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there's a 1998 for sale (that runs, there is video evidence) for $850 about 2 hours from where i live. i'd really like to have a beater car to use so i can keep my LS as a secondary car that i don't use in traffic or bad weather. does anyone have any experience or knowledge about these?
i know the northstar v8s have their whole headgasket 'issue' but other than that people generally seem to say they last awhile... this one i found has only 117k miles and has a decent autocheck score too.
i mean just look at that... i can't contain myself looking at this thing. a fwd V8 omg hahaha... and i love the supra style dashboard that's all angled toward the driver. the thing even has temperature and fan control settings on the steering wheel!! eat your heart out s class...
I generally wouldn't recommend it as a beater-purchase...this car dates from GM's bad old days. You've already listed some of the Northstar's issues, and a number of Auroras were also built with defective glass that distorted rear vision (in an age before back-up cameras).
The only way this purchase might make some sense is if you were to put a lot of money into restoring it to mint or near-mint condition (and with better glass, of course LOL). In a few more years, when it reaches antique-car status (which is 25 years old in most states), that, and the now-defunct Oldsmobile nameplate, might make it somewhat of a classic with old-car collectors, and you might get good money for it. But, unless you are going to go that route, I'd say pass it up.
That is a VERY trouble prone car right there. Only way it would make sense is if you are buying it off an individual, and they have documented service records, including where they just recently spent a bunch of $$$$ on it. And even then it would have to run and drive flawlessly before I decided to buy it.
You will dump money into that car no doubt, so make sure you're starting with a decent example that is actually worth dumping money into. If that makes any sense at all. Also I don't know where you live in Canada or how far you have to drive into the sticks or if you are constantly driving in a shady part of town, but that car will leave you stranded somewhere at some point. Something to keep in mind.
these are pretty much the responses i expected to hear lol... i'm not that serious about getting it i just think the whole thing is absolutely hysterical. i'd never even heard of it until like 3 days ago when i happened to stumble across it somehow.
my former auto shop teacher only drives mid 90s gm b-bodies (caprice, impala, roadmaster, fleetwood) and also has a 1988 pontiac bonneville, a 1983 oldsmobile 88, and his newest "car" which is a 2003 chevy express lol... the guy hates anything not american (including my LS) so when i see something like this aurora from that mid 90s american blob stylistic period i just cant help but start laughing.
I always appreciated the looks and presence of those Auroras. Just something about them that was very unique and nice.
That being said, you're probably better off buying an older Toyota/Honda/Lexus. $1500 is gonna yield some nasty examples of cars in most cases, but should be more trouble free than the Olds.
Back in the day I was car valeting and one of these came up to park. It was a really bad gig other than the tips but you got to drive a lot of cars for a very short time. The car looked great and this was long before I ever discovered Lexus.
And what I remember about it was how utterly decrepit its interior plastics were and how bad its driver's seat was. Such a promising car with horrible, and utterly deplorable interior quality. I was shocked because I had read about this car in the magazines. The vehicle was only about three or four years old and already it was creaking. Really cheap plastic. And it was big on the outside and yet cramped on the inside. How do you manage to do that as a design team?
As a general rule, always try to stick with asian cars if you are looking at something old. They are far more reliable in the longrun.
As far as your shop teacher, he/she needs to progress a few decades and step out of his/her comfort zone. The world has moved on and there are far more reliable and advanced cars out there than what's listed.
Oh, this brings back memories! I remember all the hype at the time. Turns out it was one of the last grasps (and last gasps) for a dying brand.
Oldsmobile didn't HAVE to die, though. It was grossly mismanaged, just like Saturn was after 2000.....but I'm not sure if John Rock, the Olds Chief at the time, or his bosses at GM were more to blame.
As a general rule, always try to stick with asian cars if you are looking at something old. They are far more reliable in the longrun.
As far as your shop teacher, he/she needs to progress a few decades and step out of his/her comfort zone. The world has moved on and there are far more reliable and advanced cars out there than what's listed.
I had two of those old RWD GM sleds(95 Fleetwood and 91 Brougham). Both were extremely reliable cars, easy to work on, parts were cheap, cheap to own, got good gas mileage(18mpg mixed driving/25 on the highway). Of course this was 8-10 years ago.
Now days, they're just damn old and hard to find a nice/low mile example that isn't going to nickle and dime you to death. And a lot of them have been "ghetto rigged" with the suspension jacked up and fenders cut for huge wheels and tires, and all kinds of electrical problems from a hacked up stereo install.
Still, I'd love to have another big Cadillac, but with the "new" ones now 20-25 years old and kind of out of my comfort zone for something I'd daily drive, I think a late 60's/70's Coupe Deville would be in order as a toy
04-05-16, 04:04 PM
Oldsmobile Aurora??
