General Motors did a brave thing in the 1985 model year. They redesigned the 1985 top line C bodies of Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac and made them much smaller and, gulp, front wheel drive. That was a daring move but seemed to pay off well for Buick and Oldsmobile anyway. Cadillac retained the old rear wheel drive as the top of line Fleetwood Brougham and sold them alongside the smaller C body because apparently some Cadillac owners still wanted big cars. Here is a 1990 Buick Electra Park Avenue 4 door sedan (the last year for this body style) for sale here on Craigslist in Raleigh, North Carolina.
This car is for sale by an organization named Wheels4Hope with locations in Raleigh and Greensboro, NC. According to their website, “Wheels4Hope is a non-profit, faith-based car donation program that turns donated cars into local blessings.” Owners that no longer need their cars can donate them to the organization and they are sold for a modest price of $500 to needy individuals and families whose only means of transportation may be public transportation. In cities like Raleigh and Greensboro, this could sometimes mean a person riding several buses to get to work. I volunteered with Wheels4Hope for a couple of years as a car evaluator. I checked over a ten-page checklist of items that each car they receive goes through. Then volunteer mechanics and local professional mechanics make the cars mechanically sound and safe for families to drive.
Well, you say, what does that have to do with Barnfinds where we normally see classic cars that are for sale to everyone. Most of the cars that are repaired and provided to needy individuals and families are newer models than this one, maybe no older than 10 or 12 years old. Also, if vehicles like sports cars, motorcycles and such are donated they are reconditioned and sold to the public since they may not be suitable for many families. Selling these type vehicles provides money to repair the other cars going to families in addition to the monetary donations from other organizations.
Not much information is provided on this particular car. During this body style, Buick was still producing the Electra, but this is the higher Park Avenue trim level. It has the very low mileage of 48,100. About the only flaw that I can see in this car is the driver’s front seat leather is wearing a bit, but the back seat looks immaculate. The paint looks good for a 1990 year car and there are no dents or rust. This Electra Park Avenue has the electronic dash and electronic touch climate control. It also has road wheels rather than wire wheel covers as were seen on many luxury cars of this era. There is no engine picture, but it would be the dependable 3.8 liter V-6. It has four new tires, fresh oil change, new air filter, and North Carolina State Inspection.
At $2,260, I feel this is a bargain for this car. And you will be assured the car has been checked over thoroughly and needed repairs made. I would rather buy a car from Wheels4Hope than many of the low budget used car dealers you see around. Is this something you would like to add to your collection?
Wheels4Hope has helped more than 3,469 individuals/families since it has existed. For stories about families that have been helped by Wheels4Hope, used cars for sale, and more information on their program, click here or check out organizations in your area that provide similar services.
These are great cars that drive really well. Super comfy, roomy & quiet (for the day anyway) with good performance & economy from the ubiquitous 3.8. When equipped with FE3 option they handled well too.
Love the forward opening hoods on them! Such a leap forward in every way from the downsized RWD’s of the late-70s/early-80s.
We had several, one of which i drove into a giant Maple tree on a late foggy August night. Spent several weeks on my back & many more months recovering from that one.
Under $3k in nice condition & super low miles for this dependable hunk of classic Detroit goodness is a steal.
Compared to what they replaced, I was very disappointed by the looks of these downsized versions. But, as was de rigueur in the 80’s, everything that was cool became FWD and weird looking.
That reminds me of my grandfather. He was a great guy, and a Fire Chief in the greater Los Angeles area until he retired. Smoked unfiltered Lucky Strikes until the day he died, at the ripe old age of 94!
Anyway, he was a Pontiac man thru & thru, from the 1930’s on. In the 60’s and 70’s he only bought Bonnevilles, always 4 doors. But come the 80’s, when Pontiac changed it to FWD, he was livid! Went out and bought his first Ford (new RWD LTD, I believe). It certainly was the way of the future, but GM pissed off a lot of long term customers by doing so!
Yeah its not like the Caprice and the Cadillac Brougham stayed in production for a decade after the FWD cars came out or anything……….
The best domestic front wheel drive cat of the eighties. Bulletproof engine and transmission. 30 mpg on the highway. This is so old car that can painlessly be your daily.
I used to live in the Raleigh area and know about where this car is located. If I still lived there I would buy this as a daily driver, considering the low mileage and asking price this car is a steal for the money. I live in California now so this is one that I will never get a shot at purchasing. Won’t last long at this price. Good luck to the new owner.
Nice car, great price, dependable, low miles, and extra clean equals this Buick won’t last long. Wheels 4 Hope sounds like a fantastic organization, keeping cars alive and helping people along the way. 👍Good Luck to the new owner.
Agreed, good price, very comfortable with those pillow-top seats and smooth ride, reliable and not bad looking by today’s standards. I’ve seen these cars go over 200k miles. The new ones that cost 50-60 grand should be as comfortable and reliable.
I see that we have run out of interesting cars to write about. Maybe the problem is that 1990 seems like yesterday to me, so I can’t imagine why any cars from that era would be on a classic car site. The styling was boring, the colors were boring, and cars like this were driven by grandmothers, priests, and funeral directors. Yawn.
Well said, Rex. This belongs on the same used car lot as the Caprice from the other day.
dear Rex,
please be mindful of the fact we’ll all become old grandfather’s or grandmother’s some time in the foreseeable future and as for the Priest’s and funeral undertakers, well, they’ll also be there at the end to put us all to rest !!
As for the car, i like it and besides , it is for a good cause , it seems. I may just end up buying it myself
Did you end up buying it?? Do we know who did?? I have a dear friend wanting it badly and since the date of posting was in Oct ’18, we cant get to it. Its exactly what we’ve been looking for for him! Help, if you can, please. Thanks, Jenny
Its a shame someone dragged you kicking and screaming and made you read the article and comment on it……..
dear Ralph, i was never screaming or shouting about anything, least of all whilst being dragged, but last time i remembered we still had the ability to voice our opinion on things relevant to our daily lives, or am i wrong? I just pointed to some things which are relevant in today’s life and certainly never meant to offend any reader .
I wasn’t replying to you, I was replying to Rex Khars…….
I’m with KOBUS. That’s the point of this site: read the article and comment on it. First amendment. While we still have it.
My ex’s mother had one and the car had 265,000 miles on engine/trans before she sold it. A friend bought the car and he drove it another 50,000 miles before we lost track of it. It was a great reliable care for both of them.
You see, I told you it was driven by Priests.
Every so often. I drove it to drop off for oil changes. It was perfect for her being a 65 year old grandmother at that time. I think back then in 1996-97 she bought it gently used for around $3500. About the right price at that time with average miles. Hell if I had the room, I’d take this one. It’d make a great winter beater.
Good performers and good handlers. I don’t think these cars were disappointments for the era.
If it weren’t so far away, I’d buy it! Mom’s
got an ’01 LeSabre Custom that uses the
same chassis layout as this car down to
the FE3 sports suspension. And lemme
tell ya’ that thing is damned near bullet-
proof! When we bought it, the car had
85K on it and was advertised as a
mechanic’s special. 11 years and 115K
later, it still runs and drives just fine.
Neither the engine or transmission have,
to my knowledge, ever been overhauled.
My BIL religeously maintains this car
from bumper to bumper. Oh sure, it’s
got some cosmetic issues (Needs
paint and interior work) but I wouldn’t
be the least bit afraid to jump in it and
take it on a long road trip! In all the
time we’ve owned it, it only left us
stranded once when the starter quit
2 years ago. Yeah Rex, they may be
boring, but I’d buy a few more of them
just to make sure that the ladies in our
family had safe, dependable transportation.
Sometimes, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about… safe, dependable transportation. Honestly, if cars like this one were never featured & this website was exclusively exotics & high dollar muscle I’d likely have wandered off by now. As it happened, when I first came across barnfinds I spent weeks, a few pages at a time, working my way back to the oldest pages, having a look at what interested me. Saw some cars I thought were crap & some cars I thought were spectacular. Thing is, there was pretty much always someone who thought the opposite which, in fact, makes barnfinds pretty cool.
I WOULD have wandered off by now. The rust buckets and genuine barn finds are interesting, to a point, but I will never own one and wouldn’t know what to do with it if I did. The next few weeks are a very inconvenient time for me to get another car, or I’d be looking at flights from Denver to Raleigh. I’d prefer analog instruments and push buttons for the air conditioning, but I know how good the engines and transmissions are in these.
I would like to have this and store it as a future collectible. Uncle had one with a moonroof and I always loved it. Drove great, comfortable, good gas mileage and stylish.
In my neighborhood it would be on a set of 22″ rims and donked by morning
Out of the three, I always liked the Olds 98 best, then the Cadillac deVilles, then the Electra.
But this a beautiful honest car at a fair price.
I was never a fan of digital dashes back then and less of one now.
I’m not a fan of digital dashes either, a downside in any car with one. But this car is a great buy and someone should do just that; buy it and enjoy.
Have a good look at the older cars that are still driving around. Yeah, there will be a lot of Camrys, Accords, etc., but when talking American iron, most of what I see are Buicks.
That speaks to a couple of things: the folks that bought them put fewer miles on them and took care of them. And, they were built for reliability.
I’m getting older, and there must be a unwritten rule that Buicks start to appeal to you because more and more I’m thinking of dumping the monthly car payments and picking up an older Buick as a DD. Especially a late 90’s Riviera.
I had an 87, going from a 77 Electra I expected it to be a downgrade. I was highly surprised. It was quite, dependable, rode great, and I loved the 30mpg highway. My current 4 cal SUV can’t match that. I put 244k on it before the transmission quite. This car is an awesome deal.
These were new when I was a kid. I rode in a few of them. It felt like riding in a Cadillac to me. They were nice cars then and have held up well in my opinion. I enjoy reading about cars like this on Barn Finds.
I briefly owned a used 1989 Buick Park Avenue. Purchased the car from a Buick dealer. Wasn’t long before the GM computer malfunctioned and the car wouldn’t go over 20 mph with the accelerator floored. Then the brakes failed completely so my wife backed into a parked car in our apartment lot. I learned my lesson to avoid used Buicks.
Did you end up buying it?? Do we know who did?? I have a dear friend wanting it badly and since the date of posting was in Oct ’18, we cant get to it. Its exactly what we’ve been looking for for him! Help, if you can, please. Thanks, Jenny