990, there were 436 off standard color combinations. of that total, the vast majority are bright red/slate gray (about 300), but still leaves over 100 cars that were either off standard, or custom colors. all other year Reattas also show this same anomaly in about the same numbers, on a percentage basis. 1990 was the most prolific year, as more 1990s were built than any other year. Barney saw this anomaly himself a few years back when the Buick Nationals were in Colorado. one of my customers has a 1989 Sapphire blue/saddle coupe, and Barney personally examined the Service and Parts Identification label. before I forget; if you're not going to keep those gorgeous wire wheels, let me know. they'll look great with the Vogue tyres I just bought for my driftwood convertible. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

Kevin, there is a lot more information about these "missing" VINs right now; I've just made the decision to now release it at this time. why? as many of you know, my questioning of information provided by "the keeper of the database" goes back well over twelve years. I said from Day 1 that there were indeed cloth convertible tops installed at the Craft Centre; our "expert" said no, "because it wasn't in the catalog". I was even called a "liar". and there we were, all sitting at the GM Technical Center in Flint in 2003, waiting for some of the folks who worked on the Reatta project to share their recollections of working at the Craft Centre. the last guy to speak was a jug-eared guy with a southern drawl, who worked on the trim line. he even brought a scrapbook; inside were photos of a silver convertible with a red cloth top, one with a blue cloth top, tan cloth top, etc. did I get even the slightest apology from the person who called me a liar? of course not! this has gone on for all the insuing years, including times I've had lunch with my source of information (all recorded), and I stupidly posted here what was passed down to me. and what was the result? the person who called me a liar now called my source a liar by telephone! of course, what does this source know? well, you be the judge: he helped open the Craft Centre in 1987, and worked there continously thru the Reatta, EV-1, Cavalier/Sunbird convertibles, Eldorado, and until the last Chevrolet SSR rolled out the door in 2006. but hey, what does he know? a lot of information being revealed here by Regalization is new to me as well, and quite welcome, merely proving everything I've said for over 13 years. black metallic Reattas, HUNDREDS of off-standard/special colors? I shudder the thought of the ridicule I would have received here if I had released this information! as far as the "missing" VINs go, I will tell you this. I have a customer here in Arizona with a white '91 convertible. he is a retired trial attorney from Youngstown, Ohio. back in 1991, he had heard the Reatta was being discontinued, and wanted a convertible. a friend of his worked at Packard Electric (then a GM division) in nearby Warren, Ohio, and said he would see what he could do. he called back later with a special phone number into the Craft Centre. my customer, Jim, was rather shocked when the first question the woman who answered the phone at the Craft Centre was, "how did you get this phone number?" this was weeks after the Craft Centre had closed. they did indeed have an inventory of cars (any guesses how many? 34!!; and I've known this number for ten years, but not understanding its significance until now), and seven were not spoken for. he chose a white/saddle convertible, and it arrived by flatbed at Younstown Buick Company later that day. my source is not in the best of health at this time. at the time of his passing, I will have all the documents on these 34 cars (and a lot more), and will release all the information at that time. I think a lot of folks just don't understand how things work at car companies, especially GM. whatever an executive wants, they get, period. now just think about this: the Craft Centre is told to close; all the workers all still there, as well as the stuff to build the cars. executives are calling, wanting one of the last cars; there are (technically) assigned VINs. in exchange for getting a car, executives make sure proper paperwork is generated, although technically not thru official channels. think about that. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

Keith, actually, we're both right. GM issued a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) in March of 1988 about the premature wear on the suede bolsters. this became evident early on, with a lot of the Reattas that were displayed and open to people to sit in at auto shows showing wear and even tearing of the pigskin bolsters. they gave customers a choice of either changing the cushions to leather seating surface with vinyl trim (early 1988 leather cars had full leather everywhere, but that changed after about car #600), or replacing the cushions with Ultrasuede trim instead of the pigskin. we've had three cars here with the original replacement Ultrasuede. and thanks for looking at our new website! Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

a wise man once told me, "something is worth what it brings". so $850 is too much for a set of NOS hub caps? do YOU have any? I had five sets, and also sold them to very uncomplaining customers for $850 per set. ANYONE who decides to have their factory 1988-1990 wheels professionally refinished will need a set. not even the nicest set of used hub caps will match the refinished wheels. Steve did want to thank you however, Barney, for bringing them to everyone's attention here. thanks to you, he has received three calls on them today, and expects them to be gone by the end of the weekend. if these are allegedly "overpriced", perhaps some forum members could let us all know where we could find brand new ones (and a LOT of them!) for less. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

Jim, I certainly meant no ill will here. I based my comments on posts you had previously made here in the forum about your move, that you would no longer be buying parts cars, and when the parts you had in stock were gone, you were out of the parts business. I was not aware that you had a change of heart, and were buying more parts cars. again, no harm was intended. as far as any parts sellers charging "handling" charges, I am not aware of anyone who does that, or ever has. everyone I know charges whatever the actual shipping costs are and nothing else. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

I'm an 'old timer' here, having been a member since 2002. you'll notice I don't have thousands of posts, because I wanted to discuss what I felt were important things about Reattas, not that there's a $50 coupon for Chili's online. even though I'm in the business of selling Reatta parts, I thought my best approach here in the beginning was not about selling parts, but about sharing knowledge about things I've learned about taking hundreds of Reattas apart. at this point, over 650 Reattas have rolled thru the doors here at buickreattaparts.com I thought that information would be appreciated; it was not. the first problem concerned the subject of VIN numbers. as the former owner of a new car dealership, I learned early on that an VIN number is sacrosanct. our new vehicles arrived, and I required every new vehicle's VIN to be visually verified with the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin (MSO) we received from Chrysler. guess what? about 40 per year were incorrect, and that was for NEW vehicles at a small dealership. now let's look at that Reatta database. VINs are very casually gathered from online ads, newspaper ads, pennysaver ads, and wherever else a VIN can be found. police agences make it a habit be verify a VIN three different times, just to make sure it is absolutely correct. do you suppose this was done with the database? of course not. as our initial inventory of 100 Reattas arrived, I was anxious to share all this information for the database. imagine my surprise when I was told by "the keeper of the database" that my VIN information was "wrong" compared to what alleged information was already entered there. well, that ended providing any additional information from our inventory. over the years, I've shared information about things like exact match SEM colors for Reatta interiors, complete with color codes for every Reatta interior color. was that appreciated? of course not! SEM costs more than 99 cents, and no one could seem to understand that an AUTO PAINT SUPPLY STORE (the place body shops buy paint) was not the same as AutoZone. instead, many "experts" found a "close match" with high gloss enamel they bought at WalMart. I can only imagine how good that looks on vinyl and leather. I made friends with Steve Scott (reattapartswest)and Marck Barker (East Coast Reatta Parts); we are all still the best of friends today. both had asked if I would have a problem with them selling Reatta parts; I welcomed the competition with open arms. today, between the three of us, we have over 11,000 Reatta customers. as time passed, we were trashed, vilified, and made unwelcome here on the forum. it was rare for one of us to post without another post appearing that said, "please PM me before you buy ANYTHING from them". Steve was banned altogether. none of the three of us do this as a hobby, or has a pension. this is our primary source of income, and I have no plans to just "get by", but to thrive and do very well, just like each and every one of you. it seems many forum members parrot that Easter chick: "cheep, cheep, cheep". a good example was a recent post about the transmission shift cable. a bunch of "answers" of the Mickey Mouse variety, but not ONE single suggestion to REPLACE the cable with a good one. its interesting to see posts about "unavailable intermediate emergency brake cables" really? how many corrosion free ones do you want? how about the rear one? need a corrosion free filler tube or gas tank? rear axle assembly or front subframe, corrosion free? we have them all. no, they are not $2, but we have no problems selling them to dealers, shops, and customers who really care about their Reattas, with no interest in Mickey Mouse fixes that never work. we have no two dollar parts for ten dollar cars. I learned a long time ago that before I trash a source, I'd better have a "plan B". with Mr. Finn essentially out of the Reatta parts business, it seems all of the "Plan Bs" have been run out of town. if someone turns to the forum here for a front clip, a windshield, an optically restored tail lamp assembly (this is done correctly to last forever, not a "forum fix" that washes off with the next rain), or a front fender that needs to be shipped and arrive on one piece, where would they go? nope, no Plan B here. I've never seen any automotive forum anywhere were members DELIGHT in what they perceive as the "worthlessness" of their cars like they do here. of course, they could not be more incorrect, but they don't want to hear any of those facts. we have seen Reatta values in both NADA and KBB increase fivefold in the last three years. I had a customer last month with a rustbucket, 200,000+ mile Reatta in Pennsylvania that hit two deer; GEICO totaled the car, and gave their insured a check for $6,800. do you know a lot of insurance companies that overpay on claims? I don't! but keep telling yourselves that whoever buys a pristine, low mileage convertible for $25,000 got "ripped off". do you get upset when your neighbor sells their home for $50,000 more than the last neighborhood sale? why are increasing values on your cars such a problem? when I look at the percentage of my sales from forum members (even when I was posting a lot, ten years ago). the best year (2003) was a whopping 2%, with the other 98% coming from dealers, shops, and non forum customers. still, I kept posting information until it reached a point that the relentless trashing convinced me to just not bother any longer. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

Barney, with regard to "a fellow from the West Coast" (Steve Scott), I'd like to take a moment and set the record straight. first, I suspect you've just had a "Brian Williams moment"; here is what REALLY happened with regard to the 1991 hub caps. Steve BOUGHT a cap from you. I was at his house when it arrived. you used lots of silicone to attach the Reatta emblem to the center of the cap; the emblem still had some flex to it. Steve said it would be much more secure using a resin, plus a mesh attachment. buying the blank center caps was no mystery, and didn't require trips to car lots to "fit" them. since the 1991 wheel is essentially the same as the Hollander #4020 chrome wheel (used on 1997-2005 Park Avenue, and 1995-1999 Riviera), then any hub cap that worked there would work on a 1991 Reatta wheel. those are all over eBay for $60 a set; no "mystery" there for supplies. you bought your Reatta emblems four at a time from a guy who sold them on eBay. when Steve decided to do this, he bought ALL of the remaining emblem stock the guy on eBay had (over 200), essentially shutting you out of the 1991 hub cap business. success comes not to those who "play it safe", but those who take chances. it appears that shoulder chip does not lie with Steve. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

a car with 70,000 miles is far from a "garage queen". I have been very familiar with all of the cars I've sold, and each and every one was a daily driver before they chose to buy a new car. I don't look at the fact that they chose to take fanatical care of them as being a detriment. I've owned over 350 cars in my life, with about 150 of those being of the interesting/collector variety. with a very few exceptions, I've NEVER found that typical "cheap" car purchase to be a "deal" in the long run....and any car collector with a shred of sense knows this, too. they are in reality always money pits, in addition that an original car is only original once. for example, the silver car I'm talking about comes with the following items: NOS front and rear bumpers, still in GM wrapping. NOS tail light lens, as well as a complete NOS tail light assembly, both still in GM boxes; 2 sets of NOS floor mats, still in boxes, as well as the two additional sets that are in the car; 2 remotes, still in the bags, in addition to the two that the car came with. the owner had the dealer install custom sheepskin covers before they took delivery of the car. as a result, the seats are in "as new" condition, with not a single fold or crease in the supple leather. they had the steering wheel leather covered with another professionally installed leather cover, to keep the original one perfect. when I received the car, I had the top replaced with a German twill cloth top (it was an additional $250 on top of the cloth upgrade), as well as a matching slate gray Alcantara ultrasuede headliner. the top was an exact match to the silver paint, as the headliner was an exact match to the interior. the 15 inch wheels came off, replaced with a set of the 16" 4020 (Hollander guide interchange number) chrome wheels (look very similar to 1991 Reatta wheels) as well as a set of "Steve Scott" chrome wheel centers with Reatta emblems. the wheels received a new set of 215/60 16 Goodyear Assurance Comfortread tires. the garish black pinstriping was replaced with a "tone on tone' gray stripe that was slightly darker than the silver paint. the bumpers were also polished. I would like to think that the buyer is getting ever dime of his money's worth. and speaking of what something is worth, along with the comments of "they paid too much", let me ask a few questions: -have homes in your area increased in value in the past 10 years? -if they have, have you cursed your neighbor when they set a new high price for the neighborhood? -if you're living in an apartment, is the rent the same as it was 30 years ago? if not, why? -has your income never gone up since you started twenty years ago? -have you ever seen a car on the block at Barrett-Jackson, with the bidding fast and feverish? have you ever seen Craig Jackson put his hand up, stop the bidding, and say, "now its high enough, we don't need it to go any higher!"? -if you were involved in an accident that was not your fault, would you tell the adjuster to check with NADA, Kelley, or Hagerty for a correct valuation, or would you say, "hey its a beater, and I only paid $600 for it?" -do you suppose folks on the Mustang and Hemi 'Cuda sites are sharing information of how to make a shaker hood out of a stock one, using only tin snips and bondo, or are they stepping up to the plate for a $6,000 correct shaker hood? -do you suppose folks on the GNX sites are lamenting the fact that the value of their cars is skyrocketing? it was only a very few years ago Hemmings was clogged with columns of "still in wrapper" GNXs, all trying to get 30K. today, the Kelley value of an excellent example of a Grand National is $35,600 with a two hundred percent add for the GNX package on top of the Grand National. do you suppose these very high valuations of excellent examples help those of driver quality GNXs as well? of course they do! as I mentioned, a high tide floats all boats; in other words, those allegedly "overpriced" cars help everyone. it seems some here really prefer low tide, don't they? Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

like so many others here, I'm a car nut, and that extends to other cars beyond Reattas. with that being said, I have never seen another forum on the internet that delights...DELIGHTS!! in trashing the value of their very own cars. I've been selling Reatta parts for over twelve years, and have seen values go from a low of $850 in Kelley Blue book just a few years ago to where they are today. and by the way, here are the latest Kelley values: coupes: fair, $3,100; good, $6,100; excellent: $11,200 convertibles: fair, $5,550; good, $9,600; excellent, $15,300 NADA is even higher than Kelley. Hagerty puts a 1990 Select 60 convertible in #2 condition in the high 20s, and an excellent example in the mid 30s. none of these publications are talking out of their posteriors; they have done research on what the cars are REALLY selling for. and before the firestorm begins, let me say one thing: unlike the majority of posters here, I know eBay sales are indicative of NOTHING, unless you're quite content with 20%-40% of your car's real value. did any of these value guides use eBay as a basis of values? nope. how about insurance companies? the answer is again no. I sold a 1990 gunmetal gray Reatta coupe with 24,000 miles on eBay the week between Christmas and New Year's (the worst week of the year to sell anything) of 2009, rolling into 2010, with 2009 being arguably the worst year since 1929. I had a 'buy it now' of $9,995, and it sold way before the auction ended. I had four backup offers, all the way to $14,000. how could this be, since these cars "have no value?" could it be that it took me five days to write the ad (and there was ZERO Reatta "boilerplate" from Wikipedia), and it contained seventeen paragraphs? could it be that the photographs were numerous and excellent? could it be there was no part of the ad where the words, "THE BAD" appeared, then giving a laundry list of the numerous things that were wrong with the car, because I corrected everything down to the smallest detail? it was all of the above. here is a simple thing I learned many years ago, and most people just can't wrap their minds around it. wealthy people will pay absolute top dollar for a really nice car that DOES NOT NEED ANYTHING. IF THE CAR IS TOO CHEAP (even a nice one) THEY AREN'T INTERESTED. while many of the posters here are quite busy rushing toward the bottom (quite voluntarily!), there are others like myself who head in the other direction. over the years, I've sold eighteen 1990 Reatta convertibles that were consigned from customers. all were pristine, one owner cars from the southwest, and needing NOTHING. the lowest price was $22,000, and the highest, $26,500. mileage was in the 50,000-75,000 range. last night was a classic example. in Scottsdale, there is a car show EVERY Saturday night (all year) at the Scottsdale Pavilions shopping center. you can find it online by Googling "rock and roll McDonalds". on a slow night, there will be at least 600 cars in attendance. I was out there with my silver convertible, and I had called another 15 of my local customers, and they were all there, too. we had an entire row at the show. a Canadian guy came up to talk to me, saying he had never seen a silver convertible like mine, and asked if it was for sale. I said no, but I had a consignment car in my garage identical to it, and it was for sale. he asked the price, and I told him $22,000. he called his brother, hung up, and said, "sold". he called today to verify that we did indeed have a deal, and we'll be finishing it up tomorrow. and for those who still want to argue the point, I have a task for you: I saw a commercial today for dealchicken.com they said you could buy new iPads on their auction 'for 99 cents'. who is giving Apple a call tomorrow to tell them the $800 retail price is way too high, 'cuz dealchicken.com has them for 99 cents?? a high tide floats ALL boats. think about that. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

new windshields are still available from Pilkington Classics. I just gave them a call, and net (wholesale) is $1017, and retail is $1749. they are presently on back order, and should be in inventory in the next thirty days. shipping must be added to this, which could increase the price by $200-$500, depending on location. the National Auto Glass Suppliers Association (NAGS) filed a class action lawsuit against auto insurance companies over 15 years ago, and won. this allows auto glass suppliers to charge insurance companies FULL retail, NOT wholesale, when they buy glass. this is really apparent here in the Phoenix area, where glass companies constantly advertise a year's free dinners if you let them replace your windshield thru your insurance company. with all the rocks and stones flying around here, windshield breakage is quite common. one of my trucks is on its sixth windshield, and my Buick Park Avenue's windshield has been repaired for chips 27 times, a record for the glass guy that has done the repairs for me. my average customer who has had a windshield replaced thru their insurance has reported the cost to be in the $2,200-$2,500 range, taxed, delivered and installed. any one who has paid $600 for a new one is either fibbing, or purchased one that sat on a shelf for 15 years or more. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

-headlights should NEVER "slam shut" if a proper kit is installed. slamming shut indicates slop or flexing in the system somewhere. a proper kit installation is perfectly smooth and quiet, going thru both open and close cycles. -so WHY are Kitskaboodle's bezels cracked exactly where I said they'd be? this area has NO stress whatsoever...and they are both cracked in exactly the same area. a crack in the area of the bezel under the headlight is a possibility if it scrapes against the splash shield underneath the headlight assembly, or it was stuck during a removal attempt. there is absolutely no reason for a crack on the side, unless something has contacted it from the back....let alone cracks in BOTH sides. -hand cranking the headlights solves or proves absolutely nothing. the ONLY solution is taking them apart, and examining the headlight bracket when removed from the car. when they're removed, there will be multiple stress cracks in the pot metal headlight bracket, as well as a shiny scrape mark where the crank assembly has jumped out of its arc. under the torque of the motor (not the same as hand cranking) the headlight bracket will flex at the crack points, allowing the crank to jump out of its normal (and intended) path of travel. I've seen several that a mere tug on the motor would allow it to pull completely from the bracket, while still firmly bolted to the fragments of the bracket. I have personally done headlight repairs on over 500 cars, so I'd like to think I might know just a little about how these things work, as well as talk about issues I've seen. I'm glad to offer Kitskaboodle FREE headlight bezels (including shipping) to replace the broken ones. run the headlights (under their own power) thru 10-20 cycles, and then explain why they are again BOTH cracked in exactly the same location. no pissing match. only FACTS. Mike Rukavina buickreattaparts.com

I did not place my post here to start any kind of pissing match. I posted it here from my own experience, working on my own customer's cars. while it seems many will question what I say (just because I'm saying it), I have one simple response. IF the bezels are cracked as I have described, perhaps Mr. Kitskaboodle can "report back" to the forum when he disassembles them. at minimum, the headlight brackets and headlight bezel will need to be replaced. there will be multiple cracks (or chunks missing) around the arc, and this flexing allows the crank assembly to move outside its normal path. I did not take any photos (I don't even have a phone with a camera) because I didn't have a reason to take photos of a bunch of broken parts; I just replaced everything with unbroken parts, and completed the job. again, no pissing match. merely reporting my own experience. when I first saw this over six years ago, I was as surprised as anyone else.

if your headlight bezels are cracking on the inboard sides, I give it a 100% chance its the result of the headlight kits you installed. i just corrected the eighth car last week that had these same kits installed, and the failures were all of the catastrophic variety. here is what happens: the crank assembly does not fit into the headlight bracket properly to begin with. Padgett even suggested correcting this with a "kerwenger". when the crank assembly swings thru its open/close arc, its too far out on one end, and too far in on the other. electric motors have a lot of torque, and they will destroy anything that gets in their way. if your headlight bezels are indeed broken on the inboard side, you'll find these are the least of your problems. if you take the headlight assembly out of the car, you'll also find the headlight brackets the motors mount to are also broken. the breakage from the misaligned crank assemblies is what allows them to rotate out of their normal, contained arc. if you're lucky, the bezel and headlight bracket will be the extent of your damage. four of the eight cars I repaired also had the actual headlight bucket broken as well.

Jon, the question is not "who has it"?, but which one? there were six rear drive Reatta turbos built with Corvette rear suspensions. there were five front drive turbos built. all had about 325 horsepower. I've seen a wrecked rear driver in Georgia, sitting in someone's field. another customer has seen one of the front wheel drive turbos at a car show in Ann Arbor, MI there are no records of any being scrapped. I was out at Firebird Raceway here in Arizona when Hot Rod did the road testing of all the Buick Turbos back in 1987. they had a full line out there. my favorite was the Turbo Electra Estate wagon, resplendent in full exterior woodgrain, wire wheel covers, and white sidewall tires smokin' off the line, also with 325 horse.