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I have been looking for a cheap winter beater for my wife to drive. She has been driving my diesel Ram since the lease expired on her jeep. One shortcoming of Diesel engine is they take FOREVER to warm up, driving to work with lukewarm heat sucks. I refuse to pay the inflated prices for used cars due to supply issues, and I’m a year or 2 away from buying the Challenger I want.
The perfect car basically fell into my lap 2 weeks ago. Neighbor kid asked if I would haul off his “junk” 97 Lesabre to that big scrapyard in the sky. I told him I would take it for basically scrap value, about 125 bucks. He said he parked it years ago due to transmission problems. Since the car has 90k miles on it, I was willing to roll the dice on nothing seriously wrong.
Unfortunately, both rear tires were locked up due to rusty drums. I flat spotted the tires dragging it the 1/8 to my house. Got the brakes freed up, it took me all of 20 minutes to get it running.
I hopefully found the cause of the transmission problem. A couple broken wire so the transmission case connector.
On the plus side, no check engine light, the power windows/locks/seat/mirrors/ all work, there is a pioneer 12 disc cd changer in the trunk that works, and once I got the car and interior cleaned up it actually doesn’t look too bad.
There is some rust issues, nothing serious. From 10 feet away it’s barely noticeable.
I guess I don’t understand people who just park a car at the t first sigh of problems to just buy another.
There is a 03 neon in the same driveway where I bought this Buick, they parked it5 years ago because it needs an alternator. My wife told me not to even consider dragging that one home!! Not bad for 125 bucks!! Broken transmission case connector wires
Last edited by matt69olds; September 22nd, 2022 at 03:26 PM.
Nice! I used to prowl neighbor hoods looking for cars sitting in driveways, back yards etc. I picked up a 76 Chevelle 2door for $200 that needed a starter.
Another was a 75 Nova 6 cyl for $100, needed a water pump. There were several 73 Buick Regals, I had a thing for those, 5 to be exact, ha.
Last edited by tru-blue 442; September 22nd, 2022 at 04:49 PM.
It’s been my experience the 3.8 Buick is good for at LEAST 250k properly maintained. This one was a little noisy and rough sounding, but the longer it runs the better it’s getting. Since this one is low mileage, I’m betting it’s got lots of life left.
I worked at a Buick dealership when these cars were new, so I’m pretty familiar with them.
im hoping to have a decent reliable beater for around 500 bucks.
A fellow CO member found the exact Blazer I've been looking for in a nearby neighborhood parked outside in the drive for 6 years. Dark green with tan interior full removable top. Unfortunately, they want 20 K for it w/o an engine or transmission
Those aren't broken trans wires, some jackhole deliberately cut them. Wow. Nice score, since you worked at a Buick dealer, you probably know that the Lesabre was consistently one of GM's highest quality cars. I'd still have my '05 if it wasn't for road salt. That thing was still running strong at 171k or whatever it was when I sold it last year. I actually went on the hunt for one when I got rid of my Blazer back in '11 because of the reliability of the 3.8. Doesn't run into the same timing chain issues that plague the 3.6 that replaced it in GM's lineup. Engine-wise, the only things it needed in 10 years of ownership was an intake gasket and a MAP sensor. It started using half a quart between oil changes, but it wasn't leaking anywhere.
I had an '03 LeSabre. Great car with about 100K miles. But upstate NY with the multiple times per day road salting did her in (and it was Ziebarted). The limited maintenance I did have to perform was corrosion related.
I had an '03 LeSabre. Great car with about 100K miles. But upstate NY with the multiple times per day road salting did her in (and it was Ziebarted). The limited maintenance I did have to perform was corrosion related.
Yeah, the last gen like to rot at the engine cradle and rear shock towers, particularly behind the gas door. Oh, and I had almost fully replaced the brake lines that rusted away. Not sure why GM had changed the hard lines to a material that corroded so bad. They were bad when I got the car and it was only 6 years old.
September 22nd, 2022, 03:23 PM
