The Park Avenue replaced the Electra 225 as the Buick staple in 1991. It would hold that top spot for more than 20 years. The cars were roomy and dependable, and sources say it’s not uncommon to see hundreds of thousands of miles out of one when properly maintained. Located in Lady Lake, Florida, this nice example from 2000 has “just” 78,000 miles after 26 years and appears to want for nothing. It’s available here on craigslist and seems reasonably priced at $3,999. Thanks for the tip, Jack M.!
Second-generation Park Avenues were on the assembly line from 1997 to 2005. It was only offered as a comfortable G-platform 4-door sedan using front-wheel-drive and a transverse 3.8-liter V6 engine, which was fuel-injected and/or supercharged (but the latter doesn’t apply to the seller’s car). A 4-speed automatic transmission was standard fare. More than 47,000 of them rolled into dealer showrooms at the turn of the century.
A lot of these cars were sold to senior citizens, which may or may not explain its domicile in Florida. It has benefited from some recent work, including newer tires, a battery, a tune-up, a fuel pump, and perhaps a little more here and there. The seller says this vehicle is in showroom condition, which makes the seller’s asking price sound mighty attractive. So, you’re not likely to find any dents, dings, scratches, or scrapes, and we doubt the car has ever seen a speck of rust. If these cars are your cup of tea, you might have trouble finding one any better for the money.
Florida 🌴 🌞 🍊 special, and agree w you Dixon, seems a sweet deal for a Park Avenue
Hey, hey, you punks, get off my lawn,,a while back, some kids ran through our apt. complex ringing doorbells, at first, I shook my fist, but realized what a gold mine this place is for such activity. Now I”M the old fart, and this is exactly the kind of car that graces our parking lot. These are the cars that wifey drove the old man to the doctor when he could no longer drive. They didn’t go far, and I doubt ever went over 45mph, these are the cars holding up my Jeep. No shortage of cars like this, every estate sale has one, and this won’t last long. Heck, even I could afford it, but I’m not ready to cross that line just yet.
These, and the Grand Marquis, seemed to be the go-to vehicles for senior citizens. This example looks as one might expect: not high miles, good condition, white. And it’s cheap. They served their market handsomely.
I’m thinking about some friends, a senior citizen couple in their early 80’s. They recently replaced their 20+ year old Grand Marquis with…. some sort of Hyundai compact SUV. Is there anything in today’s new car market remotely like this Buick, something geared towards this market segment?
Can’t think of any modern contemporary vehicle unless you’re a well heeled senior and enjoy the frustration of an Audi 8 series or BMW 7 series….forget Mercedes S class.
The 3.8 v-6 was one of GMs best engines if this car wasn’t 3,000 miles away I would definitely check it out.
Gone, no surprise. A creampuff.
It’s gone.
Solid transportation at a very nice price for someone.
As the owner of a 1995 Park Ultra that I use as a local car/beater, you want to get these FWD GM C and H bodies from warm weather states like this because they have a tendency to rust right where the front subframe mounts to the body.
Mine only has just over 80k miles and looks great inside and out, but it was a New York City car, so I had to shore up my subframe mounting area. The mounting points were still thankfully solid , but it was rusting in that general area, which made me nervous. I believe I saved its life, because had it gone two or three more winters untreated, it would have been toast.
Finding a shop to do that can be very challenging and expensive. Thankfully, I found one that specializes in hoopties that did it pretty cheap. But you would usually have to live in a big city to find that kind of place. So you’re better off just buying one that’s rust free.
One of the best GM ever made.
Also, they came standard with a handicap parking placard.