Looking for a 86 or 87 GN

Jshailor1871

New Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Hello all,

After numerous CL posts have led to either dead ends or awful cars, I am turning to the TR community to help me out.

I am looking for an 86 or 87 GN in the Michigan area.

Here is my criteria:

Hardtop
Mostly stock
Paint in good condition
Under 100k miles
Interior not destroyed


I'm in Michigan, can travel around the state, but would not want to go out of state, unless it's a good deal.

The max I can spend is 10k.

Thanks,

John
 
Number one thing is check out the body and underneath the GN for rust; floor pans underneath get rusted out in those neck of the woods. let the owner know you want to take it to a body shop to search for rust or any bondo if you aren't familiar with these cars on how they possibly rust out depending on how the car was stored year round.

Now I'm not crazy about the addition of the fender flares and louvers on the fenders ( someone was trying to make it look like a GNX) but each to their own.

One plus under the hood was it looks like vacuum brakes were added as the GN came with a sorry brake system from the factory and most guys switch over to vacuum brakes.

So take it to a body shop and then stop by a car dealership because for around 100 bucks you can have it checked out on the mechanical side also.

Good luck, let us know what you find out
 
Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to look into all of that.

How easy is it to remove the flares and louvers? Or am I stuck with them?

He claims its been repainted, but can't prove it. He also says the trans shifts hard, but thinks the p/o installed a shift kit (along with the wider rear tires).

Should I be worried by the 119k miles? I planned on taking it to a shop to get it on a lift.

Again, thanks for the help.
 
Not sure about the removal of the fender flares but I would ask a body shop. most likely will have to repaint the fenders/quarter panels but again I'm not sure how they were installed on that car. Louvers you may be stuck with because I'm sure there are holes behind the front fender louvers for ventilation.

Again run it by a local body shop and ask about paint and they can find bondo (if any) most won't charge you because they want your business if you decide to have them repaint where the fender flares are.

On the tranny shifting hard; could be a shift kit and he could be setting you up in case you ask about a hard shift, could mean tranny work coming. hope its just a shift kit if you buy it.

On the mileage over a 100K, a lot of guys have no problem with mileage because if these engines are treated right and have been properly maintained they can last a long time. Just a coin flip on how it was driven and if the oil was changed every 2 to 3K and other maintenance was kept up.

Have you looked on the for sale site on this board? if your not in a hurry sometimes you can find a good Turbo Buick for your price range, a lot of them are high dollar but every now and then you can find one on here.

Also there's one with over 200K for sale for about 7500 in the for sale section... the guy advertising it says its been well maintained. If I was buying another GN I would want to find a guy like on this board who has owned it for sometime and you can check their previous posts on the problems they may have had with the car. Nice to have a car with past documented mechanical records.

If your new to these cars just a side note on them: they can be money pits, look into a guy named Tori on here, he has a thread in the
turbo lounge section.. its about the GN he just bought from a guy in Florida, he drove from Florida to CA and had several things go wrong on the way home, losing his AC for an over 3K mile drive home would not be my way of traveling but just saying they can be money pits. Check out Tori's thread its a good one to find out what he experienced with a GN around 100K miles on it at purchase. This is not saying you will have these same problems but gives you an idea what you might be dealing with from small to large things happening as the car gets older.

In closing myself I prefer lower mileage cars in the 40K to 60K range but those cost about 15K to 18K if they are in pretty mint condition.



Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to look into all of that.

How easy is it to remove the flares and louvers? Or am I stuck with them?

He claims its been repainted, but can't prove it. He also says the trans shifts hard, but thinks the p/o installed a shift kit (along with the wider rear tires).

Should I be worried by the 119k miles? I planned on taking it to a shop to get it on a lift.

Again, thanks for the help.
 
I appreciate all the work you've put into this man, I really do. It has given me something to think about for sure.

This would be my first GN, I am looking for a solid platform to finally get into turbo buicks.

The goal of this car would to be drive it about 2-3k miles a year while I progressively put money in to it to make it better.

I'd love a car with 40-60k miles on it, but that just isn't financially feasible right now.

Thanks,

John
 
No problem, I love cars and love the GN's. I owned a brand new GN back in later part of 86 and had a wonderful 12 years with no problems but the brake accumulator . Owned a lightly used 87 GN for 5 years in the 2000's. No problems at all with that one. Owned a used 85 Turbo T (hot air) for about a year and wouldn't recommend Hot Air cars but hey that's my opinion. Guy I sold the 85 to loves it and still has it.

I would stick with the 86/87 models because those two years are intercooled.

And take your time and seek out the best one you can afford.

Don't be afraid to purchase out of town, go look at it first though

Good luck man!

I appreciate all the work you've put into this man, I really do. It has given me something to think about for sure.

This would be my first GN, I am looking for a solid platform to finally get into turbo buicks.

The goal of this car would to be drive it about 2-3k miles a year while I progressively put money in to it to make it better.

I'd love a car with 40-60k miles on it, but that just isn't financially feasible right now.

Thanks,

John
 
I will be going to check the car out in about 1.5 hours. I'll be posting pics on this thread while there, so any help/advice while I'm looking at the car is much appreciated. I am bringing a copy of the buyer guide with me, to help out with the process.

Thanks,

John
 
The car wasn't worth what they were asking. The trans shifted really hard between 2-3, it stalled 3 times while idling in the driveway, needed about a grand worth of parts for the interior... it was rough. I ended up saying thanks but no thanks
 
Good deal John on checking it out; glad you didn't purchase that one.. some people do go ahead and purchase and end up putting a ton of money into their new project that wasn't suppose to be a project.

Keep looking and if I find something clean in your price range I will holler at ya.
 
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