Ronnie

<span style="font-weight: bold">Time is running out to buy this car!!</span> Thursday it will be taken to auction. As Enoytsur posted before, there is a Red 1990 Reatta with 47,000 miles on it for $3,995 at Germain Toyota in Sarasota, Florida. The car was originally listed at $9,999.00. On their site they marked it down so it is listed for $6,999.00. It was advertised last week in the Sarasota Herald Tribune newspaper and the sale price is $3,995.00. Yesterday it was advertised for $2995!!! I printed off a copy of the ad if someone needs it. There will be a processing fee of around $600 on top of that plus taxes and registration. That is what I was told. I was in the process of purchasing it but cannot complete the transaction. (Read my last post here. As far as I'm concerned it is now again for sale. I had a hard time getting the dealer to agree to sell it to me. He did agree to hold the car for me until Thursday when they plan to take it to the auction. Whether that offer will stand for anyone else or not I don't know. The Pre-owned Manager wants to send it to the auction because it has some defects he is not wanting to correct. This car is too nice to have it sold at auction. I would like to see someone here on the forum get this car instead of having it hauled away to a used car lot. The known defects are: a bad right front hub bearing making noise and possibly heating up (may require towing), issues with the paint on the front fascia below the bumper and some chipping of the paint between the front bumper and the hood. The rear bumper rub strip has some paint that appears to be worn off. There is a small mount of what appears to be minor rust on some parts. See the photos below. Don't rely on the photos on the dealerships website. Enoytsur has indicated to me he is still willing to assist anyone with the purchase of this car. I will do the same although what I can do may limited by the car being over 700 miles away from me. We are in no way affiliated with this dealership. Good Luck!

For those interested, I want to let you know where things stand with my purchase of this car. As far as I'm concerned this car is again for sale. I will start another thread soon in an effort to let anyone that might want the car know that is again up for grabs. Here is what stopped me from being able to complete my part of the sale. Late yesterday when visiting the U-haul website to try to reserve a tow dolly to use to tow the car home, I found that I was not able to rent a tow dolly or car trailer from U-haul. My 2-WD, S-10 Blazer was determined not to be heavy enough to pull a dolly or a trailer with the Reatta in tow. I was told the same thing by a local U-haul dealer based on U-haul policy. (It is all done on computer now and they must follow the U-haul rules.) My friend who was going to travel with me to Sarasota to pickup the Reatta graciously offered to take his vehicle that did qualify to pull the tow dolly. We left out this morning at 6:00 am headed for Sarasota. About half way to the Georgia state line he had fallen ill with virus like symptoms and we had to stop a number of times. We turned back at Chattanooga and returned home. He is doing somewhat better now. However, due to a job commitment on Thursday he is not able to leave again tomorrow and come back on Thursday as would be required on a ~1500 mile round trip. I know that are other options like having the car shipped and Enoytsur has been so nice in offering to assist any way possible and I'm sure others here are too. But, I feel it is time for me to let it go. To be frank I just don't want to deal with trying to get there and back any longer. Some things just weren't meant to be and this is one of them. Thanks to every one here for your kind words and heart felt concern for me being treated fair in this matter. It means a lot to me.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words of encouragement. I called again today and have a deal worked out and will be going to pick it up soon. Cross your fingers that the deal does not fall through when I get there.

Thanks guys for the encouraging words but I think this is over for me. I did all the right things to try to make a legitimate purchase. I don't really have a leg to stand on in forcing the issue. I can't document anything that took place if I talked to either the upper echelon at the dealership or the BBB, like the car being for sale for $3995 (I didn't personally see it in the newspaper and can't find it listed on the newspapers website) or any of the conversation with the salesman that took place. I have a very nice Red 88 Reatta I really enjoy. I have done most routine things that older Reattas need to put it in top shape. It is a beautiful car. The only reason I want another Reatta is I really like the looks of the dash on the 90 and 91 models. My first choice would be a '91 to get the 16" wheels but they are harder to find. If another nice 90 or 91 model comes along at a good price I will try again.

Thanks Dan for all the tips. I would have no problem with them holding the credit card number in lieu of payment till I could pick the car up. The problem is I can't get hold of anyone to even discuss purchasing the car. Enoytsur may have a copy of the sales ad but the Sarasota Herald Tribune newspaper where it was advertised has no mention of the car or the dealership anywhere on the website. Not in the classified ads or dealer ads. That seems odd to me. It is still listed on the Toyota dealerships website. I'm just a little baffled by the whole thing.

As information for anyone interested in this car, I want to tell you about my experience. THE SHORT VERSION: I was not able to purchase the car. It was not really made available to me by the dealership. THE LONG VERSION: I'm writing this so anyone who wants to pursue purchasing this car will know what I went through in my quest to purchase it. When I first saw this post I followed the link to the web page of the dealership and tried to call the toll free number. It would not work in my area. I called another number I found on their website and asked to talk to someone about the car and got a voice mail box where I left a message to call me. No phone call. I called back a day later with the same result. Then I saw the post that said the car was sold and I gave up on it. Then I saw the post by Enoytsur saying he had checked on the car again and it was still for sale. At 2:45 I called and talked to Kenny the salesman mentioned in Enoytsur's post. The salesman, Kenny seemed to have an uncertainty in his voice when talking about the car. He agreed the car was priced at $3995. When I asked for the total price out the door he paused as if calculating and then said it would be "around" $5328.00. I told him that sounded high to me. I asked him of he could tell me what made it so high and he said he was not certain. I asked if he had to charge tax with me taking the car out of state to have it registered. He said he didn't think that included any tax??? I asked him what the charges were for and that is when he told me he would have to talk to "Joe" the sales manager who was at lunch. This was at 2:45 this afternoon??? An awfully late lunch. I told him if we could get the price down firm that I wanted to know how I could make a partial payment to hold the car until I could get there to pick the car up and pay the balance. He said he didn't know if that would be possible or not. He said as soon as Joe came in he would talk to him and either Joe or him would call me back. I didn't get a phone call yesterday from either gentleman. I don't feel that I was out of line not wanting to pay the full (overly inflated) price and pay for a car up front sight unseen. The availability of the money was not a problem for me. I just wanted to try to protect myself from a sour deal after driving 700 miles. That shouldn't have stopped me from being able to purchase the car and IF it had he should have said so. This morning I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and call them again. I called and left a voice mail for the used car manager's desk. I read on the web site they have two used car managers so one of them should have been there. I also tried to call the cell number of the salesman, Kenny. I didn't get a call from anyone. Maybe someone was there with cash in hand and bought the car. I don't know. Maybe the car is still for sale. I don't know. Maybe someone got a great deal on a nice car. I hope so. For me it was one of those deals that was just too good to be true. I do not mean to infer Enoytsur was not sincerely trying to help someone get a nice car at a good deal. He is not to blame in any way for my misfortune. I appreciate his efforts.

Thanks to everyone who has offered to help. As soon as someone commits to send one I will let the forum know. IF I receive one I will see if it can be rebuilt at a reasonable cost, assuming I will be able to find the parts. Once I get one rebuilt I will return it to the owner for testing (at your own risk) as I don't want to remove mine and cause unnecessary problems for me. If it is found to work properly we will come up with a charge that is fair to anyone who needs one rebuilt. If anyone has any documentation related to the Teves master cylinder it would really help for me to have a copy. Thanks - Ron

I actually offered to rebuild the master cylinder if someone would just supply a core to experiment with and no one offered. BUT someone (anyone here?) was willing to spend $676.66 on eBay for a new one which would be no better than a properly rebuilt one with new parts. I really don't understand the logic but I don't need to. I have been a journeyman machinist and mechanic all my life. I have retired but I am still a member of the IAM. Given enough time and money I can fix most anything mechanical. If my Teves goes out I will try to fix it. But that doesn't mean I am willing to spend a huge amount of time and money on anything that can be replaced easily at a reasonable cost. It just doesn't make sense. I respect the group that says fix it at all cost. But when it comes to my money I will be in the camp with those who choose to do what makes good economic sense. Yes, I'm done now.

Steak, Please document what is needed to do the change over as you go by posting it here when there Teves system has failed and can't be repaired at a reasonable price. There will be a lot of other Reatta owners who will need to do the changeover as out cars get older and the parts get more scarce. Barney may be right. The Teves may be a good system and I have learned to live with it, but once it gets to the point where I am facing spending hundreds of dollars and beating my head against the wall to get it working it is time for it to go. I am speaking from a point of having a weekend driver and not a show car. If I were Barney and some of the other collectors on this forum I would be wanting to keep the brake system stock at almost any cost. But for a daily driver or weekend driver like I have, at some point keeping it stock just doesn't always make sense. If my Teves system ever goes down and I can't repair it I will be seeking information on how to do the changeover as you are. That is why I ask you to let us all know what is involved in changing to the vacuum booster brake system by posting the steps involved for the changeover here.

I have contacted the salesman and I'm in the process of purchasing it. Thanks to your help!

Maybe this will help. It is from the FSM. You really need to use the FSM to troubleshoot the problem correctly. You can get it here.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I am beginning to wonder about the tps and perhaps that is what is causing the up and down fluctuation when the cruise is set. </div></div> Have you checked the cable and linkage between the cruise servo unit and the throttle? Excessive slack in the cable can cause the fluctuation you describe. The cable is adjustable at the servo end.

That sounds like a good deal. Do you live nearby and could get more details? I have been looking for a 90 model at a good price.

Number 1 is easy. A nice low mileage car like that deserves to have any body work done by a professional unless you have previous experience. You will be much happier and you will also be preserving the value of your car. Nothing turns off people more than seeing a botched up repair on the body of an otherwise nice car. Spend the extra bucks here you will be glad you did. As for the power seat problem, there is no magic fix. Like any other electrical problem, logical troubleshooting will be required to find the problem. It could be in the motor or the switch that controls the motor. The easy place to start is to pull the switch assembly out of the door panel. Test it to see if you have power to the switch that controls the motor you are having trouble with. If you do have power going to switch, check the wire that powers the up and down motor, and then check for power at the motor. If the seat will try to move up and not come back down, I would bet the switch is bad.

Just want to add that a known problem with the solenoid not working properly is due to a bad ground through the hinge. Adding a jumper wire that will ground the solenoid directly to the body will cure erratic operation.

Greg, thanks for the tips. I intend to try find all the noises before I give up. You did remind me that I had to remove the mesh cover on the converter the first time I was looking for the noise. It was loose on the top of the converter. Before I removed it I tried to crimp it on better but I could never get it tight enough that it didn't rattle. Maybe a loose covering on the converter is the source of the noise others are hearing on their car. That would be the first place I would look.

I have tried to find the noise two or three times. I have checked the hangers as suggested earlier and mine seem to be in good condition. I made a little difference in the noise by clamping the heat shield to the front exhaust manifold with a radiator clamp. I couldn't get my hands to fit well enough between the engine and firewall to clamp the heat shield to the rear manifold. Another thing that helped some is to put a small crease, in each side of the large sheet metal shield that protects the center console area from the exhaust heat. The crease forms a rib running at a 45 degree angle in order to make it a little more rigid. If you want to try it you can use long nose channel locks (like welders use) clamped to the sheet metal at an angel and then slightly twist by inserting a long screwdriver in the handle of the channel locks to use as a lever. If you wanted to get a little more professional you could remove the shield and use a bead roller like the stock car guys do to make the sheet metal more rigid. Despite that I still hear buzzing noises when I accelerate that I would like to find and eliminate. If any one finds a better way to stop the noises please let me know.

My exhaust noise sounds like sheet metal buzzing as I accelerate but I can't seem to locate it. There are so many sheet metal heat shields that the possibilities are endless.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Right now I am just hoping to get rid of the vibration noise on acceleration. </div></div> My car has the same problem. If you find the cause, please post the cure here.

Is it the line coming from the PCV valve? If so it could have done one of two things. It could have just added enough raw air to lean out an overly rich mixture or it could have stopped blow by gases from the crankcase from going into the engine resulting in pollution of the exhaust. Maybe even a combination of both of the above. Just a guess.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Copper81</div><div class="ubbcode-body">KDirk, I have to agree with your feelings on this type of matter. I also prefer to not follow the crowd for the sake of having what the crowd has. I enjoy having something a bit different, something that is not the "norm" ... and that is also why I have a Reatta (along with the fact that they look awesome!). </div></div> Don't you imagine that is the reason the port holes are popular right now is because they are NOT the "norm"?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: steveskyhawk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">OK guys, Today I took apart all the sensor connectors and dried them out. The one on the cruise servo was filled with water. Found a cracked vacuum hose and taped it up. Disconnected the battery to erase codes. SES is now out. Cruise is working and trans locks up as it is supposed to. Wont idle now. Idle is about 2500 in neutral and 1500 in gear. No SES! Now what? </div></div>Check the connection to the IAC (Idle Air Control). If you had an 88 model I could tell you how to test the IAC using the diagnostic screen. By overriding it you can adjust it in and out which should make the idle speed change. I don't know how to do it on your 91 model. I'm sure someone here will tell you how.

I'm not sure about the '91 model but on other models things that come to mind that could keep the cruise control and torque converter from operating correctly would be: 1. Signal to the computer that the brake pedal is depressed. (Cruise will not engage nor will the converter lock with your foot on the brake.) 2. Temperature has not reached over ~146° (Converter will not lock until the engine has warmed up.) 3. Bad connection(s) where wiring harness plugs into the transmission. (May be more extensive on '91 with electronic controls.) Aluminum foil, wrapped around electrical components/sensors and connections and then squeezed to get a tight fit, will help avoid problems. After washing it will help if you blow everything off with compressed air or a leaf blower before removing the aluminum foil and starting the engine.

The first things would be Brakes, and the Electrical system. If there are any brake warning lights on, you have problems. Sellers like to tell you it is just the parking brake switch or something minor that causes the lights to be on but it can be much more. The brake system is not too hard to fix once you get to know the system but you need to know it up front. The brake system is different for 95% of GM cars. It's called the Teves system. One of the first parts to go is the accumulator. It goes for about $120. IF the whole unit is bad you could pay around $750. Brake pads and rotors are just common Buick parts that are relatively inexpensive. You are already aware of the electrical problems with the CRT and instrument panel I assume. If not just ask.