We wouldn’t normally get too excited about an Oldsmobile Omega, but one that is claimed to have only covered 160 miles since new is a different story. When Jim S. emailed us the link to this Olds, I assumed that the odometer had rolled over and that the seller was trying to pull a fast one on everyone. They may still be trying to do that, but there are is some proof here to back up the amazing claim. Supposedly, the first owner was an 80 year woman. She didn’t like to drive, but she wanted to have a car in the garage just in case. The car was driven to a local shop for its yearly inspection, but other than that, wasn’t used much. The original window sticker supposedly wasn’t even removed! The car is located in Livingston, New Jersey and is listed here on eBay where the auction ends shortly. Thanks for the tip Jim!
The cracked plastic around the bumpers made me doubt the claims immediately, but considering the fact that this was owned a driven by an 80 year old woman, I could see how the damage could happen. The plastic probably became brittle and a little bump was all it took to demolish them. Besides that and some flaking paint, the exterior looks clean otherwise. Someone could have taped the paperwork back in the window, but if this car really was as sparingly as claimed, removing the stickers may have just seemed like a hassle. I’d want to see some documentation from the garage where it was serviced and possibly from some family members before bidding, but the story does seem very plausible.
Especially when you take a look inside! The door panels and seats look like they only have about 160 miles worth of wear. A closeup of the pedals would have helped, but honestly, who would go to the trouble of reupholstering a 100,0106 mile Oldsmobile Omega? The engine does look dirty, but things can get pretty dusty after sitting in a garage for a couple of decades. With bidding already over $4k for a car that most of us would normally pass up at $500, you hope that all the claims are true. I’m not sure what I would do with it, but apparently there are a few Oldsmobile collectors out there who like to add it to their fleet. What do you think – is this really a 160 mile Omega?
I remember reading about this car a while ago & the e-bay write up is verbatim, I wish I could remember who the seller was from then,
You where correct Craig! I found this …. Posted October 17, 2010 “Hooniverse Weekend Edition: A 1982 Oldsmobile Omega, Only Driven 158 Miles”!
Pretty much the same write up and for sure the same pictures… Wow almost 5 years later… What gives!?
I’ve dealt with too many malaise-era cars with nineteen miles of vacuum line macramé under the hood for all the semi-functional emissions equipment. Dead marque, really, really nice condition, window stickers in window, 160 miles. Yet, not the least hint of interest in my heart. I really tried hard. Every GM car of that era has those gaps behind the bumpers where the flexible stuff crumbled and died. Most awkward are the Cadillacs from the mid-70s onward that lose that bit behind the chrome vertical spears. But they all suffered from it in one way or another.
Packrat nailed it. It probably is as presented, but past its mileage i don’t see the point. Its at 4k and reserve not met. How much can the seller think it’s worth?
When these cars were new they were junk. We had two of them. Besides rear brakes locking up prematurely, the engine cradle was mounted w soft rubber pads, and the rack & pinion was mounted on the body, not the cradle. So the turning angle would change as the suspension went up & down.
A disaster from the start.
“When these cars were new they were junk.”
Precisely! Why would it be any better thirty years later.
No way if hell it sat in a garage and has 160 miles, the engine compartment is filthy.
My parents had both blue(like this one) and copper colored Omega. Had many good memories tooling around in them and actually, they were pretty reliable.
For some strange reason, you get that nostalgic feeling when you see the cars of your youth. It’s true what Leno says: “you want the cars you had as a kid”. Even if it’s a 1982 Omega!
Don’t know about that, Dan. My parents had a series of Ramblers when I was a kid. I like my Porsches much better!
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A better description of the successful bidder for this monument to one of GM’s worst efforts can not be had.
Lambrecht Auction Mania. I think from now on when people over pay for any vehicle just because it has low miles or a sticker in the window it should be considered Lambrecht Auction Mania. LOL
So, the transaction would could be summarized as Lambrecht Auction Mania Engaged or L.A.M.E. Lame for short.
She was not to old when she got the car.
I put her age at 57 when purchased. She really must have hated the car. 5 miles a year. That makes 2.5 miles each way assuming one trip a year. Wow.
The seller’s description is confusing, but I assume she was 80 when she purchased the car.
So, when did it trade out of her hands? If she was 80 in 1982, she would have turned 100 13 years ago. My girlfriend works with the elderly… It doesn’t seem likely that someone, even in their mid 90’s (say, 18 years ago) would be capable of knowing that the car was in the garage, let alone it be a ‘comfort to her, knowing that it was there if she ever needed a car’. While many that age are coherent and tell stories and can seem engaged, they aren’t thinking or worrying about their cars. When people get to that age, they are generally living a life of pure routine and repetitiveness and generally aren’t capable of handling deviations to those routines. So, although I believe the 160 mile claim, IMO, the story is missing a couple decades worth of detail.
I worked on these when they were new as a tech. The 2.5 is a good engine. But the plastic timing gear that’s pressed on is a pain. I can’t remember if 82 is EFI or not. The price is far more than it’s worth.
My one and only brand-new car was a 1982 Chevy Citation X-11. It was a fun and quick car for the era, but it was crude and the build quality was lousy. It definitely wasn’t EFI; I don’t recall if it was throttle-body or carburetor.
The X-11 had body-color painted bumpers and a spoiler. The paint finish on these was shocking, although the rest of the paint was really rather decent.
It was generally a reliable car, but there was an alloy cover on the front of the engine which included part of the cooling system. It wasn’t the pump itself as I recall, but something more integral to the engine, and by the time I sent the car on its way nine years later, that alloy piece was disintegrating and the coolant was jetting out the holes in an amusing spray.
As proud as I was of that car as a new college grad in 1982, I recognize now that it was truly a piece of crap, and was a metaphor for all that was wrong at GM.
Can anyone explain the blank gauge holes in a fully loaded car? Is the dash common to another GM car of that year that would have had a full gauge package as an option?
The x body was used as the Omega, Buick Skylark, Citation and Pontiac Phoenix. They shared all kinds of parts. The EFI that was used was throttle body fuel injection(Electronic Fuel Injection-EFI). I just can’t remember the year it started.
The sporty level cars got gauges while the rest got idiot lights. For example, I remember the Citation X-11 had gauges.
(1) The black gauge holes were likely for idiot lights. I seem to remember a similar set up in my grandmother’s 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix. (2) Yes, these cars were malaise era — but that’s the point. (3) The author comes off a little on the accusatory side. Why assume the worst, someone is just trying to sell their car (4) If the first owner was an 80 year old woman, that’s presumably when she bought it — not sold it. Any other questions?
My mother bought the Buick version of this car; the Skylark. A very bland, unimpressive car. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to pay more than $10k for one that had delivery miles on it though. BTW, when my mother traded her Skylark in for a 1985 Regal coupe, both she and I were astonished at the quality and performance difference. The first time I drove it I dropped it into reverse and pushed the gas down halfway to the floor which was SOP for the Skylark and, of course, I spun the tires on the Regal. I was embarrassed and said ooops but my mom was grinning at me! ^_^
These cars were awful when new.
David E. Davis did a write-up on an Omega more loaded than this one and hailed it as some sort of conquest by American industry. My dad and I took a test drive in one. Ol’ D.E.D. must have been drinking when he wrote that.
The empty slots in the dash were common back then on just about everything out of Detroit. There was an optional gauge package that the dealership obviously didn’t spec out for grandma. It was more common in the “sportier” versions like the one we drove.
Really, just about everything on these sucked. Seats, suspension, handling, noise, vibration, harshness, and certainly reliability. At 160 miles it’s probably only 10% into its useful, trouble-free life. So it has that going for it.
Yep, the mileage is about the only positive aspect here. Then again, you would feel bad driving it, so maybe that’s not even a good thing either…
Car and Driver (where DED was the editor at the time) later claimed that GM had slipped them a hand-built car rather than a regular production model. This particular episode is mentioned from time to time in their retrospective issues as an example of how wrong they could be–a sort of mea culpa.
The whole X-car fiasco is sort of sad. My father bought a couple of wrecked Citations to repair and sell, but their value nose-dived so fast that we ended up scrapping them for parts (mechanical parts were in high demand, but the body parts are still in the attic of his old shop). I remember being very impressed with amount of interior room in such a small car. Too bad the execution was so bad; the concept had real merit.
We bought a Pontiac Phoenix, largely on the basis of all the glowing car magazine articles. We ordered ours (who does that with American cars?), before launch, so we never drove one first. Too bad. It was pure junk and didn’t last long, either. Booya’s comment that 160 miles is “10% into its useful, trouble-free life” was probably meant in jest…but wasn’t all that far off, either.
I had a 2.5 TBI on a ’85 Chevy Celebrity. It was gutless but durable. I kept trying to kill it but, it would not die. I think it was taunting me by running.
I had a1983 Omega that was TBI, but not sure if 82 was TBI or carbureted. Paid $300.00 for mine at an auction in 1989 and it was looked great withow miles, but it was a first class POS. I traded it to a camper shell for my truck and $100.00 and was ad to see it go.
Absurdly low miles and rarity do not always equal value. There are not a lot of Pintos and Vegas on the road today, despite Ford and GM selling hundreds of thousands of them back in the day. If you can find one still running, they’re not worth much. Low miles don’t add much. Same for this Omega. Best left in the garage and forgotten.
once again calling B/S on miles, look at the engine compartment, way to much grease/dirt on the valve cover for car only having a 160 miles on it, and not worth the 4k bid price!
@Don: In my eyes, the engine compartment is WAY too cruddy for the alledged low mileage. Also, if the car was garaged and driven so infrequently, why are the plastic bumper extensions crumbled/missing? No other portion of the car shows any U.V./sunlight damage. Appearance wise, it is beautiful, condition wise, not so sure. At any rate, I think the price is over inflated, but someone will look at it with love blinded eyes via the “golden glow of memory” and feel that they just have to have it! :-)
The polymer GM used for their filler panels doesn’t need UV to disintegrate, just O2 and time.
You guys may be right, but if you have ever seen an 80 year old person driving, then you know how the bumpers could get dinged up…
I agree with several of you, the engine compartment is a mess.
No way are the miles correct!
Do not think this car was loaded. Looks like a base model. No cloth, No console, not even wire wheel covers. Knew a guy once that bought a theft recovery Oldsmopontic something or another. It was FWD in the 1980’s. Car was stolen when new from a dealership. The sheetmetal (doors fenders hood) were stripped although it still ran and drove. He stored the car. 15 years later or more he was able to replace the parts for next to nothing. What did he do? Sold it. Pretty sure he lost money.
Well, it’s clearly not 100,160 miles, but the engine does look a little rough ( and the drivers side fender brace is not connected) I guess the engine could get rusty from moisture and the dealer may be able to confirm the mileage. As others have stated, an excellent example of a car with limited appeal.
……”limited appeal”?????? How about NO appeal. There’s a reason they were called “X” cars……along with X-wives/husbands, ‘ex’tramarital relationships, X-con(vict)….ect. This was a bad idea by GM and was made as what I call a “disposable” car. One made not to last. Even though cars made in the 80’s and before did not make it over 100k miles, I totally agree that this one does NOT have the stated low miles. I base it on the engine compartment, the stated age of the previous owner (the math does not ad up) and that fact there’s no documentation to back it up. I believe unless he lays proof on the table the current owner got a speedometer out of a 100k car and put it on this one. Just my opinion.
This thing brings back a memory…My wicked wild girlfriend parents had one of these…..Her dad despised it, and often tossed me the keys to go and destroy it!! They let me drive their 16 yr. daughter around in it all the time..,,and we were both16..silly parents. It was a plush little car inside, got us where we wanted to go…Yes we liked it at the time,…what other choices were there? Besides, most all gm cars on the road of this era were questionable….her and I did eventually destroy that thing,..
You know, there’s another possibility between 160 miles and 100160 miles. How about a replacement odometer? They have a law about true mileage disclosure, but doubt that applied 20 or 25 years ago.
Piece of history that someone should save, but not at this price. OK, I’m jumping in with a cooler head than some posters here, with an eye for GM’s tragicomedy of the 1970s and ’80s. I drove many X cars back in the day, including some belonging to friends and a Citation I found and bought for my mom. These cars actually had very solid bodywork, comfortable seating and ride, capable handling and nearly full-size space inside including real legroom for adults in the back seat. The four-cylinder engine was quite adequately powerful. My mom’s car had the 4-speed manual transmission, with the awful cable shifter, but it was still pleasant to drive. The shifter was notchy but not objectionable. What’s so tragic is that GM designed dozens of engineering problems into these cars, as with the Vega, and did nothing about them. Mechanics knew that every single X car out there would be in for a series of repairs. If an owner kept an X car long enough, the cycle would repeat itself. Steering racks, engine mounts, transmission issues, you name it. An entire generation of drivers exposed to these cars came to hate GM and its cynical abuse of its customer base, just as Japanese and some German companies were establishing ever better reputations for quality. This was a total shame and a betrayal of American consumers, starting with a product that was actually very good in concept. If tragedy is something bad happening that did not need to, the X car is its rolling definition where the American auto industry is concerned. I recall being really angry and frustrated over my mom’s Citation. It was comfortable and competent. It held all kinds of promise compared to imported cars. I wanted it to be an American car that would last and of which we could be proud, and it just wouldn’t be that way. Our family never bought another GM product after that car, and now I’m too set in my ways as a Toyota and Mazda and Volvo driver to really bother. Besides, my Japanese and Swedish cars refuse to quit. They just keep pumping out the miles. So why should I look at something new from Detroit?
Ed P – We had a 86 Celebrity “Eurosport” package 4 door we bought new. Pretty car, but a POS under the hood – 2.5 TBI. At 9,900 miles and one rebuild and two add’l engines in the first year we finally dumped it for an 82 Eagle wagon. Put almost 200,000 miles on that AMC. Seems the 2.5 liked to eat cam gears (plastic) and then disperse them randomly throughout the block in bad places like the oil pump.
I Grandmother Hurd, bought a brand new 1990 Buick Century, My 5 year old Son and I were there the day she picked it out, and paid cash for the car, yes 1 payment “cash”, the car salesman like to fainted from it, A 70+ year old lady carrying that much cash with her. Well about 8 year later due to health issues she passed away, I bought the car from her estate, and towed it out of the garage and hauled it home, the car had not moved in 6 years because she had been in a Nursing Home. I changed all the fluids, had the gas tank cleaned, it had set in Northern Missouri with a half tank of gas for those 6 years. When I went to have it re-titled in my name they asked me for the mileage in had 256 miles on it, they made me take it to the Missouri State Highway Patrol to have the mileage checked, even though I had all of the paperwork from where she had renewed the plates on up until she went in the Nursing Home, and showed that the car had be placed in a probate court system, because she had a Court appointed Public Administrator to over see her estate during that time.
Away way I fired the car up and it smoked for a few minutes, and ran rough, but after a few minutes it smoothed out. Today, my Son is driving that same car 25 years later with just over 150,000 miles on it, and it still looks like it did when Grandma drove it off the showroom floor. Oh yeah the car had been ordered in for the owner of the Dealership, and had just been parked on the showroom floor that morning, from being cleaned up from being delivered the day before, it had a whole 1.6 miles on it when she first saw it and feel in love with it, on Labor Day Weekend 1990. She bought it from Pogue Buick in Hannibal, Missouri, they had not even placed the dealership logo on it, but they did before we left with it. Something else she traded in a 1979 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, with little over 6000 miles on it. We always said she was the Little Old Lady from Stoutsville Missouri!!!!
Thanks for letting me share my story!!!!!
What was that??
On July 15, the seller posted:
“The reserve is only one dollar away from being met. Thank you.”
On July 16, the auction ended: Reserve price not met
These x bodies are still, I believe, the most recalled cars in history. They wrested that sorry title away from the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare cars.