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.
I quite agree. The 3.8 graced our ’95 P.A., followed by an ’01 Lesabre with the same. These engines were indeed smooth, quiet, and exceedingly thrifty. Us old farts will start having to really save money to afford these Buicks in the near future, considering what trash is already skyrocketing.
To top it off, we drive a ’12 Lacrosse. Nice of course, but at our advanced years we really do miss the roominess and vastly easier visibility of earlier sedans… especially those Buicks. Even my ’50 Commodore is more accommodating.
Gone, no surprise. A creampuff.
This posting has been deleted by its author.
Looks to be another Craig’s list Scam.
Not necessarily a scam. Usually means it sold and the seller did the right thing and deleted the ad.
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.
listing gone. i prefer the previous body style a bit better. they were not as bulbous looking. this looks like the owner went on to a better place and they left this behind as part of the estate.
Agreed – The 1996 Ultra was “peak Park Ave.” Very handsome cars versus these bulbous versions that had very cheap interiors. Same goes for the earlier (’92-’99) LeSabres.
The first generation is a very attractive car and aged very well, imo. This seems to be a consensus. My ’95 Ultra gets compliments everywhere it goes, which really surprised me and is pretty amazing for a $3,500 car I just bought to use in the winter and for short local trips.
The early cars are getting very hard to come by and you just don’t see them very often. I still see a lot of these second generation ones.
2010CayenneGTS – I have the same engine in my ’95 Olds 88 LSS, and it’s surprisingly quick for a very unassuming “grandpa car.” The SC 3800 is much rarer in the Olds models than in the Buicks, so I only drive it in nice weather.
Right after I bought mine, this came up on Facebook Marketplace. Of course it did. A very, very rare 1995 98 with the SC3800…
https://www.facebook.com/share/19V6JFaWVT/
I miss my ’96 Regency. That ’95 SC3800 Regency is probably even rarer than the LSS I have. Love the black over graphite leather. Looks like the prior years’ Touring Sedans. Sorry I missed this one too.
A friend of mine bought a 94 Park Avenue Ultra in 1996. It had the supercharged 3.8 V6. It was traded in to a Chevrolet dealer in Bergen County NJ for a Corvette, with roughly 30 thousand miles on it. I thought it was attractive – Polo Green, with the lower bodysides, interior, and the center caps on the alloy wheels done in tan. Sadly, he bought the car mostly for the snob appeal he felt it had, and didn’t appreciate the performance that the supercharged engine offered. I was surprised to find, though, that the front fenders were made of fiberglass, which became apparent when my friend, distracted, tapped the rear of a large tractor trailer truck that had stopped suddenly in front of him, and punctured a hole in one of the fender tops.
Along about 4 years later, he got stranded with a bad alternator at 70 thousand miles or so, and panicked. I guess the snob appeal had worn off, so he swiftly traded the car in for a new Century Limited. The dealer offered him pennies on the dollar for a trade in, but he was spooked by being stranded with the bad alternator, so he took the beating and drove off in the new Century. I was tempted to ask him if he’d sell the car to me for the trade in price he was getting, and frankly, he probably would have sold it to me for even less, because we were friends. It would have made a nice mate for my 94 Regal Custom that I bought brand new ( and still own today). But I didn’t have any room in my driveway for it, and didn’t relish the thought of parking it in the street, with visions of Long Island winters (and snowplows!) dancing in my head. So I let it slip through my fingers. Pity. It would have been an interesting car to have today. A wolf in sheep’s clothing…
That was a heck of a good deal for that car.
And the posting is gone. Surprise!
Very low price. Not surprised it’s sold. Best GM engine ever. Have owned 3 of them. 28 mpg all day long, simple to fix because hardly anything breaks.
My brother and his wife live in Lady Lake. It’s one of the communities in the huge (100,000) senior development named The Villages. It’s nice but 30 miles from anywhere
I can see a lot of VT/VX Holdens in these – particularly in the roof line.
The Holdens also had the same V6 engine (V8s were optional on some) although they were all rear wheel drive. A lot of commentators praise these 3800 V6 engines but in spite of their balance shaft they were quite harsh. To my mind the AlloyTech quad cam engines that replaced them were vastly superior.
Car Wizard approved.