I wish I could say that I have never seen snow, and that’s what the seller of this wagon says in their ad. This one has been stored during the winter and never driven on salty roads. This beautiful 1990 Buick Estate Wagon can be found posted here on craigslist in Litchfield, Ohio, and the seller is asking $10,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
This is one beautiful wagon. I do see some exterior issues, like the woodgrain is flaking off around the rear wheel wells on both sides, and something is happening on or under the trim in front of the rear wheel above. I don’t know if that’s rust, as the seller says this car has never been driven in the snow. That may just be a shadow of the right rear tire, now that I see a close-up view of that area.
GM downsized the Estate Wagon along with most of their lineup for the 1977 model year, and they made this version until the 1990 model year. I believe this is Mist Blue Metallic, but it’s hard to tell from this 1990 Buick color brochure, with three similar blue colors. I tweaked the contrast on the right side of the color chart a bit, to get this image, showing the shaded area for Mist Blue Metallic. Pages 38 through 40 of this brochure show the 1990 Estate Wagon.
Beautiful “rich woven velour upholstery” waits for the next owner, and it all looks nice inside. The seller says this car has been owned by the last owner for 28 years, has always been garaged, and never driven in the winter, as mentioned. They do say that there is a new headliner. The back seat looks as nice as expected, and there is even a vinyl third row seat that disappears into the cargo floor.
The engine is a V8, and that’s all we know from the listing. The standard engine for the 1990 Buick Estate Wagon was a 307-cu.in. OHV V8 with 140 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque when new, according to page 44 of the brochure. Backed by an automatic sending power to the rear wheels, the seller doesn’t say how it runs, but I’d have to guess that things work as great as they look. Have any of you owned an Estate Wagon of this era?
Owned 4 between 77 and 90. Great cars, underpowered, but did the job. They kept going even when tired, as this one is, and weren’t noted for rust problems. However the accessories wore out quickly, and it has a weird brake booster system and climate control panel, both of which were trouble.
That has to be coming up on 200k miles as the driver’s seat is either worn or filthy.
Rear air suspension sagged, so likely not working, power antenna the same, front and rear bumper fillers need help and fix the wood grain .
As it sits $4-5K would be all the money.
Loved this car in diesel.Bought a bunch off the dealer trade in lots. just really nice ride and with it set up right they ran as good or better than the gassers
I’d say that’s the Maui Blue Metallic. I had a 1987 Estate. It was slow and burned a little oil. I liked it but my wife thought a minivan would be “cooler.” She was forced to drive wagons growing up, and I guess she never got over it.
Poppy, I was 100% with you, that’s what I thought! But if you look at the link to the “revised” color chart that I put in the third paragraph (the same one I attached here), the only light blue available for the Estate Wagon was Mist Blue, the filled-in rectangle under the Estate Wagon line on the color chart.
Ah, I didn’t notice that part. Was GM still allowing special order paint colors in the ’90s? I guess only the trim tag will tell us for sure.
Can i get a link to the paint chart.
I had an ’88 Caprice Estate, and it burned a LOT of oil! LOL!
Yes, mine used about a quart between fill ups. Never could figure it out. Didn’t leak, didn’t smoke appreciably. Changed the valve stem seals and it didn’t make any difference. Not a ton of miles either.
Knew a pal who had a blue estate wagon no wood, and he put full duals on it later in life. The car ran well. That wagon later brought us to the road master wagon
Back in the early 90s I had a ’81 Olds 98 Regency. It’d been converted from diesel to a ’73 455. Along the way I came across a set of nice rims like those on this wagon. So I bought them & ordered the Olds center caps. Quite a nice dress-up with these rims & blackwalls over wire caps & whitewalls on a dark green car.
This car needs some work & the price is a little high. Interesting option of twilight sentinel.
I had one back in the 90’s. Great smooth ride, plenty of room for the family. But boy, what a gas guzzler. I couldn’t afford it today as a daily driver.
Vertical Oil Fill Tube at the front of the motor indicates Oldsmobile V-8.
Other GM Divisions of this era filled oil thru the valve covers.
I had an earlier year one and loved it. My wife and I used to show dogs and the beauty of these is that you could fit two full sized dog crates side by side in the back (I know…where else?). We would use our motor home for overnighters and the Buick for in-town shows. What a cruiser! I really liked the squared off look of these, unlike the later generation curvy-wurvy ones.
This is the car from the movie, Adventures in Babysitting.
nice 5k Buick. how do we know it has not been in the snow? says you. that really does not go far.
Had an 82 version of this, in a darker blue (with Jade interior). My oldest son was learning to drive in this car, with my wife and her mother with him. He tried to take a RH turn onto a street at about 35mph. Lesson one – he never forgot. Neither has my wife or mother-in-law. Good thing it was a square box, not the later “curvy-wurvy” style (thanks, Czech Dude!) or it might have gone over like a turtle on its back.
I utterly HATED that curved bloat-mobile “beached whale” style from ’91 to ’96. This is the last of the crisp, pretty and downsized 1977 style, which I loved. But, reading of all the problems and burning oil on these: this is a must to avoid, for me. FIRST requirement on any ride that I would consider buying: is it reliable and nearly trouble-free? As for not having seen snow: that is all very well and good; but what I would prefer to know is, has its lighters and ashtrays ever seen cigarettes? Tell me if it’s SMOKE-free (sellers almost never specify that, for some reason). I agree: this car is well-worn and “tired” — it is in the twilght of its life, and therefore not a particularly good investment as a practical daily driver. Why would you buy a car about to enter the point when the more expwnsive repairs begin to mount and compound? MISS me with this one!
Dad had an 87 Pontiac Parisienne wagon. it was about the same color as that one. The back bumper fell off as it had an aluminum reinforcement that rotted out. And a gutless V8. He liked it because he could put a 4×8 sheet of plywood in the back.
Listing update: the seller must have sold this wagon; the listing was removed.