vaguely familiar

sx4rocious · Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:40 am

it's definately seeing a resurgence amung the undiscovered hip-hop artist crowd also! lol

SamirD · Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:20 pm

That's a good comparison to Lincoln and Acura, although with the MKZ, Lincoln definitely made some headway as they started to compete with Cadillac.

I think the reason a lot of old Buicks are still on the road is because of the old Buick lovers who won't let them go.

It was sad to see Pontiac go. Even though that brand had more cheap plastic on it than a dude wrapped in saran wrap, it was performance oriented from the start and did produce some good vehicles.

SamirD · Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:21 pm

sx4rocious wrote:it's definately seeing a resurgence amung the undiscovered hip-hop artist crowd also! lol

I've noticed that about some brands! They put so much chrome on everything too.

redmed · Sun Jan 11, 2015 2:03 am

SamirD wrote:That's a good comparison to Lincoln and Acura, although with the MKZ, Lincoln definitely made some headway as they started to compete with Cadillac.

I think the reason a lot of old Buicks are still on the road is because of the old Buick lovers who won't let them go.

It was sad to see Pontiac go. Even though that brand had more cheap plastic on it than a dude wrapped in saran wrap, it was performance oriented from the start and did produce some good vehicles.

I had fun driving and riding in Pontiac's, GTO, Grand Prix & Bonneville. But some how I always ended up with Oldsmobile's, 442, 98 & the Silhouette I still have. I loved that 98 it drove like quiet dream. At 70mph if you hit the gas you would be pushed back in your seat as it took off. Then the gas shortage in the 70's came and I couldn't find enough gas for it. I sold it and got a piece of #%&%# Chevy Monza. In 95 I bought two new vehicles a Chrysler LHS and a Oldsmobile Silhouette. The LHS reminded me of the 98 until things started breaking. Transmission twice, replaced heater core, driver side window switch, retracting antenna had to pulled up by hand to get the radio to work, suspension links. Then just out of warranty @ 37K miles the gas rail started spraying gas over the hot engine. It was a leaking rubber grommet/seal. The only way to get another was to buy the whole rail assembly at over $300 and a freezing cold day replacing the gas rail. Then at 38K the transmission would work in reverse but not in drive until the engine warmed up about three minutes. Then intermittently for the next 5 miles. Had to sell at a big loss to a dealer. When taking to a few dealers to sell they asked if I had trouble with the LHS and listed/asked about everything except for the window switch. You can probably guess what I think about Chrysler. If you get that Chrysler 200 lease it.

KansasKid · Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:38 am

What about your silhouette? My family has had one of those for ages and it's still kicking. We've only had a few issues with ours,and nothing too major has fallen off it. Of course,I'm not really sure what's fallen off of it since I'm not in charge of taking care of it. They're pretty good little vans I think.

sx4rocious · Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:24 am

The GM 3800 V-^ series I & II engines will ultimately go down in history as one of the greatest engines ever made. At one time, I believe there were something like 10 in my immediate family at once. The oldest was a series I in a 1990 Delta 88. It still lives to this day with over 300K on the clock last I heard. The car that mother was driving at the time of her (eventually, it's a long story...) fatal accident was a 1989 Delta 88 with well over 200K. GM ruined it when they killed the 3800 in favor of the lackluster 3500 and 3400. I think if they still had this engine today, Pontiac and Olds would still be alive, and Buick would see a HUGE surge in sales. I remember my dad refusing to even test drive GM products if they didn't have a 3800, as we all knew the engine would outlast the car by a long-shot. IMHO, Chrysler and Ford were scrambling to keep up....

SamirD · Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:50 pm

KansasKid wrote:What about your silhouette? My family has had one of those for ages and it's still kicking. We've only had a few issues with ours,and nothing too major has fallen off it. Of course,I'm not really sure what's fallen off of it since I'm not in charge of taking care of it. They're pretty good little vans I think.

They had a HUGE windshield too. You didn't realize how large it was until the wipers had to be turned on. We rented on once on a trip to NJ and it was an interesting, but slightly odd minivan.

When I had my auto parts distribution business, finding a radiator for that application was like a needle in a haystack--I think they used three different revisions, all incompatible with each other.

redmed · Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:41 pm

KansasKid wrote:What about your silhouette? My family has had one of those for ages and it's still kicking. We've only had a few issues with ours,and nothing too major has fallen off it. Of course,I'm not really sure what's fallen off of it since I'm not in charge of taking care of it. They're pretty good little vans I think.

Still have it although only use it for canoe trips, big groups or getting large items. I call it my tupperware van because the body is all plastic. Got the Chrysler LHS for a luxury ride but the Silhouette drove just as nice, what was that famous saying "it's the Cadillac of minivans". Had to replace the transmission, half-shaft, repair the sliding door, the passenger window doesn't work. After about 40k the gas gauge shows less gas than it has and the oil pressure gauge shows low pressure (hoping that is due to a faulty voltage regulator in the dash). Leaks about a quart of oil every 500 miles. Heavy burnt oil smell after driving it. Took to two shops to find where the oil is leaking, they couldn't find the leak. Have 180K on it. My Corolla has 189K on it and the only thing I have replaced is a O2 sensor.

SamirD · Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:16 pm

redmed wrote:Still have it although only use it for canoe trips, big groups or getting large items. I call it my tupperware van because the body is all plastic. Got the Chrysler LHS for a luxury ride but the Silhouette drove just as nice, what was that famous saying "it's the Cadillac of minivans". Had to replace the transmission, half-shaft, repair the sliding door, the passenger window doesn't work. After about 40k the gas gauge shows less gas than it has and the oil pressure gauge shows low pressure (hoping that is due to a faulty voltage regulator in the dash). Leaks about a quart of oil every 500 miles. Heavy burnt oil smell after driving it. Took to two shops to find where the oil is leaking, they couldn't find the leak. Have 180K on it. My Corolla has 189K on it and the only thing I have replaced is a O2 sensor.

Did you have the Lumina APV or the Pontiac version? I think it was the Pontiac version that had a lot of plastic on it.

redmed · Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:17 am

SamirD wrote:
redmed wrote:Still have it although only use it for canoe trips, big groups or getting large items. I call it my tupperware van because the body is all plastic. Got the Chrysler LHS for a luxury ride but the Silhouette drove just as nice, what was that famous saying "it's the Cadillac of minivans". Had to replace the transmission, half-shaft, repair the sliding door, the passenger window doesn't work. After about 40k the gas gauge shows less gas than it has and the oil pressure gauge shows low pressure (hoping that is due to a faulty voltage regulator in the dash). Leaks about a quart of oil every 500 miles. Heavy burnt oil smell after driving it. Took to two shops to find where the oil is leaking, they couldn't find the leak. Have 180K on it. My Corolla has 189K on it and the only thing I have replaced is a O2 sensor.
Did you have the Lumina APV or the Pontiac version? I think it was the Pontiac version that had a lot of plastic on it.

I have the Oldsmobile Silhouette. All three Chevy Lumina, Pontiac Transport & Olds Silhouette have plastic panels on a highly rated roll cage. I bought it because of the all plastic body (no rust) and expected it to be a "Forever" van. I have taken it to three funerals, park in the procession line then walk into the funeral home then watch as the funeral worker tries to put the magnetic flag on it. Each time it was hilarious. It still looks like new until you crawl under it. When I bought it I looked underneath and it looked like they had sprayed some kind of porcelain undercoating on the metal. It is rusting underneath more than I expected but less than other vehicles I've had. I replaced all the brake lines this summer.