New Guy .. in Ca ........

Hey Guys .... Great Looking Board you have here .....

Well I just Registered here ... and Don't have a Long Roof Yet .... Have always Liked the Look and Have decided to Start Looking around .... Not IN A Big Hurry .. as I want to Really get this Right for myself .. The first time around !!!!!!! Question for You .... Caprice vs Roadmaster ... Like them all Really ..... But have seen were People have said 94 to 96 is the best way to go ... Just wondering what you can add to this ???? Not trying to start a war here .. Just Looking for a more of an educated View Then I have myself .... I really Don't have a Clue .......... what to Look for and would really appreciate Your input !!!!!!!!


Thanks again for any advice That you could pass my way ... so I don't just jump in Blind !!!!!!!



Vanish ..................

Welcome to the board!!! You shouldn't' get into wagons though, it is an addiction that's hard to get rid of and no one seems to understand it. The LT1 (94-96) wagons are pretty awesome, the 2 major weak points on those cars are the opti spark located behind the water pump (I personally have 1 lt1 cars and haven't had a single issue) and the 4l60 automatic transmissions have some pretty bad weak points. I had to have mine rebuilt last year. Other than that they all (1991-1996) can have some pretty bad rust problems if they weren't taken care of. The 1991-1993 cars aren't very quick but still lots of torque. Look around the forum, you will probably see the answers to all of your questions and even answer a few you didn't know that you had.

Hey Thanks' ..... Great Looking Ride you have there !!!!!!!!! so were Dose the rust Like to Grow on these cars ????? I'm an old Guy .... so fast is not all that important to me .... so the caprice Don't come with a Sky Light ???? also The Buick has leather interior ??? ..... I Like cloth my self ..... I will start to have a Look around here ........


Vanish ................

Thanks, hard to believe that I only paid $800 for it, huh? But that was without the wheels and some pretty major dents on the drivers side. Rust is pretty common in the rear hatch area, maybe a few others but living in Colorado it doesn't seem to be as big of a deal so you'll have to talk to the folks down in the rust belt to get a full run down on that. No the Caprice didn't have the vista roof, only the Buick Roadmasters and the Olds Custom Cruisers. I've heard that you couldn't get a Caprice with leather but I don't know if that's true or not. Also the Caprices tended to get the manual hvac where as the buicks and olds had the automatic climate systems (I have had nothing but bad luck with gm automatic climate systems so I opted for a caprice). Where in California are you from? I grew up in a small town 30 minutes south of Sacramento.

Welcome aboard, we like to grow. It benefits everyone. Being from CA, you don't have to worry about rust, unless one of us easterners dumped one out there. You do have to watch for leaks that can cause rust. It's usually related to the roof racks or rear windows. But, it doesn't happen that often, just be watchful

As for the Roadmaster vs. Caprice, who knows, I guess it's what you like. I have one of each and I change my mind daily on which one I like best.

Glad you found us.

Tom

That part about not wanting to get into wagons was tongue in cheek Tom ;-)

Well when I was a Younger man .. I had a 1985 Caprice wagon .... Just loved it so comfortable !!!!! The Kids the Wife Gave me all kinds of **** about it ... But when I tried it on .. it just felt right ....

I'm in Temecula Ca ... But will be moving to lake Havasu Az here with in a year ..... I LIKE THEM Dropped a little ...Just don't want to Buy one that's already lowerd .... Would like to do that myself !!!! I would be Looking for a all stock ride that I can make the way I want it ...... or as close as I can find to stock any way ........ You got a Nice Deal on that Caprice for sure !!!!!!!



Vanish ...............

Welcome aboard....I just joined too. If youre looking, there was a really clean White 96 Roadmaster for sale in Washington at a Buick dealership about 3 weeks ago. It had 60k plus miles on it and had a great service record by thebdealership according to the Carfax report supplied. It was on www.carsforsale.com.
I almost bought it and had it shipped out here bit the Caprice i found had half the mileage and cost less.

Welcome aboard. I guess we should really have a primer section on what/where to look when you buy one. As mentioned in CA you shouldn't have the rust issues like more moist places have.

Places they rust (with no regard to geographic reason):
Top of the A pillar near the windshield.
Bottom of the B pillar between the doors (road salt)
Bottom of spare tire well (road salt)
D- pillars top or bottom (roof rack leaks)

I have seen cars that present well with no visible rust on the paint be rotted underneath from road salt.
I live in FL and the bottoms are clean but the A and D pillar issues are prevalent here (Salt air maybe).

Performance wise:
All 91 wagons, Chevy, Buick, Olds ALL got TBI 305s Anyone without a 305 has been swapped out or the seller is lying.

92-93 Wagons :TBI - Buicks all got 350s, optional 350 in Chevy and Olds (92 last year for Olds).

94-96 All wagons got the LT1.

I have owned 13 wagons since 2007, 6 of which were/are LT1, 2 TBI 350s, and the other 5 TBI 305s. Currently have one LT1 and two 305s. All are good reliable cars. One of the LT1 cars had 222K on it when I sold it (put 95K+ on it myself) and other than a cap and rotor when bought, had no issues with the opti or the tranny (had been rebuilt before I got it at 132K) I only had minor maint issues.

My DD is a 266K 305 91 Olds that still has great oil pressure and aside from needing a tuneup runs like a champ.

I think it's more of a personal preference. With the 305 and non ethanol gas I would get 26mpg at 80mph. With the LT1 and same gas I could get about the same at 65 mph. Lately it's less but as I said I need a tune up. Ethanol drops about 3-4 mpg straight away.

City driving expect mid teens though as they are heavy cars to push around and the tall gear prefer the highway.

All three flavors could be had with cloth or leather. Like you I prefer cloth as it doesn't burn in the summer time, lol.

Now is a good time to shop for one. You seem like the kind of guy to want to buy the right one for a little more money for a nice clean what you want example. Another place (other than here) to look for a well taken care of example is the impalassforum.com as there are alot of wagon guys there (most here frequent both forums) since they are a shared platform with the SS. I have bought two cars from other forum members and wouldn't hesitate to do it again, mostly as the cars are completely sorted out by the time I get them.

As you look you will the prices all over the place on them. My suggestion is to read up, evaluate what the right value is for you (CA is a higher priced market than say Texas) and figure out the color combo you want best and start looking....

Don't be afraid to ask questions especially if going to look one over, it may be we know the seller already or can point out what to look for. This is a pretty tight community and many members know one another in real life as well as on here.

^^^What he said...lol. Welcome aboard. My two cents? The OCC are best looking,but the LT1s performance is easy to like.

Thanks' Guys ...... and by the looks of it .... the olds Custom cruiser would be the hardest to find ????




Vanish ...................

Welcome to the forum.... sprocket summed it up well. Jeff

Headed to AZ..I would start looking in the Phoenix CL adds. I found 3 all for around $1500. They were not in the best shape, but they ran. All 3 only stuck around for a couple of days.

Just picked up a 92 from Tucson AZ and love the way it cruises. I paid on the very high end for mine, and kick myself for it, but the body was clean and the interior was pristine.

Something to think about in the AZ heat....The AC! Takes forever to cool down. I would think about adding tint into your budget.

The 305 is not bad but your not going to win any drag races with it. It is a pig out of the hole but at cruising speed its a gem.

Good luck in your search.

I'm from Cali too, anyway, you would get the best for your money i think with a '92 or '93 Roady. The L05 makes a decent amount of power. I got a good deal on mine, I was about to get a '94, but the owner wanted too much. The roadmaster has a softer smoother suspension, and a much nicer interior. The early caprice interior and IP is kinda sparse and dated. I also was thinking about getting a '94 caprice, but it was a base model one. I also almost bought an OCC that is now in my neighborhood. it was a '91 with the L03, which makes a lot less torque than the L05. The LT1 is great if you wan't somehing fast with good aftermarket support, but for me, the L05 is enough. I hoped i helped, that's just my opinion on them.

Welcome, I'm from Riverside and just got a 93 Caprice wagon a few months ago. Power is just fine with the 5.7L and the tow package 3.23 posi gears. I got mine from a dealer in Ontario and am still sorting out the drivability of the car. I like my Caprice interior just fine but it has the 'luxury cloth' option instead of the base cloth. That dealer I bought from has several of these wagons but always do a personal inspection with them and NEVER take a dealer's word for anything.

The rust on the 'D' pillars that has been mentioned is because the seam caulking at the top of the back window area just underneath the luggage rack tends to crack and let water run down inside. Mine is like that and I'm waiting for the summer heat to dry everything out before redoing the caulking.

Honestly I prefer the TBI cars. SBC is far cheaper when it comes to replacement parts, and I like the factory full gauge package (On OCC and Buicks anyhow, caprices got a basic sweep speedo.)

Welcome to the group Vanish,look at all you've learned already.Whatever year you decide to buy always make a thorough inspection for rust your first priority because THAT will give you the most heartache.

you all realize he hasn't been back on the forum since September....

this is funny,... folks falling over each other with with well worn advice ,.

on a guy that never came back,...

vanish is next

Just because he hasn't posted since Sept doesn't mean he hasn't been back to read. These wagons aren't that easy to come by in SoCal and he may just still be looking around. But he probably found some other kind of car to buy.

Maybe our "cult like" friendliness scared him away...

just me wrote:

Just because he hasn't posted since Sept doesn't mean he hasn't been back to read. These wagons aren't that easy to come by in SoCal and he may just still be looking around. But he probably found some other kind of car to buy.

He hasn't logged into the site since September, so yeah maybe he has come back and scanned without logging in.

You can click on his (or anyone's profile) and see the last time they visited.