Posted by bandi It's even in retirement beige, with pension tan interior!

Yeah, this is kind of a old man car.But the good side of this, my insurance is going to cost me 305 $ . A year. Which is not very expensive.

there are rules to this powertrain... be very sure to warm the engine before driving it. Firing it up and beating on it cold will hasten the head gasket/intake gasket demise. Around town, in the city, selector should be in (D), not (OD)... this keeps the tranny slip to a minimum. For highway use, sustain speeds over 45mph, OD is fine. However, even in Drive, the torque converter is still programmed to lock up. If you smoke, try not to in this car, or at least have the windows down a bit. Ask Shael about smoke and Regal (Regal is the step above the Century... it had the 3800V6).

Make sure that the transmission fluid is still reasonably red. Brown means it needs a service. That's not terribly expensive at all. This car use 4T60E 4speed which is more or less a re-engineered, electronically controlled, heavier duty TH125 that has been in production since 1978. Filters at very reasonably priced for this transmission.

For oil, this is where you'll get 99 different opinions, which are all valid considering this board. We all are very knowledgeable in our fields, even Nismo when he's not being a troll. For the 3100 V6, I prefer a high quality 10W-30 or 40... i usually run Valvoline Max Life. For filters, again, opinions abound... I prefer the K&N Hi-Performance (HP1001) and I run a K&N air filter as well. It's a good idea no that you have the car to change the fuel filter right off the git-go. Saves trouble down the road, if you'll pardon the pun. A Delco replacement is perfectly acceptable.

If you want to do anything to the car, believe it or not there are spoilers for these cars and the GS and GS/SC had a pretty agressive front clip (especially for a Buick). For aluminum wheels, W-Body GM will fit... That means wheels from a Lumina, Monte Carlo, Impala, Grand Prix and the up-level Regal will fit.

All in all, sensible choice and a good first car. Good luck to you and I wish you well with your purchase.

Hey man, thanks for the info !

That's really appreciated

Posted by vince Hey man, thanks for the info ! That's really appreciated

i forgot to add... pay attention to your temperature gage. if it starts to flutter about, and you lose heat, there are two possibles. One, the radiator cap is no good. Or one of the gaskets has failed and you are losing coolant. Generally, when a head gasket fails on the 3100/3400, it dumps outside the block, saving you the hell of eating the crank out of the engine. It also gives a little cushion of time to set up the replacement of the gasket. I believe it's 8-9 hours by the book, and the whole gasket kit, plus replacement bolts is about $290.00 US. (the 3100/3400 use stretch bolts and have to be replaced when doing a head gasket). The replacement gasket kit is supposed to be of an improved design so that you won't have to do it again.

I went through hell with my Monte Carlo trying to diagnose the problem. I was losing coolant, but not in the oil... as it turned out, after replacing the intake gasket, I pressure tested the cooling system and found the head gasket was leaking. I traded the car for a Beretta... the guy is still driving the Monte and hasn't changed out the head gaskets amazingly enough and that car now has 200,000 miles on it.

Also, basic rules apply... it's good to check your oil at least once a week, coolant at least once a week. Don't be a stranger to under your hood and learn all you can about your car. Buy a GM shop manual, or at the very least, a CHILTONS manual... forget about those Haynes manuals. They're good for a thrown weapon, that's about it.

Happy motoring.