Low Mileage ?

[Red Regal T]

You can just ignore me........or say it isn't so, but....did you ever notice how many low mileage GN and TTypes there are on this board? Good thing we own cars that nobody has been driving for the past 16-17 years. I'm not so lucky........I've been trying to sell a GN for over a year and when they ask the mileage, I have to say 110,000 miles. There's always a hesitation, or a change in the tone of the prospective buyer's voice, and ultimately, they go away, never to be heard of, again. Why couldn't I be lucky like all the folks with their 40-50,000 mile 17 year old cars? I'll never be able to sell this car.

You can even go to the parts section and buy low mileage engines, trans and rears, or even, relays. I, myself, have purchased 20,000 mile trans and rear, just recently. I'd just like to say that 95% of you people claiming low mileage cars and parts, are FULL OF $HIT!

 

[Gary Wells]

Well, I don't know what you mean about low mileage parts. Most people selling used parts, and sometimes people claiming to be selling new parts don't really have any idea how many miles were on the part.But if you ask them, naturally they are not going to tell a prospective customer that it is a high mileage part. As far as cars are concerned, the truthfulness or correctness of the claim would depend on where you took your information/data from.
I have reviewed a lot of cars over the last few years, and some of the claims are not exactly correct, I must admit.
I have, and have had several low mileage vehicles over the years.

 

[soonergn]

Maybe it's not the mileage but the price. Even still, I've seen GN's with mileage like yours that drove like 30k mi cars. Mileage is not a complete indicator of a car's condition.

 

[1ARUNEM]

Mileage is not a complete indicator of a car's condition..

SOO TRUE....

Don't give up Red. I just sold an 87 TR in less than 2 weeks that had 140k on it.. The car however was in excellent condition. Truely looked like a 70k mile car inside and out. Had a serious inquiry from a serious buyer. Gave him an honest description and he flew in from St. Louis. Drove the car home that day and did not even attempt to budge me on the price. He knew it was worth it..
I specifically made SURE to tell him of the few things the car needed ahead of time. This goes along way to reassure a potential buyer..

It may take a little time but the right buyer will come along. Just be completely honest about the car and ask a reasonable amount for it.

BTW, is yours the two tone grey car with checkerboard?
Goodluck..

 

[strikeeagle]

The real issue is that there are a lot of folks who think they ought to be able to buy a 10,000 miles GN for $7,000. And many of them are on these boards...

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by 1ARUNEM
Mileage is not a complete indicator of a car's condition..

SOO TRUE....

BTW, is yours the two tone grey car with checkerboard?
Goodluck..

Yes, my trick paint, hi mile , GN is someplace in my albums. It's a showcar. Who cares? I swapped my red GS for it. Just another Buick that couldn't be sold. Tough to sell when you get no customers. They're all out there buying low mileage chevy clones.

http://community.webshots.com/user/redregalt

 

[Gary Wells]

FWIW:
My '87 Turbo-t that was my daily driver most of the time that I just sold, I bought it about 8 years ago with 10.8 K mileage on it, and I sold it with 118K on it.
My new '87 Turbo-t that will be my primary daily driver had about 8.4K mileage on it when I bought it, has about 9.6K miles on it now.
My '02 Z06 had about 12 miles on it when I bought it new. it has about 3.8K miles on it now.
My '98 Honda CBR1100XX had about 980 miles on it when I bought it several years ago, and unfortunately only has about 1100 miles on it now. I just don't ride any more.
I have seen several Buick GN/T-Type/turbo-t cars on E-bay that anyone could tell that they had turned the clock at least once. Ever wonder why they advertise that the car has XX amount of miles showing on the clock, not that the car has XX amount of miles. If you are in question about anything regarding a car purchase, just don't buy it till you are satisfied with everything.

 

[bishir]

I just bought a 87 T-type with 150k miles. Granted, it was only 2500, but the car was taken care of very well. Compression test numbers show 150psi in each cylinder. With paint, some doors, and a good detailing job this car will be just as fine as a low mileage car. I think a lot of people are scared buying high mileage GNs because of the amount of abuse typical owners put on them. A lot of TR buyers are first time TR buyers too so they may not feel confident buying a car that will need work at first. I know I was in that boat when I bought my GN so I looked for something with the lowest miles I could afford. That may be another thing. If the difference between a high mileage GN and a low mileage one is only a few thousand dollars I would just pony up the money and buy the lowest mileage car I could afford.

I think we should all look more closely at those low mileage cars! My GN was my daily driver and I went from 49k to 63k in one year. I couldn't NOT drive it! I'm sure a lot of people are the same way but they just unhook the cable and check speed on their scanmaster.

I mean a car claiming 40k miles with wornout pedals is not a 40k miles car....

James

 

[MeanBuicks]

Originally posted by bishir
I'm sure a lot of people are the same way but they just unhook the cable and check speed on their scanmaster.

With the cable disconnected, you'll have a Service Engine Soon light & no TCC operation. The Scanmaster won't be able to tell you vehicle speed either as the speedo cable drives the VSS. That's not saying folks don't disconnect it though as I'm sure it's done.

 

[scottyb]

Selling a car has a good amount of luck in advertising to the right buyer at the right time.

I casually searched for TR's for maybe 3 years before I got serious. In that time I drove maybe 4 cars. When I drove my car, I was VERY impressed by the feel. It was tighter and stronger than any of the other 4 and at 155k miles, it doubled ALL the others. It didn't have the sloppy steering I expected and easily barked the 1-2 shift with both tires, and was 100% stock. The overall package just felt right How's that? I dunno. I bought a high miler because it "felt" right where others didn't.

Where is your GN advertised? I'd like to see info.

 

[bishir]

With the cable disconnected, you'll have a Service Engine Soon light & no TCC operation. The Scanmaster won't be able to tell you vehicle speed either as the speedo cable drives the VSS. That's not saying folks don't disconnect it though as I'm sure it's done.

Couldn't they just pull the cable out of the insturment panel?

 

[Little6pack]

Maybe it is your Price? err what was it?

I was fortunate enough to talk with original owner in my case.
Since he lived in UPSTATE NY you need a 4 wheeler to drive 8 months a year J/kidding
Anyway he said till 2001 when he sold the GN it stayed in storage
6 months.

Belive it or not some folks did buy these cars & gave them limited use & some put them away with intent of a collector car.

I have seen a few 100k cars up this way. Some do hold up pretty good even for up here.
In fact I still see a bunch of regular regals from the 80's running around that look good.

 

[turbohawg]

Another thing is with the age of these cars you don't have to sign the odometer statement on the title when selling. Not in my state anyhow. Going by condition is really the way to buy these cars now. The first place I look at is the inside of the car. I wont buy one with a crap interior unless it's dirt cheap. You can get a car painted a lot easier than replacing the inside.

 

[soonergn]

I went to look at a Dana 60 rear end one time for a Mopar I had and the guy had a GN stored in his garage, up on blocks, with just a few miles on it. He had bought it new as an investment to sell later on down the road.

 

[Drew L]

low miles

not super low but it is what it is


"I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!"


Can I tell you what I paid for it? Drew

 

[Little6pack]

Re: low miles

Originally posted by Drew L
not super low but it is what it is


"I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!"


Can I tell you what I paid for it? Drew

If I remember correctly Drews car was for sale in NEW HAMPSHIRE. I think I talked with the owner of his car.
If I am not mistaken it was original owner & real nice.
I think it was $9k. The problem was shedding the albatross GTO for me to buy it.. missed another good one

 

[Drew L]

I wish it was $9K!!!!!!

Not quite, I paid $12,250. The original owner recently retired from the Bud brewery in Merrimack so if you know that then you talked to the same guy. He claimed that I was the ONLY person to come look at never mind make an offer. Honestly, I don't care if that is true or not 'cause I came out on top!!!!!! Drew

 

[Little6pack]

Re: I wish it was $9K!!!!!!

Originally posted by Drew L
Not quite, I paid $12,250. The original owner recently retired from the Bud brewery in Merrimack so if you know that then you talked to the same guy. He claimed that I was the ONLY person to come look at never mind make an offer. Honestly, I don't care if that is true or not 'cause I came out on top!!!!!! Drew

At one time he had it on a main road on a friends lawn with sign.
That is how I saw it. then I called the number on sign & offered a trade. Said no to GTO

So technically I saw it but not with the owner present.

 

[Drew L]

The whole story is unbelievable...

I originally saw his ad on autotrader.com stating what it was. I contacted him just as a lead. He wanted $17,500 which I felt was more than what I was willing to spend. We emailed one another briefly and that was the end of it. He contacted me over a YEAR later as he had saved my e-mail address . He was wondering if I was still interested. I said I was still looking and remembered some of the details about him and the car. I also had to sell the car I had before anything was going to happen and told him that. He understood and we went from there. I did what I said I was going to do and he ddid what he said he was going to do. I made the trip to see the car and to make a long story long, 3 months later it was in my driveway. He bought a C5 black coupe that replaced the GN. It currently has 3,000 miles on it and he is keeping that nice for me as well! Drew

 

[8UWITH6]

Ive never cared about the miles on a car. I recently looked at a newer Regal GS (99) with 170K miles on it! However, it looked and ran like a million bucks. Id buy a car with over 100K before I bought one with 10K. Maybe Im just weird.