This white over burgundy leather, two-door personal luxury car is 16.5 feet long, a far cry from the almost 19 feet in length of Riveras 15 years prior to this 1989 version. Nonetheless, it was at the time a very nice car meant to coddle the driver and passengers. The seller has this 1989 Buick Riviera posted here on craigslist in Orono, Minnesota, and they’re asking $4,000. Here is the original listing.
I’ve always liked the size of GM’s E-body cars from this era. The seventh-generation Riviera was made between model years 1986 and 1993, and as with all Rivieras, it came in a two-door body style. I was wondering what a four-door Riviera sedan from 1989 might have looked like… Or, maybe a convertible? GM did offer a convertible in the previous generation Riviera.
The seller says this is an original owner car, and it sounds like they’re that owner. It isn’t a low-mile example, having traveled 144,000 miles over the last 36 years. That’s an average of only 4,000 miles a year, so I’m hoping this one wasn’t driven in the winter, since it’s a Minnesota car. They do acknowledge that “it’s very clean and little rust”, but I don’t see any rust in the photos.
This car has never been in an accident, according to the seller, and I don’t see a flaw on the exterior at all, do you? The interior is showing some of those 144,000 miles in some heavy wrinkles in the deep red leather seating surfaces in front, along with the steering wheel cover. Maybe that’s just a comfort touch rather than hiding any fading or cracking. The trunk compartment looks like new, other than some dirt or a light stain on the right side of the carpet.
The engine looks like more red leather, as unfortunately, the seller didn’t pop the hood to show us the engine compartment. This one should have Buick’s 3.8-liter OHV transverse-mounted V6 with 165 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque. It sends that power through a Turbo-Hydramatic 440-T4 four-speed automatic to the front wheels, and they say it’s almost like new, but mention that the headliner needs help, the CRT screen isn’t working, and it needs a muffler. They also say it hasn’t been driven in years and has a musty smell. This is an unusual one with both good and bad points. Is the $4,000 asking price enough of an incentive to get you to take a chance on this Riviera?
That 4door needs the opera window 🪟 The convertible looks sharp 👌 SG
Cool renditions Scotty. Your drop top has a strong family resemblance to the white Riviera convertible thats been posted on here This one looks clean. And for what seems to be a fair price too.
The 1989 Riviera Graphic Control Center is pretty much not shown in the provided photos. It is the touch screen affair in the center of the dashboard for things such as temperature settings and radio/sound, which pretty much necessitated taking eyes off the road to change things. Badged High Tech at the time, GM apparently thought it would be GEE WHIZZ! Instead, unless one had a passenger to be the co-pilot, it meant pulling off to the side of the road to make adjustments.
That info system was far better than the BS screens of the last 10 years. This could be a very good value. Great styling, seems well kept, but you gotta love red!
Good luck!
OK, The Graphic Control Center is like a miniature ATM screen of the day, and if I’m not mistaken it is the same one as that of the Buick Reatta, but if/when the screen went out it was so expensive to replace (and it controlled almost every function for the car) that for 1990 Buick moved many of the functions back up on the digital dash and had a more conventional stereo control set-up also – but the 1988-1989 years had what was an authentic touch screen VRT, which was quite advanced for the day, back when ATMs were still relatively new, and it was a lot of fun to monkey with while you were driving, like you were a hot shot jet pilot or something. It also had regular push buttons around the edges for different screens (a/c, stereo, engine, etc.).
Now to the present day. There is a Reatta parts specialist by the name of East Coast Reatta parts, and as I recall, he sells a refurbished VRT terminal at modern/lower prices, so it needn’t be the budget-buster that it would otherwise have been in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s. He also stocks lots of other parts that are common to both the Reatta and the Rivera and he periodically makes parts “delivery loop” runs to different regions for bigger parts like seats, etc., when he gets enough customer orders for various pieces to justify the trip.
Had a ’92 Riviera. Nice car. Smooth and comfortable even for a taller driver. Good to for about 20-22 mpg. Digital I/P but no CRT which was okay with me. Got to play around in a first year Reatta that had the screen. Real fiddly affair. My office partner drove. I was bored with the controls in pretty short order.
There is a reason the Riviera didn’t come in a 4 door. If you wanted a 4 door, you got a LeSabre or Century. We did not need a 4 door Riviera, just like we didn’t need a 4 door Corvette, or Firebird or Mustang (even though the idiots at Ford did put the Mustang name on a 4 door EV.) Seems like, in addition to the “save the stick shift” campaign, we need a “save the coupes” movement. 4 doors have their place, but IMO, all truly beautiful cars are 2 doors.
And there it is. As I thought, it was trapped in the filter, probably because the word “idiot” snagged it.
For the record, when I make a Photoshop version, whether it’s a four-door from a two-door or a two-door from a four-door, it isn’t because I think it’s needed or beautiful, it’s just for something to ponder, as in, what if? Don’t take this too seriously, sir, it’s just a car website for the fun of it.
nice cars but the electronics are very problematic and hard to find parts for
The dead CRT screen is kind of a big deal. HVAC and stereo functions can’t be accessed any other way. I found a few CRT units on eBay, but is the CRT the issue, or the electronics that drive it the problem? There can’t be many people around who can diagnose issues with this system.
BTW… the CRT wasn’t like the capacitive touch-sensitive screens so common today. It operated via a grid of infrared lights opposite infrared sensors. When one horizontal beam and one vertical beam were interrupted at the same time, it was interpreted as a “click.”
CRT problematic? Exactly! That was the very reason I bought a 1990 Riv, instead of 86-88.
Apparently Barn Finds is becoming more like BAT every day. I can somewhat understand deleting posts deemed critical on cars being auctioned here, but now my comments about my opinion on 4 doors versus 2 doors on a car listed on Craigs List?? Only comments that concur with the author are allowed?
What? I haven’t deleted any comments in literally years. That’s a pretty sad accusation, my friend, blaming your missing comments on me. Maybe they’re stuck in the filter somewhere. I’ll take a look.
Scott, I had posted a comment yesterday that was showing. This morning it was not. I even refreshed my screen and cleared cache, but it did not show up. Now, both my original comment from yesterday and my comment about it being deleted are showing. Not sure what happened, but I did have a previous comment on a car being auctioned here deleted. It wasn’t a personal attack, profane or political, but it was deleted. The author on that one contacted me and said it was deemed to be degrading the car up for auction. Sorry if you didn’t actually delete my earlier comment, but it disappeared for several hours before coming back. I hope BF stays a place where we can have respectful discussions without being moderated out.
It was most likely the cache. Sometimes it takes a while to clear. It would have even been your browser showing the older version. Try holding shift and clicking refresh next time.
Scotty, your 4 door version , to me, was somewhat similar to a Chrysler 5th. Ave. without the rear side window. The windshield rake is similar to an Allante. In the newer craigslist, there is a pic of the motor. I was just out in that area in Mound, buying some bi-fold doors. There’s an putfit out east that fixes those screens, but the website says if they’re still functioning, that’s the time to get them fixed. I like the newer set-up with the eq radio /cassette and remote cd player below. Also the newer airbag steering wheel unless you can swap in a T-type sport weheel. Can’t back space againg to correct typing mistakes.
JR – Maybe check the Reatta Owners Club site/blog, etc. for intel on that screen unit refurb/replacement.
The seller claims to have a ’97 Riv that they will throw into the deal for an extra 3K. I would like to see that one – it may be worth the 3K by itself.
I found the ’97 he has for sale. He wants 4K for it, but at 175K miles and a white one with horrible black wheels, I would keep looking.
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/cto/d/rockford-buick-riviera-1997/7866934918.html
Honest car
Melanites – How do you know the car wasn’t used as a getaway car in the past during a robbery, which is why it’s been in storage (“hiding”) for years, in which case it’s a DIShonest car!
Let me guess your favorite t.v. show – “My Mother The Car.”
AmIright?