96 Buick newbie

96 RMW newbie from NY.
Hello everyone, Scott here near Ithaca NY. Always loved these boats and finally pulled the trigger on one. Its a 96, dark jadestone metallic with the towing package and limited slip. Only 110k, but unfortunately a lifelong NY car, so it'll be my winter ride. Everything works, but man I wonder about that 26 highway mpg claim, I've averaged 16 so far..You never see these things around here. I used to work in Waterloo and actually talked to Fred on many occasions about these things!

Welcome Black88

You'll like the community here, lot of good guys and knowledge. There's been a lot of new members lately that is good, keeps it fresh and from getting stale.

About the 26 miles a gallon, that's an urban myth. I've had these since 1997 and have never got that; maybe 21 / 22, on a good day. I know someone will drop in and say they get 26 to 28 on a regular basis. Sorry but that's just not true. I would say the 16 is definitely low for the highway. It's a 25 year old car and probably just needs some maintenance.

Post pictures when you can, I think you have to have 5 posts first.

Tom

Well the government also started adulterating our gasoline with ethanol shortly later so the cars that were EPA rated withOUT ethanol always look bad, through no fault of their own. The injectors aren't doing these cars any favors either.

Love the power of this thing! I drive 70 miles a day, so truly highway cruising. I do have a right front caliper hanging up at times. It's really hard to stay out of the go pedal!

welcome aboard. I bought my first in 2007 (pre ethonal) and got 25 mpg on the maiden voyage. ethanol killed about 4-5 mpg as I never got past 21 again once the corn got in the mix

Welcome! I too bought a 96 this year with 150k miles. I was getting big block suburban levels of bad gas mileage. I have done quite a bit of maintenance on it such as replacing dried out hoses, new PCV valve, cleaning EGR, new air filter, yada yada, but taking the throttle body off of it and thoroughly cleaning it made a WORLD of difference. Cost me like 10 buck for a new gasket and the car ran smoother, idled better, wasn’t shutting off at stop lights, and no longer surged at 50 mph. Just don't spray your throttle position sensor with throttle body cleaner like i did and you can save 40 bucks. whoops.

I picked up my 96 RMW from NY state from a forum member. Fortunately it was not originally a NY car so it had no rust. My Dad and I flew out to NY and drove it back to MN. I did run premium in it and averaged 25 mpg on the interstates and highways throughout the journey. It hasn’t seen the road much since but I am beginning to start working out a few things so it gets back on the road in the spring. I don’t recall a which reared mine has, the gearing can make a significant difference in MPG as well as how hard you stomp the right pedal.