Which year of Reatta is the best?

[Guest]

Hi all,

What year Reatta is the best (from a repair standpoint)? I want to buy one but don't want to be bogged down with numerous repairs or factory defects that GM didn't iron out until a later year. Is '90 or '91 better than a '88 or '89? What improvements did GM make in the later years?

Thanks for you help.

Ansel

[padgett]

Purely from a repair standpont, probably a '91 though would take a sub-100k mile anything else to a 125k mile+ '91.

That said, I like my '88 better because of what it has that the '91 doesn't.

[Guest HessLakeGuy]

I like the 1991 best. I do not have an 88, but I have the other two years. Just one persons opinion.

[Barney Eaton]

The year "you" like is the best.

[Guest imported_JohnW]

I there any outside body changes from 1988-1991?

[Guest]

1988 I have had very little trouble outside the standard problems found in all models.

[Booreatta]

The 88's and the 89's have the touch screen which is what

makes the Reatta the Reatta. The newer models are too Grandpa ish

my 2 cents

[sahein]

I vote for 88-89.

[Guest DTerry]

Agree. Touch-screen CRT is the difference.

[Shelby]

The 88-89 With the CRT has a lot better trip computer , and other cool useless stuff that I like.

The 88-89 wiper switch is in a dumb place and you have a no CD available.

[Rawja]

My preferance is definately for the 88-89.

I've noticed a number of new users expressing fears about the reliability of the touchscreen. I've been on here for three years, and the screen does not seem to be particularly troubleprone, and appears to be a great deal more reliable than to 90-91 digital dash and climate control modules. Plus the screen is still the ultimate in coolness to me, even 18 years after entered production.

[padgett]

Original request was "from a repair standpoint". From any other standpoint, I like my '88. Even the '89 had some decontenting (sorry but true) and it just continued as time went by.

Trunk RF CD is easy to add but I rarely even turn the radio on.

[Guest]

The size of the medallion on the hood. It is smaller on the 88' model.

[Guest Greg Ross]

Yes, that's the way to identify externally at least, an '88. It's about 2" in diameter as compared to the rest of the Fleet!

[sahein]

I did see a severly smashed 88 in the junkyard that had a large hood emblem and a gold medallion on the horn button and 5 buttons on the console. It did not have the keyless entry. My guess is that this either was a very late 88 or sombody replaced the hood emblem with a larger one.

[Guest imported_Flash]

Late '88's do have some of the items from the '89's....no suede, gold sunburst horn, etc. At the 100th, a couple of folks thought mine was an '89 and actually were quite insistent. As the original owner with title, I can assure you that mine is an '88.

[padgett]

*I think* all '88s had the latchless glove box, that is the easy way to tell. Really late '88s (approximatetely after 4000) have the 89 Teves with the steel line in front of the accumulator (though, of course, could have been replaced). Thought Barney was compiling that sort of thing.

[Guest imported_Flash]

padgett...

mine is quite late and there are no glove box latches on mine that I know of. Only way to open is via a button. Battery must be connected.......used to keep my wheel lock in there and while dealer work was being done they couldn't get it, as the battery was disconnected for another work item.

Don't know about the teves system. 903808, never had the troubles that I read about here. Just brake pad rattle. How would I find out what brake system I have?

[Guest]

So, from a maintenace standpoint only, is an earlier (88 and 89) Reatta better or worse than a newer one (90 and 91)?

Ansel

[padgett]

Other than the brakes which require more maintenance on the 88-90 than the 91 and the 88 timing chain tensioners (you just replace them with later ones when doing a timing chain), the milage is really more important than the year.