Opinions on a Olds 88 for sale and a RMW

I first thought $700, but it's mentioned the headliner is sagging. IMO that alone takes a lot away from any car not to mention the serious issues with the wood Sooner or later the material will not stay up there, then all that evil foam will be coming down like dirty snow, been there done that with my Olds..... It's a freeken pita to clean up the interior once the fabric lets go. Gut the car do the headliner your self or like KK, get it to a shop ASAP,iether way the headliner is gona cost $

 

Listen to Silverfox, (and the others). He's owned these wagons, and was the one who checked out mine when I found it on CL in Wisconsin.

I'm seeing a lot of issues here.

 

I missed that about the headliner.

 

Around $400, 1-2 days.

 

Did my headliner, myself = apx $200, over a 3 day period 16-20 hours in total

 

Ok, so the car went up on the hoist today..yikes....where do I start? It looks the like the gas tank will need to be replaced the rubber coating is bubbling and protruding,the right spring is broken and sitting on the brake line,the front shocks are pretty much shot,you can see the scuff marks where the car has been bottoming out, and there appears to be a valve cover leak, the whole right side of the car is wet.

Underneath, the car is wet in the front drivers side,then dry in the middle of the car and then wet again at the back around the differential. Not to mention the Mac tac.......

I'm out on this car obviously......thanks all and stay tuned, I am sure I will be back looking for more advice!

 

I doubt we have a member who has not walked away car for various reasons Don't give up the hunt

Just my 2 bits of nothing but, we have seen a lot of these wagons 4 sale, several in Ontario I believe. It could be(?) a great parts car for another. I'm not saying low ball and offer to buy this one rite now but.... is your friend next door have a realization of the cars problems and the cost involved? Maybe, just saying MAYBE you found another that is in better shape but needed trim, this and that etc, would your friend except a parts car offer if you found a better one? Gets touchy now, you don't want to insult the guy but........


Ya know what I'm saying?

 

Well he originally wanted 2000 for the car. After the car came off the hoist, I dropped it off in the driveway, he wasn't home. I think even when I tell him the results he will have the value of the car set in his mind.

He is a nice guy and all, but one who I think over values his car. Btw, it looks waaaaay worse in the pics, from far away she looks good! Lol...

 

Having looked at the pictures, I am going to take a contrarian position on this wagon. It has a couple of really big things going for it. First, it is an 87, which is the newest vehicle you can have with no Drive Clean worries here in Ontario. 88 and up are not exempt unless you have Historic Vehicle plates on it. Second, the body does seem to be in very nice condition, and that is a big thing! It sounds like the floor and frame are in good shape, which is getting rare for these wagons around here. It seems to be pretty well equipped, too.

Now to address some of the downsides: Check with Canadian Tire or Parts Source. I would bet there is a good chance that their gas tank supplier can come up with a tank for you with little trouble. The supplier they use has many tanks you would think would be difficult to get, and they come with a lifetime guarantee, too. Normally, they are under $150, so not bad. Valve cover gaskets are CHEAP, at under $30 the pair, and only take an hour or two to install, so no big deal.

These cars often have a lot of gunk on the floor pans around the differential vent. Call it rust proofing, and leave it alone. Just change the fluid in the dif, and put in synthetic fluid. Not a big deal, since it is maintenance, anyway.

Peel the Mac Tac, and if the paint under it is bad, get a body shop, like Maaco (or I can recommend one if you are in the East end of Toronto) to paint that area of the car the darker of the 2 blues that were available for 87, since the rest of the car is painted in the lighter blue. That was a factory combination on the sedans, so it will look very nice at little expense, and look close to being stock to the uninitiated. Get the headliner done, or spend the time doing it yourself.

Springs and shocks all the way around are about standard operating procedure on these cars at this age, and can be done for about $550 all in. All in, about $1,000 into this car and you have a really nice car, and one that should last you a good number of years. It is also one that you can do many different things to down the road if you want. Buy the car, if you can, for $1,000 - 1,500, do what it needs, and you have a decent buy there, and a car you can easily enjoy.

 

Or...just walk away and find a better wagon that you won't have to spend a bunch of money and time on.

 

Mike, thanks and I admire your optimism! When I offered the owner 1500, he turned me down flat and said he could have sold the car many times over for that money. It's going to need a pile of cash to pass cert, and quite a lot of time invested to bring it up to spec.

BTW, the owner had a " shady cert" done on the car when he bought it.

I think the car may fall into the category of doing ok for a couple of years before it becomes one of those money pit cars,where you wake up one day to realize you have sunk thousands into hanging on by a thread car.

I may turn my attention to the RMW that needs an engine. That body is solid all around,with a few broken parts inside like door lock or window,can't remember,if I can pick up the car for 400/500 and drop an engine in to for another 400/500 that's all it would need.

No bodywork,no headliner,no other major mechanical issues,just an engine and go. A weekend for my BF. and he seems not to adverse on doing it,but shudders at the thought of endless maitenence from the get go of the 87.

Personally, I prefer the box style wagon over the round RM but for a good price, I can be flexible.

If the RMW wagon guy doesn't want to part with it for a song, I will keep looking. He did tell me that he has had no other interest in it but the car is to good to junk,and it is.i have pics of it on my ipad, I could post them up if I knew how to do that.

 

Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders, shnizzle. I agree with your decision and especially agree with those things that I put in bold face in your above post. I think you will do just fine selecting a good car for the right money. What year is the Roadie? I would love to see pix of that one, too.

 

Ok, here are some picks of the 92 RMW....





IMG]http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa408/Uberfetus/image_zps8971a456.jpg[/IMG]








Hopefully that worked

 

Some I missed....










Sorry if I doubled up on pics. It's pretty hard to know what you have done on the ipad sometimes

 

Thanks....good pix. If you can get that Roadie for around the money you mentioned and providing you have a source for a good engine AND have someone capable of installing it properly....go for it. Much better deal than the 87 all around. Is the interior nice in the Roadie?
There's a guy here that lives in Ontario and has a Roadie. You may want to look him up through a PM and then later...who knows. His name here is Cyber-Wizard.