Advice -- '87 GN as a daily driver? Good idea?

[86SS86LS]

I guess I would be in the minority here, from my viewpoint they make great daily drivers. AC, cruise control, over drive....even 20-22 mpg is better than many vehicles on the road. I've used my 87 GN as a daily driver for the last year and my 86 monte carlo served as a daily driver for 12 years prior to that. I'm fortunate that the crime rate in my area is low and my work parking lot is safe. My GN has 145K miles and a salvage title, the paint is decent - not show quality, so the value really doesn't depreciate the more that I drive it.

Also, don't be fooled into thinking that a 100k+ mile beater is going to be trouble-free. You could easily see just as much trouble with it as you would a GN. The difference is that the beater will depreciate to nothing while the GN will hold its value, or increase, over time.

Some people like driving front wheel drive econo $hit boxes......I don't. Life's too short to settle for a commuter POS.

 

[salvageV6]

Well said.

I am happy to have an 11 second beater. :biggrin:

Makes merging into traffic with all those rice beaters much more enjoyable.

" Some people like driving front wheel drive econo $hit boxes......I don't. Life's too short to settle for a commuter POS. "

Truer words have never been spoken. :smile:

 

[87grandnat]

Mark said it best...having it to drive in free time and on the weekends makes it that much more sweeter. I used to drive mine daily for about a year and a half and it was a cause od stress, when I got my jetta to drive daily I would look sooo forward to taking the GN out to cruise around. I would love to fire it up and just take it to the store or around the block. To just take it out and clear my head was awsome!

When it was a DD it was a cause of stress.....when it was on the side it was a relief of stress!

Joshua

 

[turbofish38]

Some people like driving front wheel drive econo $hit boxes......I don't. Life's too short to settle for a commuter POS.

You're thinking on the same level I am. I have a 19 mile one way commute to work. Same route, same time every day. And my short cut is through the ghetto on top of it. I get thumbs up and peeps honking at me every day. I almost hate it when I go somewhere and somebody compliments the car. To me it's just a great car. To the average guy it might be their dream car. I hate having to listen to the BS stories. Sometimes when you're sitting at a light you can almost feel the envy of some of those idiots who bought into the American dream. You know. Four years of college, a 6 figure job and a European luxury car. Make eye contact with them and you can almost read their mind. At least mine is paid for.

 

[rcantu]

i agree w him.

here in so cal people steal a lot of things. hondas civics are more prone to get stolen here more than buicks but of course our cars are targets. you just have to lock it down the best you can or just never drive any nice car.

as far as reliability i think most 80s domestic cars aren't really considered dependable overall compared to imports so daily driving any car far distances is a risk. i drove a 88 tbird turbo with balding tires at 80mph for 200 miles one time. i don't know what i was thinking but it made it there and back.

i think mpg is great in this car. i used to daily drive my lifted titan on 22s and i'd get 11mpg so anything in the high teens or more is good to me. lol.

I guess I would be in the minority here, from my viewpoint they make great daily drivers. AC, cruise control, over drive....even 20-22 mpg is better than many vehicles on the road. I've used my 87 GN as a daily driver for the last year and my 86 monte carlo served as a daily driver for 12 years prior to that. I'm fortunate that the crime rate in my area is low and my work parking lot is safe. My GN has 145K miles and a salvage title, the paint is decent - not show quality, so the value really doesn't depreciate the more that I drive it.

Also, don't be fooled into thinking that a 100k+ mile beater is going to be trouble-free. You could easily see just as much trouble with it as you would a GN. The difference is that the beater will depreciate to nothing while the GN will hold its value, or increase, over time.

Some people like driving front wheel drive econo $hit boxes......I don't. Life's too short to settle for a commuter POS.

 

["Turbo-T"]

Wow, some of you have pretty much summed up that Buick Grand nationals are pieces of ****. Which makes me wonder why anyone wants one?

As far as a daily driver, tough call, I drove mine daily for a while on a military installation, but I will agree the car needs to be kept under lock and key, otherwise you will worry about it being stolen.

Otherwise IMO they get good gas mpg until your foot goes in them. Much better than most of the muscle cars of the 60's and 70's. It's just a V6 on steroids. With an overdrive.

 

[Geoff87]

Use it as a daily driver and enjoy the car; then buy some POS to use in case you have some downtime due to repairs, mods, etc..

As for me, I drive a turbo Buick everyday. Then again, it's all I have.

The only cars that get stolen here are imports....

 

[Quick6'n'-K.C.]

I drive my 87 turbo regal 365 days a year and enjoy it, yes i know how to work on them, and yes it does break down, everything will eventually.

Getting around the breakdowns is easy, keep up on the maintenance and just know the cars in general is the key to staying off the side of the road.

The only breakdowns ive had is a blown upper rad hose, so i refilled the rad cap, and cracked the rad cap to keep the pressure off the system and drove home. Once again, had a rear heater core rad hose, so i did the same trick and drove home.

Now my 7 year old tranny finally broke, second and third gear were shot. So i took the trans out and replaced it with another so the car wasnt down very long. Its slow, the SMC alky kit has another bad pump, the trans shifts soft and i cant get after it, the paint is chalky from sitting outside everyday for the past 9 years. Would i trade it for a LS1 camaro or firebird, or a econobox??? Hell no, its a great car, handles great and gets alot of looks from everyone, plus its my car and ive put alot of time and money into it. Once the meth kit is fixed and the trans is sorted out, 11 second daily driver is going to be back in action.

Best thing going for you is if your looking to buy a HARDTOP turbo regal, go to the local dragstrip and talk with the GN guys, they will fill your head with more information in 1/2 of an hour and set your straight, better than reading online for a week and trying to get the same info.

BW

 

[rwrows]

i started using my T as a DD and couldn't do it. was constantly freaked out about it getting stolen.

also, i have a heavy foot and always want to feel the power and hear the turbo. not a good idea.

especially if you only have a stock trans. if you have a heavy foot and a stock trans, you'll blow through the trans in less than a year. a trans rebuild for these is an easy $1200.

also the common surging problems with these can only be fixed by a very knowledgeable turbo buick guy. not just any mechanic can work on these.

and then mechanics that you do let work on them rape you because they think they are working on high end/complex cars.

there are plenty of reliable cars out there for under 3k.

good luck

 

[GullsGN]

Well, I must be one of the lucky ones. I have been driving mine as a DD for 21 years. Minus the winrters here in the NE. I get 25mpg and it is a little tweaked . Of course, I do live away from the city and my daily commute is a 20 mile (one way) trip to the golf course. And I do get 25mpg on 87 pump gas because I am no longer the crazy street demon. I prefer to go slow and let the young uns drool as I go by, rather than blast by and have em say "boy that was a fast Monte". It has been one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned, and defenately the most talked about. I have even had little old ladies in Cumby's parking lots come over and ask about the car (I think the were from Pasadena).

 

[dgoodhue]

here in so cal people steal a lot of things. hondas civics are more prone to get stolen here more than buicks but of course our cars are targets. you just have to lock it down the best you can or just never drive any nice car.

Atleast to most of us, we don't really care (as long we have theft insurance) if that a Honda is stolen beside the inconvience of getting a ride home, dealing with insurance and buying another one.