Wwwwwoooooooowwwwww.....

[NCReatta]

Buick : Reatta - eBay (item 130500365709 end time Apr-11-11 13:23:22 PDT)

make one wonder how many others people have stuffed away in their garage...

Personally, I think this one's a deal.

[Thriller]

As much as I admire really low mileage cars, I don't think I could own one...not that I drive my cars a lot, but at least on a higher mileage unit, it isn't losing a significant amount of value each time you drive it. Our rural property is about an 80 mile round trip from our city place, so just moving it around a bit or exchanging cars would rack up enough mileage in relatively short order to start devaluing the car.

[CMJAnew]

I inquired about an RV trade for this convertible. Seller said No Thanks! Can't say as I blame him.

[wws944]

Even garage queens with 9k miles have their issues, albeit on different level than 300k mile beaters.

When we picked up my Reatta from my mother in aug 2009, it only had 9300 miles on it. Always garaged since new. (Actually I don't know about year 1 - because it was a dealer demo for the first 3k miles.) But it had a lot of the usual problems - bad rollers in the headlights, A/C needed recharging with R12, bad FPR, vacuum hose that kept popping off, needed a lot of cleaning and detailing, stereo rebuild, trunk key bezel. Replacing major fluids and filters. I still need to refinish the clear coats on the wheels and center caps. New tires. If I were to be truly obsessed, there is a small ding that could be fixed, need to fix a few paint chips, and so on.

Good rule of thumb with a used car is to reserve about 10% of what the car cost *new* to fix stuff up - regardless of mileage. But again, a garage queen will need a different level of effort than a car that a careless teen has trashed.

Edited March 22, 2011 by wws944 (see edit history)

[NCReatta]

wws944, you're completely right. Cars that have low milage (such as this one) can be much worse off than one that has 4x the miles this one has. Cars that are not driven can deteriorate very quickly. Cars are made to be driven, not parked.

[KDirk]

I'll go with that assertion too Marck. I see a lot of cars that are low mileage "garage queens" with all original hoses, tires, seals, etc. Rubber parts in particular dry rot over time, and it seems (though I don't have empirical scientific evidence) that they dry rot and harden more from lack of use than from routine driving. Of course it could also be that they were never replaced due to low miles, and a car that has over 50K has likely had at least one tuneup and some hoses/seals done. This is probably the more likely explanation for the number of low mile cars I see that have nuisance leaks that need to be addressed. And we all know that a car that sits to long tends to flat spot the tires.

Not to besmirch this particular car anyway. I would love to have one that clean and new. Heck, if nothing else the interior needs virtually no work by the looks of it. That said, I would feel badly buying a car in this condition since I would want to drive it regularly. Just seems a shame to take a rare vehicle well preserved for so long and make it a routine driver. This is the kind of car you buy as a vanity item, put it in a climate controlled display quality garage and drive in parades and sparingly on weekends in nice weather.

I don't have the funds or space to give it that kind of pampered existence, so it is a moot point for me. I hope somebody gives it a good and proper home. At least at that price point, it is likely not going to a teenager who will screw it up with vinyl decals (MSD ignition window sticker=15HP gained you know) and wagon wheels.

KDirk

[Ronnie]

This is probably the more likely explanation for the number of low mile cars I see that have nuisance leaks that need to be addressed.

I agree. When I got my car in 2007 I replaced the oil pan gasket, transmission gaskets and valve cover gaskets (maybe some others gaskets as well. I don't remember.) I had it leak free when I was done. My car isn't a garage queen. It has 110,000+ miles on it but isn't driven much. I drove it for a hundred or so miles about a week ago and today when I looked under it I saw some oil on the floor. That means I'll be back underneath it soon to find out where it's leaking. I doubt it would be leaking now if it had been driven regularly.

[PVRed90]

I have the same exact car with a CD player. Is has 32k on it. I like to drive it on nice days. It doesn't have any leaks.

[padgett]

Tranny fluid most likely, 440T4/4T60 are a bit notorious. Good chance to change the filter if so.

[Ronnie]

I think you're probably right. I had a hard time getting the transmission to stop leaking the last go round. I even bought a new transmission pan trying to stop the leak. I used a product called "the right stuff" instead of a gasket and it stopped the leak. Maybe it has dried out from sitting too much.

[Guest TheCapnVideo]

I have had numerous 3800s and none of them leaked anything at all until I bought one of my current LeSabres. It is a '97 with too few miles. It leaks oil from cars I do not own, coolant from a '33 LaSalle and brake fluid that tests out to be DOT2...

Ok I am exaggerating but let it sit and your floor gets wet.

[Guest Richard D]

I am lucky in the leak department, 144,000 and NO leaks, last oil change the mechanic asked me where I had the bottom cleaned. A/C compressor did develop a seal leak at around 141,000. Replacement compressor and other parts plus labor came to $310.00