With just 44,000 miles and almost loaded to the gills, not to mention being a one-owner car, this 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera S with the FE-3 suspension package looks like a very nice example of a car that was everywhere a decade or two ago but has all but disappeared. The seller has this example listed here on eBay in Darby, Pennsylvania, there is no reserve, and the current bid price is $5,000.
By the time I finished the first paragraph and saved a draft to see what it looked like, the price on eBay had gone from $3,750 to $5,000! With no reserve, this one is selling and who knows what the final price will be in 2.5 days when the auction is over. Are regular 1990s sedans surging in value? Or, maybe it’s because this appears to be such a nice example and has so many options. This car has the XC Special Edition package with both interior and exterior upgrades, as well as the FE-3 suspension touring package. A couple of other special packages add the rear luggage rack, nice wheels, and many other features.
This car was $18,135 when it was new in 1990, that’s a bit over $40,000 today. You can hardly get a small SUV for that money today so this seems like a good value. It’s “only” front-wheel-drive, though, and we all know that most humans would die instantly if they didn’t have AWD today, so there’s that. I admit to having three AWD vehicles so I can’t talk, but as with most of us old people (over 40), we had rear-wheel-drive vehicles and somehow lived through relentless winters with snow tires on the back wheels. The seller says that this car has had one repaint in its original color and it looks nice in the photos.
Olds made the Cutlass Ciera from 1981 for the 1982 model year, up until the end of 1996 and they sure sold a lot of them. I know that a lot of you owned one, or the cousin cars from GM: the Chevrolet Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, or Buick Century. They were all based on the General’s A-body front-drive transverse-engine layout and they’re still nice cars today. This one has a four-speed automatic with a console selector and the seats look good both front and back. There appears to be some sagging on the driver’s seat bottom (is that redundant?)(I meant, the car seat, of course). The trunk looks good and the seller includes some partial-underside photos, as well. The AC needs a recharge, which means that there’s a leak.
The engine is GM’s 3.3-liter OHV V6, which had 160 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque when new. It reportedly runs great and the next owner would most likely have a very nice car after fixing a few things on this one. Have any of you owned a car similar to this Cutlass Ciera?
I had two of these cars, an ’85 Ciera Cruiser wagon and an ’89 sedan like this one. Mine were comfortable, dependable cars that didn’t cost me a dime in repairs, just regular maintenance. Not especially fast but still good cruisers that give pretty good fuel economy. I especially liked our wagon which was our vacation/long trip car. It was perfect for handling piles of luggage and a couple of big dogs. This ’90 Ciera looks like a very nice car and would be a great daily driver, though I’d keep it off the road in winter. GLWTS!
Thanks for the review, FordGuy1972! That’s good to hear, I was hoping to hear at least one good review of these cars, otherwise, I would have wondered how Oldsmobile sold so many millions of them. I have the same feelings about my 1991 Dodge Spirit but the Cutlass was a much nicer car.
One of my first “nice” cars was a 90 Century. Was a fantastic car! Super reliable and comfortable. Sold it with 220k on the odometer and still looked and ran great.
Dad had this car in grey/grey colors.
Reminds me memories of my first driving experiences.
That car was confortable and reliable.
Back window was round, looking like a front windshield.
Hey nice find, Scotty, and your accurate description of the “need” for AWD cracked me up – and is 100% true. My Mom had one of these and it was the last car my Step-Dad drove before going legally blind. It was also a rare deviation from manual transmission, coming between a stick-shift FWD Dodge Charger and her V6 6Sp Ford Contour. It was… OK. The front suspension hit surprisingly hard on potholes and RR tracks for such a softly-suspended car. It was comfortable. The raspy GM V6 with AOD did OK. The Contour was a far superior car in every imaginable way. Thanks for the memories!
Worked on a lot of these in BOPC models of the same platform and they were decent dependable cars for the $ yeah they had their issues but all cars do and these didn’t have to many. It’s a nice driver or work car imo.Maybe we’ll start seeing these at car shows?I think it would be cool as someone could afford to get in the old car hobby with it as it’s considered an antique vehicle at it’s age.Why not.
I drove a Pontiac 6000 for about 18 months and it was a very nice driver with no issues. Regular maintenance prevented problems.
This was my Dad’s last new car. Blue on blue (like the 76 Pontiac Catalina that preceded it). As noted earlier, these were great, reliable, trouble-free cars (at least ours was!), and Dad loved it dearly. Other than oil and filter changes and brake service, I don’t recall him having to do anything to the car….
I remember driving it for the first time as a teen and using the windshield washer – it had this amazing washer that covered the entire window in a second or two. It surprised me as I had only driven cars that shot a tiny stream before.
GLWTS
BT
That odometer has rolled at least once but they still g 200+k miles so it could be a good car for someone
Troy, what makes you think that?
I retract my previous statement scrolling through pictures it actually has a 6 digit odometer but I was going off the brake down of the drivers seat, this forum won’t let me delete my comment
Looks like it’s got a 6-digit odometer. Still mechanical, though, and they can be “adjusted.” I swapped out the IP in a ’91 LeSabre to get the tach and gauges. Was able to set the “new” gauge pack odometer to the mileage shown on my original one fairly easily.
5k seems a little high for this oh so boring car, I owned an 87 which was just like this for 500.00 dollars. They were good basic transportation but nothing to write home about. Interior is really faded and the seats have that wrinkly I have over 100k look. Good car for half the price, cheap and easy to repair too.
We had two of these and the only reason I’m not still driving them is due to New England rust-out. They were wonderful cars if your need was for reliable, reasonably economical transportation. They were very good mechanically and the 3.3 seemed indestructible, as did the earlier 3 speed automatics ( didn’t have a 4 speed so I know less about them). Maybe they were dull, but they “did the job” uncomplainingly!
In high school in 1988 owned a 1983 Ciera 2 dr, with the padded partial landau top and limousine rear windows (rear side windows were just two small slits). Bought it when I was 15 at the end of my sophomore year (turned 16 during my Jr year). Spun a bearing on the original Iron Duke, and the rebuild replacement died in less than a year (under warranty so i got a new one for free). Sold it to a buddy and got an 84 5.0 TBird to finish my senior year.
I owned an ’88 Century Limited. Fanciest car I’ve owned up to then. Drove like a dream and was decent on gas, as well.
Nice car. That 3300 was an odd engine, a smaller version of the excellent 3800 from larger cars, I think GM also deleted a couple features for the less expensive cars. Namely the balance shaft and sequential fuel injection. The balance shaft in the 3800 contributes a lot to the engine’s smooth running, I don’t know if I ever drove a 3300 to know how much difference it makes. I did own a 3.1L V6 Celebrity, but that’s a totally different engine, a 60 degree V6 built by Chevy. Also, I recall most 3300’s were lashed to a 3-speed automatic, may want to confirm the 4-speed is indeed what is in this car.
I had an 86′ four door version of this. Great looking car. Smooth and efficient. I sold it to my sister with 100K on it. I now have my mom’s 96 model. It only has 46K on it. Both vehicles have the V6 engines that were powerful and efficient. I will be selling my mom’s car as soon as her will goes thru probate court. This 90′ model and my mom’s car will be a great car for someone.
My 90 Ciera is sitting in the parking lot at work right now, because that’s what I drove to work this morning. It has 366,000 miles on it and it still runs and drives fine. Original engine and transmission, and never rebuilt because they never needed it. So this car has another 300,000 to go yet. This one has some nice features and options. Full instrumentation, floor shifter and these bucket seats are unusual. The wheels are nice. The 3300 engine has good get up and go. The 4 speed automatic will help improve highway fuel economy. An in person inspection might be warranted – but it looks decent to me.
Bought an ’89 Cutlass Ciera new after my ’85 Plymouth Caravel’s turbo went bye-bye. The Cutlass got great gas mileage on the highway from that 3.3 L 6, but on a long trip that bench seat (no buckets in front) was almost as uncomfortable as the seats in my ’17 Lincoln MKX! Was it just the GM cars that had uncomfortable seats from the 60’s on? Had any number of Ford’s over the last 60 years and I never had a sore rear end when I got done driving them.
Would look nicer with 1 inch diameter larger wheels and a little lower profile tire. Looks much nicer with the console.
I had a 1986 Cutlass Ciera (which I despised as a 20 year old), and my mom had a 1989 Cutalss Ciera which I liked much better. My 86 had the Iron Duke in it which meant that my lawn mower has more horse than that car did.