OLDSMOBILE NINETY EIGHT REGENCY ELITE
VIN 1G3XC52K6S4305194
Built: December 10, 1994
Delivered and In Service December 21, 1994 - Barrie Ontario
1 recall for headllamps
Sold at Auction 1997 - Kitchener ONT Mileage 177,561
Sold at Auction 1997 - Kitchener ONT Mileage 177,934
Registered in Alberta 1997 - Camrose Mileage unknown
Sold at Auction 2003 - Edmonton AB Mileage 172,040 (speedo roll back fraud) Investigated by AMVIC. Actual mileage will never be known.
Diagnosed with cancer and other life threatening illnesses in 2004. Major reconstructive surgeries and implants undertaken resulted in patient survival and reliablility until Nov 2009. Recurring cancer on 1/4 panels removed and new life added.

In spite of continued efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle, lower body cancer has returned. Upon reassessment, this 98 appears to have reached the critical age where no amount of reasonable efforts will solve its problems.

Died a peaceful death May 13, 2011 while resting quiety at the accumlated mileage showing 240, 793. Rest In Peace


I take pride in ownership of my cars, and people who know me will attest to this. It's been claimed that I treat the car more like a shrine than a car. Ok, so I love my car. I care about how it's maintained and how it looks.

Well, some of you might remember the 1995 Olds Ninety Eight I've posted on this site from time to time and have been a great source of inspiration and determination for me to keep this Olds alive.

From a numbers side, the car cost me 3000.00 back in Oct 2003. Since then I've drained over 12,000.00 in rust repairs, mechanical, suspension, exhaust etc on this car simply out of the love for an Oldsmobile. Am I nuts? Probably.

Yesterday was one of those days that I wish I could go back in time and redo - sort of. I haven't been using the car for the last couple of months because of some reliability issues with idle. I actually got that solved by installing a new electrical pigtail from the coolant sensor that may have been giving wrong resistance readings to the ECU. So I decided to pull the ol gal into the driveway and strip the winter tires off and put on the summer Michelins.

The front right went easy, and I put a new coat of undercoat on the wheel liner. The right rear started out ok, but I noticed the car wasn't going up properly on the jack. Quick check under...and the rocker was collapsing!! Didn't look 'terrible' but why take chances. Got some wood to put between the jack and the rocker and up she went. Wheel well cleaned and undercoated, then I heard the crrrack.... The rocker was obviously really badly gone from the inside and it buckled under the weight of the car. Quickly got the wheel mounted and tightened and let it back down. "That was close" I thought. Then I noticed a drip. A check under the car revealed my fear was right. The collapsing rocker had also cracked the brake line.

I was really upset - to say the least because now I had to figure out how to stop that leak before everything drained. I crimped the line, but it wouldn't stop leaking. "Nuts!" So I went to the other side of the car, starting with the rear tire. Looked underneath for the jack placement and there was a 7 X 4 total rustout in the rocker. "Nuts, Crap, Double Crap!" I thought. So I used the wood to brace the jack and change the rear wheel. Pieces of rotted metal started falling off parts of the exposed rocker. "Not good" was my professional lame *** diagnosis. The front tire went ok.

Now, here's the rub. If I fix the brake line I still have a rust problem. So I went inside and my wife and I shared a beer to talk this over. (Great way to release frustration BTW). Bottom line? Even though we had planned for our son to have this car after he takes Drivers Ed this August, it's not worth the cost of fixing. So it's a phone call to the Salvage Yard. They said no problem they will pick it up in the afternoon. That didn't happen, so I'll call someone else on Monday. But no matter how the bread is sliced, this car is gone. If the body was in good shape, maybe I'd do something else. But it's also got 290,000 km on it and has seen a lot of ugly winters in ONT (salt belt) and wasn't well maintained till I picked it up. Should have walked away a long time ago.

Anyway, for posterity, here are pics of my trusty??? steed prior to being carted off to the boneyard.

The rotted and collapsed inner rocker area
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Drivers side rear rocker (in front of rear wheel)
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I always liked the look of these wheels....

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Ta da....Look ma, no brake fluid. That's total bummer. Needs a total bleed if you fixit.

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3800 Series II, this was a neat engine to work on. Learned lots from hands on..Lots of new parts going away.

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This car had just about all the options you could get in 95, including the 'leather delete' option. Only missing the moon roof, TC and ride control. Everything else was there.

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Drivers door controls (even has memory seat and mirror settings)

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Passenger side door c/w dual zone heating controls.

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Where can you buy a car nowadays that has this kind of rear seat capacity????

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Drivers Inst panel - digital dash and all electronic controls - everything works

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Automatic everything. Also has AM/FM Stereo CD/Cassette and Multi function monitoring panel.

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Drivers side view. Window tag says "All valuables removed"

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Tail end. This could be your car, just add a license plate

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Pass side. (note: wet spot is the 'last' of the brake fluid. It all drained and I washed down the drive because that stuff is so corrosive) Doesn't look that bad does it?

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Goodbye to my last 98. It was a pleasure, and a pain. And so we end the tribute to this car.

 

Sorry to hear you've lost an old friend.

Take solace in the fact that you did your best to provide a quality loving life for your 98.

 

Maybe it will become a parts car, salty winters ruin cars no matter how well they are taken care of.

 

You are right. Buddy was supposed to come and take the car on Friday never showed. Waited until 2100 for him. So I called Pick a Part today and asked them how much. They'll tow it for $40.00 and give me 241.00 (after tow) for salvage. That's 241.00 more than buddy was giving me. I'm going down to pick and pull on Tues to sign it over. Couple of days in the driveway isn't going to kill me. I also get some $$ on the veh registration and Insurance. Boo-yah!

So, yes it will be donating it's good parts to others who may need them. Anyone want anything 'small' before then LMK and I'll see if I can pull it for you.

 

my neighbor's 2004 eclipse cracked a block and junkyard gave him 500 for it.

they were at his house in a half hour

guy driving the tow truck said they were going to put another motor in it and ask $4000 for it
he said it was too nice to part out

my neighbor bought it 5 years ago for 12k

 

Wow Allan that sure was a well kept car. I sure hate to hear that about your old friend. Sad so sad.

 

Sorry for the news Allan, it is hard to let a vehicle go after treating you so well for so many miles. I donated my LeSabre a few months back to get the tax right off instead of the $250 cash from the pick-n-pull, either way it would have been towed so...........

 

She served you well, maybe you spent to much by keeping her so long, who really knows the answer to that one, you might have traded her in on a lemon and been screwed in the end. At least she's an Olds and will become part of other Oldsmobile's to serve someone else for years to come

 

You know, if GM was still building that car, I'd buy a new one tonight. Yeah, lot's of memories. At least I still have my 72, and at 39 years old she has no rust and looks better than the day she rolled off the line.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

 

You can tell that you really cared for this car. The interior looks fantastic.

Was it originally sold at Paul Sadlons in Barrie?

Wayne

 

That's too bad Allan. She was a nice car. Sorry to hear about that. And I know how you feel about cars. My Aurora is my new baby and I try to keep her clean and up to date on maintenance, so I understand 100%. I was at Pick and Pull this weekend as I noticed there was a 2001 Aurora there. I take all the head lights and tail lights, fuses etc. I buy other things, they see the lights and fuses and don't even mark them on the bill.

If anyone has a Pick & Pull in their city, click on the link below to see the inventory. It'll save you a trip if there is nothing there for you.

http://www.picknpull.com/check_inventory.aspx

 

No, it was delivered to Curry Motors Limited, Haliburton ONT K0M1S0. Thier dealer code was 95196. The car spend most of it's early life in Barrie though. I have the GM printout showing it's build, delivery and service history up to 07/05/2002 The car was serviced 12 times for warranty related items.


Thx Ken. When the flatbed came today to pick her up the driver said, "Are you nuts? This car looks like brand new!!" Little did he know about how much effort and $$$$$$$ I put into keeping that car. The busted brake line I could probably handle with some replacement line, coupliings and a flare tool. But the cancer was the thing that just killed the whole thing. I couldn't go another round of rust repairs. Graeme was sad, but he got over it pretty easy when I suggested that a newer more fuel efficient car might be a better way to go once he got his DL.

In retrospect...what was last Friday??? YUP, Friday the 13th. Well at least I still have my 72. Just make sure that you never have the RR on July 13th ok?