Eightupman

I have stumbled upon a 1 owner garage kept 1988 Calais Quad 4 with 69K original miles. $2000 asking price.

Pros:
The body and trim are pristine. Paint is very very good and will probably take a nice buff or coat of wax like a show room car. The car has all the documentation. Original bill of sale, all the documents from the dealer EXCEPT the window sticker. Clean SC title with "actual mileage" on it.

The car idles nice, and runs down the road just fine. Handles like it should, no suspension or brake issues. All the bells and whistles work. AM/FM cassette (didn't have a cassette to try but chances are the belt is junk). AC blows cool... not ice cold. To be expected from a car that has been sitting dormant.


Cons:
Interior is near perfect EXCEPT the car was garaged for so long it has some mold issues and smells musty. Last time it was registered was 2002.

Put the car in drive and it has a loud vibration, it even shakes the steering wheel. I'm thinking rotten motor mount.

Will need a coolant flush and oil change. Chances are good that the oil is the same from back in the day and I have no doubt the coolant is factory. It didn't over heat, nor did it get anywhere near standard temp during the test drive.

Slight noise out of the front of the motor. Not 100% sure what it is. Seems like a bearing on the ac unit, or belt tensioner, BUT I don't know much about the quad 4 motors... yet.

During the test drive the service engine light came on. Threw a code 44... lean. Best guess is an O2 sensor.

Looking like it needs about $100-150 in parts. Asking price is right at KBB average retail. I would do all the work myself.

Should I consider this as my new daily driver, in lieu of my gas sucking '12 Sierra?

John

lsutigers93

sounds like a plan to me!

jaunty75

Kelley Blue Book is always high in comparison to other price guides. The Old Cars Price Guide puts the value of one of these in #4 condition (runs and drives but needs complete restoration) at about $1,000. In #3 condition ("car show" condition but not showroom condition), the value is about $2,000.

Based on your description, the car is better than #4 with the exterior sounding like it needs nothing, but worse than #3 with the engine problems you mention. I'd say offer him at most $1,500 with the argument that the car will be worth his asking price after you get done spending the time and money repairing the engine problems. Maybe settle for something in the high teens.

joe_padavano

I have a 1990 Grand Am with the same drivetrain that I got for free. Needed some work, but once done it has been a nice daily driver (until the trans puked second). I actually got this car for the Q4, to use in another project that I'll never get around to...

If the 88 has the three speed TH125, it's a pretty crappy trans. The gear spacing is designed for the Iron Duke engine and does not match the power band of the Q4.

The vibration may be an ignition problem. The IDI system on the Q4 has a printed circuit under the cover that acts as the spark plug wires. This often goes bad. The trick to locating a bad cylinder on these engines (since you can't pull a plug wire at a time) is to pull one injector connector at a time and see if the RPM drops.

Eightupman

Right now, (mechanical issues aside) I feel with a mere in depth detail job, it is a "local car show" worthy vehicle.

It does have the 125 trans. If it had the manual, I probably wouldn't have balked a second. Those are quick little cars! First 4 cyl car to ever set me back in my seat. If I do get this I'd be researching how to convert it for sure...

Anyway, I got him to $1900....he balked at $1500 and said he needed to get more than that, stating the new alternator and spark plugs (forgot to mention that above, he showed me the $450 bill) before the skies opened and ended the conversation dead in its tracks. I got home and researched some parts and the like and the average value is $2000 (as mentioned).

I'm leaning on getting it, would be nice to have something to drive other than my truck all the time, and if it does puke, I'm not stranded... just pissed...

decisions decisions.........

jaunty75

$1900 sounds fair to me. Buy it.

starfire

Get it. NOW mister.

I had an '85 Calais S Coupe, my sister had the Supreme. I also had a '90 Quad 442 (most fun car I ever had). My '85 and my sister's were very good little cars.

Eightupman

I did. Well, shortly. I go pay for it at lunch. As is. Next stop... Rock Auto.com...

John

jaunty75

Yay!

droptopron

Sounds like a good call.

mike's88

John, my brother had a calais pace car replica with the iron duke. Only problems he had were the gauges would act up like a g-body gauge set(grounds) and the downshift solenoid went out. Otherwise, nice little car. Hope you're happy with it.

Eightupman

I had an opportunity to buy one of those in 1991, before I left for the AF...It was the same color as my dad's 1966 442. It was a rot box, but he only wanted $500 for it. I declined.

This one is going to clean up nice... we will see how the mechanicals go...

John

joe_padavano

I'm parting my 90 Grand Am (except for the engine). PM me if you have needs.

Eightupman

Does it have the FE3 suspension by chance?

joe_padavano

Sadly, no. It's a base model.

Eightupman

Ah, gotcha. I'm not sure I need anything... the only oddball thing I have found that I'd like to change out is the grey trunk lining, and the spare tire cover is warped... Other than that... nothing else...

John