Ok, I just got back today from an highway trip this labor day weekend. We took the 98 because it's gots tons of room, easy to drive and it's really decent on gas. (Set the cruise on 65 it gets a little better than 37 honest mpg). BTW Ive only got 174000 miles on this car and it runs great. had to do the intake gasket and some other normal repairs but the car is like an energizer, it just won't quit. Now that's a tribute to Olds engineers.

Anyway, over 470 miles later I never saw one Oldsmobile on the road. ??? On long weekends normally I hate driving because of the huge traffic congestion, but I was really surprised by not seeing a single Olds.

I did like that if I had to pass a string of cars that it was almost no effort to pound it and be gone. (no supercharger either)

Any of you noticing the increrasing scarcity of Olds ?? I know that production stopped in 2004, but I think it's kind of wierd not to see even a 4 year old car with the kind of highway traffic out there. In the city, they're getting harder to find too. I talk to the guys with big 98's and they say they just won't ditch em until they croak because the car is just so damn reliable. Yeah!!!

 

sounds like you had a great trip.37 mpg is huge.In fact you should have saved enough to go shack up in a 5 star hotel.
Can`t comment on olds being in new zealand --may see one every 2 years !!!!!!
mike

 

Savings on gas??? didn't know there was such a thing. Anyway mate, didn't have to shack up in a motel. Had relatives waiting on the other end. Always nice when there's a family roof over your head right?

About the gas mileage, because of the cost per gallon (or litre in NZ) I'm pretty sensitive about where my take home pay goes. So if I don't put my gas foot down a lot, it also saves me from drawing the attention of the cops. (hee hee, I heard they like to give out "invitations" that help pay into their retirement fund) .. And, like they pay attention to a big old Oldsmobile driven by an old guy anyway. Little do they know....

Last week in the news the business analysts were saying there's actually an oversupply of (natural gas) and oil. Huh?? Right before the long weekend they say that and then hike the price of gas by 20 cents a gallon? BOHICA!!! (anyone who knows what that means has probably filled up in the last couple of days) I haven't seen the price coming down. Locally we pay $1.30 per litre. That works out to about $4.91 a US gallon, including exchange. Geez, I remember as a kid when gas was the same as a pack of smokes. - 35 cents a gallon.

BTW, best mileage I ever got out of this car was a little over 40 mpg, but that was with a tailwind. Normally around town I get about 22-24 mpg if I pick the time of day I want to drive. Not bad for a 5200 lb car.

 

I really need to ditch my wifes VW. It is a VW Beetle and it only gets 30 mpg on the highway and 28 mpg in town. I definitely need to get another Olds.

 

Oldsmobiles are everywhere around here, may be a regional thing. Why do even the later ones get that paint peeling/ sunburn? Some don't look too good but they just keep going as you said Allan R . Pizza and rural mail delivery vehicles, high school parking lots always have a few, luxo sleds are around but those are in nice shape. "They take a licking and keep on ticking", (my ad reference). The postal carriers here sit on the right to get to the mailboxes and drive just fine, do they sit on the left down under Mike? Do they carry a sack walking routes like here or do they have a pouch in front? Sorry.. couldn't resist.

I know this isn't Olds but they share the same fate. How many Astro mid-size vans (don't call them minivans) do you see anymore? The utility company vehicles you see around but not many non-conversion passenger vans. Just another good move by GM to cease production and not replace it, that new van-suv thing flopped I heard. They have places that do complete overhauls on the utility company and service Astros, things will be around forever like the Furd bucket trucks. The mileage ain't great on my '04 with 14000 miles, but as good as most SUV's and for what it does and how much I drive it I can live with it. I cruised in comfort to look at my Vista, then filled it to the roof with hundred of pounds of unexpected Vista parts in Wisconsin. From windshields to transmissions and everything in between, do that with a Scion. If I had a trailer I could have pulled the car home too.
I would be lost without my Rastro, so would Reorge Retson.

Allan

 

I have noticed the declining Olds population also.
I went to a car show in my city 6 weeks ago and saw 220 cars, 0 Olds. I was disappointed but I felt like mine was even more of a jewel due to rarity! I am guessing 80 of those cars were post 90's Vettes...

Driving around, I see a few Olds here and there but not many. There are a couple of Auroras at the train station each morning. I see a G-body now and then.
The problem here in dallas, the 'status quo' is to drive a car less than 3 years old, and the 'fad' is japanese. So naturally that all means Olds is now excluded from most people.
We also have big "clunker" laws around here that brainwash many to give up their Olds when a small problem develops (my mom is very guilty!)
Lastly, the prefix "Old" is disliked by many in this city.

I am disgusted with it but what can I do? Get another Olds soon as a daily driver (hopefully a 70-71 wagon!)

I am very happy to report that my Olds still turns heads around here like crazy!

 

What are those laws? Do they prohibit people from driving a car that isn't in perfect tune or something? Seems pretty scandalous of the governement to do something like that. I could understand not wanting cars on blocks in the front yard, but having a project car or an older vehicle just to get around in is a different thing.

 

Around here it is more of an emissions thing, although some HOAs spell out what kind of car you can actually park in your driveway. Stupid, yes.

In the dallas area, the emission tests are very restrictive. I saw the "new" specs of the Olds 307 test report and they are very close to what they are for a 4 banger. If it fails the test, they somehow 'confiscate' or 'hijack' the title or something until it passes the test. They encourage the owner to scrap the car and buy a new one.
My mom was duped this way. After 20 years, the carb on her very restorable 86 CSB 4 dr needed a rebuild, or even an adjustment. The crappy shop she was in said noone did carbs anymore.
She traded it in and her Olds was scrapped with a perfect interior. Of course i told her that ended her free car maintanence with me!
I heard from another shop I was at that they still did carbs and most likely an adjustment would have fixed it.
This law is the reason my 86 has never been inspected since that law went into effect 10 years ago. I will get it done when it turns 26 years old and is then emissions exempt. I bet it would pass, but noone is touching or stealing my title or car.

Another law gives an owner a 3K rebate from scrapping an old car if they buy a brand new car under $16K, as long as you make less than 30K a year.
I get crap in the mail all the time to get rid of any car that is 5 years old or older and get a new one... Screw em all.
Yep, I must say our gov't stinks, to say the best...
My old cars are here to stay!

 

SCANDALOUS!