I want to start by thanking everyone who has posted their experiences and their knowledge of the Roadmaster Wagons on this forum. The information you've posted here has been a great help to us during our search. I signed up in October when my wife and I first started a serious search for our Estate Wagon. Now, after a search lasting nearly 8 months, we have our Estate Wagon.
I fell in love with the Estate Wagons when I first noticed them on the Buick dealers front line back in 1996. I had a full size pick up, our children were just out of school and it was just not the right time for such a large vehicle. We live in northern San Diego County and for some unknown reason, Roadmaster Estate Wagons are very few and far between around here. In the 30 years we've lived here we have only seen a handful of the wagons in our area. In late August of last year my wife and I were driving north along Highway 15 toward Victorville CA when I spotted a Caprice Wagon flash by on the other side of the freeway. That's all it took to get me started and a few weeks later our hunt began.
When we started to look most of the wagons available were in poor condition. The siding had long since faded away and they all showed the signs of abuse and neglect. In September of last year, an add appeared on the Orange County CA Craigslist page for a 96 Estate Wagon. It was Driftwood Metallic with the tan leather interior. The seller had listed all the items that would need to be repaired in his description. The left rear window would not open, power antenna stuck down, A/C had a leak and the one issue that gave me most concern, the last owned had the transmission rebuilt and he included a Corvette shift kit with a 2800 rpm torque converter, not what I had in mind. The car had 170k miles and the seller wanted over $9,000. We decided to follow the add for a while and see what happened. Over time the price began to fall, $7,900, $6,900, all the way down to $3,900.
In February of this year we contacted to seller and drove to Orange County to see the car. It didn't look good, it had been washed but still looked dirty however; under the dirt and dust it looked like someone had taken very good care of it for a long time. The exterior wood trim was like new. The thin molding strips were all in place but the wood decal had pealed away. The leather was dirty but otherwise in excellent condition. The four corners of the car, bumpers and molding, had never bumped a garage wall or door and it even had the cargo area pull out cover. There was a box in the back with records that dated all the way back to 1996 when the first owner drove it home. It has the factory window sticker, owners manual and work orders for every major repair ever done to the car. The seller told me that the first owner had kept the car garaged until he sold it in 2015. The paint was in good condition, no cracks in the dash or other plastic interior parts. Someone took exceptional care of this car for a long time but with the transmission rebuild at the top of the list for me I could not offer him a price he would accept. We had to walk away. In the weeks that followed we looked a a few other wagons but all were too expensive for the condition they were in.
Two weeks ago I noticed his long running Craigslist add was gone. I had kept his phone number so I decided to give him a call and he still had the car.. A few days later our son-in-law, a master auto repair tech, drove with me to give it a second look. The car looked the same however; as we began our test drive, the "Service Engine Soon" light came on and a code reader identified a random misfire. With the high rpm torque converter the car feels like the parking brake is on however; get the rpm up and it takes off like a scalded cat. Even with the misfire and the hot rod transmission set up the car is a real sleeper. I always heard they were fast but I had no idea they were that fast.... The seller wanted $3,000 now but with the new problem I told him I could not go any higher than $2,200.
He signed the papers, I handed over the cash and drove her home. It was during this drive back to Vista, CA that I realized just how lucky I was.
All the way home on the 5 Freeway it was as smooth and quiet as it could be. No rattles, shakes or vibrations. Turned on the Bluetooth and the stereo is amazing. The power seats, locks, mirrors and all but the one rear window work like new. It has new brakes all the way around and only a few thousand miles on the tires. After spending the next few days cleaning and polishing she shines like a new penny. As soon as I can get our new computer to cooperate I will post a few before and after pictures.
We were looking for a car we could bring back to near new condition while at the same time, a car we can take on the road and enjoy the way she was built to be enjoyed. Its starting to look like we found the right one. Our local transmission shop tells me I'm looking at about $1,100 dollars to get it shifting as it should and a new set of plug wires corrected the misfire. So far, so good.
My next few weeks are going to be spent under the hood, cleaning interior parts and taking clay to the paint. The wheels have already cleaned up nice and a nice coat of 303 is protecting the wood applique. Off and running!!
Again, thanks to everyone for the information you have posted here. You helped us spot the things to avoid and the qualities to look for in our wagon.
Pictures soon
BR
Tim
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Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:36 pm
