1994 isn’t quite at the 25-year mark as far as being considered generally safe to show on a “classic car” website without receiving several comments about it not being old enough, but this 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser S is so nice that I can’t help myself. This tip was sent in by Mike S. Thanks, Mike! This showroom gem is on Craigslist and it can be found here when the listing goes away. The seller is asking $4,450 which seems like a bargain – after you see the photos I think you’ll agree. It’s located in Milford, Ohio.
Ok, so maybe it’s not a showroom gem because it has 98,700 miles on it but by looking at the photos it could have 9,870 miles instead. And, maybe it’ll never be considered a “classic” in the official, defined sense of the term but maybe more in the loose sense of the term; like, “Dumb and Dumber is a classic!” This car is in amazing condition inside, outside, top, and bottom. Yes, there are a couple of underside photos and it looks as solid and rust-free as can be. These cars were literally everywhere a decade or two ago and now I never see them on the street anymore.
My only nit to pick is that the exterior photos, other than the first two overall shots, are all snippets. There are only two overall photos, otherwise they’re all zoomed-in detail shots. That’s great, details can make or break a car and they make this one look even nicer, but dang, let us see the whole car from all angles first and then include some detail photos. There are some parts of the car that aren’t shown at all, both inside and outside, which is strange. What is shown looks like new to me. If it wasn’t for the outdated lift-up door handles and some other styling cues like that there is no way that anyone could tell that this car was 24 years old.
The interior is the same way, important pieces like the front of the dash are totally cut out of the picture, literally. The dash top is shown and it looks great. A driver’s air bag and anti-lock brakes were both standard for 1994. The seats look great including the rear cargo area seat and cargo area, in general. The driver’s door controls look a little dirty, or is that a little wear by the power window controls? A cool detail that I never knew these cars had is a rear wing window.
This is GM’s famous 3100 – a 3.1L V6 which would have had a healthy 160 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque. These cars had some punch. This car is pretty much loaded and is most likely the nicest example of this car available. $4,450 doesn’t buy much in the 5-10 year old used car market, if I were looking for a used wagon this would be at the top of the list.
Well, I thought for sure I’d be in the cold, cold ground before cars like this were recognized as classics, but numerically speaking,,,I suppose. Good car, ( although, I bet it has at least one dash warning light on, nothing a piece of black tape won’t cure) plenty of miles left on this $1500 car, ( tops) but classic? We’ll see about that.
Rube, the black tape comment made my spit my drink out. I’ve (and numerous redneck friends) have done that so many times. And of course, those bulbs NEVER blow.
Yeah, like the ABS light ( get it? A-BS light) was on for most of the 170K miles on my Sonoma. It stopped just fine, and the black tape saved me hundreds of dollars. You can get away with that in N.Wis., but not in NY.
Nicely kept Olds from the non-descript malaise era of US domestic autos. $4450 is a little high. Thinking the hammer should call at around $3000
I miss the simple days of station wagons. Now we have everyone driving big SUVs around wasting gas. Lots of years of good driving in this car I would think.
Agreed … I miss the true wagons of the pre-SUV craze. So much more practical, and user-friendly than any SUV.
New low for cars featured on BF….ugh. Lol
Ha, it’s a new high, Rx7turboII, it’s a 1994! I’m proud to have been a part of the new low. (kidding) (I think)
I hear ya, though, we usually don’t show cars this “new”, even though 24 years is older than a decent percentage of our readers are. Vehicles usually have to have something going on, like being rare, unique, having an unusual configuration or unusual or “desirable” options, or it should be in great condition for a car that we used to see everywhere but now is rarely seen on the street, etc. This car meets most of those criteria, plus it was sent in by a reader who thought that it was important enough to show. Hopefully folks don’t think that every car shown here will be a mint-condition-but-dusty muscle car for $2,500.
I like the variety. Keep it all coming! I know someone who ran one of these to 400,000 miles before scrapping it (1 trans rebuild)
You need not defend yourself! “Variety is the spice of life”!!!!!! In sssssooooo many different facets………………….
This is not a classic. You buy this thing cheap, beat it like a rented mule and then dump it when it dies.
I fail to see the logic & reasoning behind the philosophy of “beat it like a rented mule”
Doesn’t matter if it’s an entry level Chevy, or a top end Roller; give it proper care, & maintenance and it will serve you well. There’s still plenty of Vegas, Pintos, etc that are still on the road as testament to the value of proper care
That’s true. Whoever had this car, clearly took care of it, and probably didn’t do anything, except oil, brakes, and tires. With the same care, you could double this mileage easy.
Ditto on the logic. My daily driver is a 2006 Accord exl/navi which I’ve owned from day 1…July 2006. It has 230,000 miles and can pull 30 mpg on the interstate at 75 mph. I have spent some real money on maintenance over the past 6 months. It is now a game to see how long it will go. 2 timing belts, new radiator, struts/front suspension work, 4 sets of tires, 56 oil changes, trans fluid….no rust.
The olds wagon would be a great driver and weekend workhorse…give it some love.
So true. My daily driver is a 2001 Olds Aurora, 4.0 with 99,000 and it’s mint inside and out.
I drove it’s older cousin – a 1986 Celebrity wagon from 205K to 377K with only basic maintenance. That thing was the most reliable vehicle I’ve owned in my 34 years of driving. Bought it for $100, replaced a bad ignition module and crossed plug wires the PO screwed up trying to diagnose the module and never looked back.
Damn thing was totalled twice by the insurance company, bought it back and kept driving it. Finally died at 377K when the 440-T4 transmission gave up the ghost. Sold the car for $350 to a guy who wanted the motor for his Fiero. Still ran great. Replaced the timing chain at around 250K but never had the valve covers off of it in the time I owned it.
Those cars of that model and era have been rather difficult to find in good condition and more expensive than one would think for some time now(at least if the seller is paying attention).
Lotta people that have automotive blinders on are rather out of touch on what is a “new classic” or whatever one may want to call them. This example definitely counts and I applaud barnfinds for posting it, it’s 20+ years old, hard to find, actively being sought out by enthusiasts, and in really good shape. Not to mention the fact that one can take a more traditional 60’s or 70’s car and pick up a year one catalog and restore the thing, not happening with one of these. Once it’s ragged out, it’s gone forever. These and many similar 80’s and 90’s cars are the same way.
There is an entire generation or two of people just reaching the point where they have interest, time and money to spend on old cars and they are redefining “classic” and car culture in a lot of ways. The whole “malaise”
thing and events like radwood and such aren’t a fad. I like a 67 Camaro as much as the next guy, but they aren’t what I grew up riding in or admiring in any practical sense. I think the new classic movement is driven more by nostalgia for the time rather than nostalgia for the qualities of the vehicles, yet at the same time most 80’s cars drive way better and are “modern enough” to be way more practical than something from the 60’s or early 70’s. Not to mention they are cheaper and many people just aren’t about spending a years pay on an old car, but are still into cars and car culture.
I’m not into a 2014 Honda Civic for example, but I wouldn’t be shocked if 30 years from now someone is, and I’ll remember how it was and tell em to rock on instead of saying “that’s not a classic that’s throwaway garbage yada yada yada”. It wouldn’t kill you guys to be big enough men to do the same.
I’m no fan of this car but agree with a lot of what you said. There should be a site that only features ’55-’71 cars with 2 doors, manual transmissions and big block V8s. Call it Elitist Finds or upturned.com or something
The term ‘classic car’ is very subjective, and also relational to the ‘viewers’ era. Today’s car nuts will want to own a car/cars that remind them of their youth .. such as a 1990s Oldsmobile Delta like their mom/dad drove, or the 2005 Honda Civic they drove to HS, much as we [and those that came before us] desired cars from our youth.
Its tough to wrap our brains around someone wanting a 2000-something Honda, Nissan, or Chevy Cobalt, but that’s what they grew up with
Some of the older guys will remember cars shows back in the ’70s and early ’80s where you couldn’t show a Mustang or a Chevelle. Cars from the 1960s were not allowed on the show field; not old enough, they were just used cars.
All you saw were original Model T’s and A’s, early brass cars, and the greats from the 1930s. You rarely see those original cars anymore, the guys who liked them are dead or they are too valuable to ride around in. Soon enough, you may not see as many 1950s and 1960s cars at a show because we’ll all be dead. You’ll see stuff from the ’80s and ’90s and so on as the years pass.
This Olds is a nice example of a 24 year old car that will , with care, probably be shown at shows in the very near future. Car folks like cars they had or wished they had when they were younger. When they get older and have extra money after the kids have moved out, they’ll look for the cars of their youth. It’s always been that way and probably always will.
My first wagon was a 1984 Olds Cutlass Ciera. It was only a few years old then and it was a very good car for me; I really liked it. It was the first car I purchased soon after I was married so I’m pretty fond of these Olds wagons; I’d love to have this one.
Thanks, dave! We may need to institute a Comment of the Day here, yours would get my vote!
I was getting worried that the gentleman who sent in the tip for this car and myself were the only two souls on the planet who are glad that cars like this in this condition are still around. I can’t speak for the site owners or the other writers, but for me these posts are about memories. It’s not about finding and buying an old car, although that does happen fairly often among the readers and.. cough.. the staff.. But, these old vehicles bring me back to the era when they were sold and I think about what my life was like, whether my parents were still around and what things were like in general at that time. That’s why I like cars from all eras. Most of the vehicles shown here were sent in by readers and a lot of times they don’t include a name so we don’t mention that they were sent in anonymously. 99 times out of 100 we show cars that are at least two or three decades old and the older I get, two or three decades is a good chunk of time that I wouldn’t mind having back.
And, thanks to everyone for your comments whether you like a particular vehicle or not. It’s nice to see that the overwhelming majority of folks have good online manners and aren’t saying off-color or controversial things or using cuss/swear words, etc. That happens on some other sites and forums and we’re proud of our readers for not going down that road.
I purchased a plain gray 1996 Cutlass Ciera Sedan with 71K for $1100 8/2016 with the idea of flipping it.
My wife likes it size, ride and drive. It now has 93K.
A co- worker of my wife was complaining about spending $1800 on a brake job on their BMW. My wife says “That’s $700 more than we paid for my car.”
We call it “Aunt Mable” after another co-worker said “Your Aunt Mable called looking for her car.”
Comment of the day? No, Scotty – I think you should put that comment in bold after every car that gets posted. dave said what I think a lot of us have been thinking about recent negativity to “non-classics” but couldn’t articulate nearly as well.
I’m ok with you speaking for this writer!! 😉
Perfect,well said Dave. There was the same skepticism about cars from the 60s and 70s by all the arm chair experts and elite motoring journalists of the time. Even at 10-12 years old I thought it was short sighted. Some 50s car rags I bought for 25c apiece in the 70s looked at cars from the 50s in the same vein.
I have an 86 Olds Calais that I first bought back in 94 with 21,000 miles on it. I just got it back from my brother, who got it from my parents and I have spent what some would call an insane amount of money on it. “Experts” claim it’s not worth anything.
Well, it is to me, because of what it means: my first “nice” car, people I love have cared for it, owned it and driven and enjoyed it. The low tech Iron Duke in it makes me laugh and gets good gas mileage. An 80s version of a 70s personal luxury car.
I enjoy it every time I get a chance to drive it and enjoy it’s looks, ride and handling. It will be taking a trip to Salt Lake City this spring or summer just for the fun of it.
As well: I never thought I’d see the day that new repro parts would be made for my 63 Valiant Signet, another car no one ever expected to be saved from the junkyard once it was all used up.
If one stops listening to the “experts” there is a lot of fun at a low entry price to be had with cars they disdain. And a large pool of them still.
This Olds would be ideal. As a matter of fact, I think I’d like to trade backward: give up my 05 for this.
My Father’s Oldsmobile, an 84 Ciera triggered my interest in GM and Olds in particular, so this would be the perfect carport companion to the Calais.
This or a $20,000 Cruze hatch ? No question where I’d be looking.
Rock On dave!
Maybe some appeal if you bought it from the original grandma, but it’s clearly being flipped. These were GM’s awful 1980’s cars finally made more reliable for the 90’s.
Had a ’92 Cutlass wagon – nearly identical. Drove the heck out it for seven years – great for hauling dogs with the back seat down. Only reason I quit driving it was that after a can of jelly carb cleaner spilled on the back floor, I could never get the smell out.
One of the best and most reliable cars I ever had.
g2, I agree. I had an ‘87 Cutlass Ciera wagon, four cylinder. I put 244,000 miles on it before she died. I donated the car to a charity and two weeks later saw it back on the road. I figure someone at the salvage yard put in a good, used engine and had themselves a good car.
This is why I like BFs… I am not a real fan of some of these yawn-mobiles like this wagon but I appreciate “survivors” and a lot of cars which went largely ignored by auto enthusiasts like us through the decades bring back fond memories because everyone knew someone who drove a Chevette, Prelude, Rabbit etc…so post a low mileage wagon like this and one of us, who have long forgotten these then, boring cars, will chuckle to ourselves about a nearly forgotten anecdote which involved a wagon like this. There are plenty of sites for highly desirable autos which are out of my price range. Having said that, I’ll pass on the wagon and wait for the next X-11 to get posted😎
Nice find. If the previous owner(s) took good care of that 3.1L V6 it should be good for at least another 100,000 miles. Those engines were bulletproof.
This is a clone of my 1993 Olds Cutlass Cruiser S, same color, same interior, same mileage. I paid $6,000.00 for mine in 2003 with 34,900 miles on it. I have done regularly scheduled oil changes, replaced tires, replaced batteries (cannot park it in the garage over the winter without the battery tender-battery will die every time), got the transmission rebuilt after a bearing failed, replaced the exhaust, and replaced the struts and shocks. I have driven locally and multiple road trips across the country. It is not a true classic, but it is a collector car. My kids can sell it when I’m dead because I love it and will never give it up. If I could get away with it, I would buy this wagon, too, but not for $4,450.00, that is a little high.
Think of it this way guys: For kids who have grown up in modern cars, this wagon is ancient to them (remember how when you were 10 years old a year seemed like an eternity and now at 43 a year goes by so fast?). Tell a 10 or 12 years old that a car is 25 years old and that seems old to them. But what’s more, wait until they get inside: You actually push REAL buttons and slide actual real life LEVERS to make things happen in this car! You can’t stream audio or even get XM radio! To young kids, these are weird/novelty points, just as an oil bath air cleaner was to someone my age when I was younger and just getting into old cars. I absolutely realize a 94 Ciera wagon doesn’t do much for most people, but I do feel they have a role in this hobby of ours.
Nice older wagon. I was given a ’94 Buick Roadmaster wagon a few years ago. It had high mileage and looked like crap, but ran well. Didn’t keep it long. A guy who had his own shop spotted it in my drive and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Later found out that he had bought it just to part it out. If I had known that I would’ve reconsidered the sale: but you know what they say about hindsight!
I think that we have all evolved a little bit here. Thanks to some that can communicate better than I. As a general rule, we are all gear heads that appreciate all things that are mobile.
Other things that our discussions do is to help broaden our collective knowledge about our interests. Example: I was an Oldsmobile service manager when these were new. I never had any interest in them and don’t really now. However I now remember that they never came in with any problems. Just for maintenance. So if a friend or neighbor asked about one of these for their college bound child. I would be happy to recommend one that has been checked over. Where as before it would not have been on my radar.
Thanks to all for their input!
Thank you Scotty and Dave. Among other stupid decisions made by GM was not persuing this product line in any division; Olds was selling 500,000 units a year with no advertising when the car was dropped.
It had 25 years for the styling to grow on me. It didn’t.
Someone took care of this one, would make a great $2500 car.
I owned three of these for my Wolfhounds…lost two to accidents and one to a trans…but bullet proof (except trans) and INCREDIBLE go anywhere in snow!
that would make me a nice little grocery getter around town
Scotty, You mentioned the rear vents on this gorgeous wagon. Those rear vents were only on the wagons with the 3rd row seating so they could get some fresh air. I too agree with you about it’s rarity these days. Considering how popular they were, they need to be appreciated today as much as any other vehicle.
JEFF….. Not to nit pick, but the headline reads “Custom Cruiser”, which this is NOT. The full sized Olds wagon is a “Custom Cruiser”. Down in the text it reads “Cutlass Cruiser”, which this car IS. I only read this listing because I’m fond of Oldsmobiles and wagons.
I had a 1972 Cutlass Vista Cruiser, 3 row, 455 4bbl, AT, copper inside and out, plus wood grain. Loved that car, moved like the air cleaner said…. a Rocket.
Did not know that you could get a jump seat in a Cutlass wagon this late. Thought that was a full size only sort of thing. This would be an ideal car for a second family driver. The factory alloys would be nice though, and you would not feel too guilty about altering from factory to boot. Score on both sides!
This posting blows me right out of the water and over the snowbanks! I have a 1992 with 65k miles that is just like the 3-seat 8-passenger wagon pictured above except it is a much lighter blue AND it has the Buick 3300 V6 instead of the Chevy 3100. Wonder if it is time to pull it out of storage after the snow melts???
Hey, John T. …. Be glad you don’t have the Chevy 3100! I worked on too many of those things. I am aware of a 3800 Buick, had one in a 90 LeSabre bought in ’99, never a problem. Didn’t know they had a 3300. Really?
Hey Charlie Gilg, Thank You for your comment. Yes I am glad that I do not have the Chevy 3100. The 3300 V6 REALLY is a Buick engine! For more information please refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldsmobile_Cutlass_Ciera
Somebody should buy a bunch of these for the $1000.00 they are worth right now and hold them for 20 years.
There seems to be interest in them, according to the posts here.
Oh how I hate those GM door mounted seat belts.
Yikes, I gave away the 4 door twin to this car about 3 months ago! Same color in and out. Mine was a 1996 with only 19,000 miles on it. I bought it from the New York City auction, it belonged to the “child services division” ran like new, cold A/C but I never used it and no one wanted to buy it so it sat for 10 years until I had to clean the driveway for a construction project. i posted it on the Cutlass Ciera Facebook page for free to anyone would restore it. A guy from West Virginia answered that he wanted to take it and he showed up with a trailer in Brooklyn and off it went. Maybe I should have asked $4000 for it.
OUCH! That Hurts!!! You must be kicking yourself that you did not try a classified Ad on BF. Sorry but even the $1000 that Amigo Miguel is suggesting is better than nothing.