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1998 Buick Park Avenue Base Sedan 4-door 3.8l With No Functioning Key on 2040-cars
Year:1998
Mileage:103000
Location:
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
|
It won’t start, it smells bad and it’s ugly. Now for the bad
parts- This is a two owner vehicle with about 103,000 miles on it.
When we bought it with about 84000 miles on it last year (previous owner was an
older lady), it had a known electrical glitch that eventually turned into a
known electrical Festival of Glitches. Which is why it won’t start. It has a
newish starter, alternator and battery. We have played “find the hidden current
draw” many times. Eventually we pulled fuses and relays at random (including the radio,
which was a POS anyway) until the worst of the glitches (the fact that the
battery would drain in about a day) was vanquished. Or at least moderated. Meanwhile,
my son showed the good sense to move far away, and during that time the key was
lost. A smooth $135 later, we have a key that unlocks the doors (or the ones that actually
open from the outside; two at this time), causes the dash to light up and that
turns in the ignition. Unfortunately, it doesn’t actually start the car. The
locksmith’s view is that there must be an electrical glitch that is preventing
the key from programming. Uh, yeah. He suggested that only the dealer could
help, although the overarching tone was “sucks to be you, man.” We did take it to a local mechanic, who made a couple of
stout runs at it. He eventually asked us to stop bringing it in, as it made him
sad. So, the key does everything but start the car. When turned
to “on,” there is an ominous electro-mechanical noise from the right rear wheel
well, which I presume to be related to the self-leveling suspension, if it has
a self-leveling suspension. I’m going with that because it’s less worrisome
than many other possible causes of the noise, and ascertaining more info about
the noise would necessitate opening the trunk. Which is full of water. We don’t
know why. Which probably has nothing to do with the fact that the
driver’s mirror fell off, or that the “twilight sentinel” auto headlight switch
sometimes turns the headlights on in the middle of the night, when the car is
turned off. Or that the driver’s
power window does not work. Or any of the other electrical devices that don’t
work. Which would be most of them. Amazingly, both power seats work, although the switches are
hanging on by their wires. This seems to be a GM design characteristic; I
noticed it a lot when I was looking for replacement door handles (two of which
don’t work, as has been noted) at the junkyard.
There are lots of these things at the junkyard. There’s
probably a Buick Park Avenue specific junkyard out there. When it did run, it actually ran okay. The motor was smooth
and didn’t leak anything and the transmission shifted gears appropriately.
Which is meaningless since it won’t start, so anybody bidding on it should
assume that not only will it not start, but if attempts are made to start it,
it will explode. Possibly blowing away the atmosphere and ending life as we
know it. Let’s manage expectations. It doesn’t look nearly as good as the pictures indicate
(we’re not even sure how those dents on the right rear door and rear fender got
there, but we suspect wayward snow-sledders were involved), and the pictures
cannot convey the overall grossness of the interior. Really, wear a hazmat suit
the first time you get into it. It’s not all torn up, but at some point the
teenage filth treatment overcame any desire we had to make it look reputable
inside. We cave (wet, muddy Arkansas caves), but one of us didn’t always change into clean clothes
afterwards. The teenage one who owns the Buick, in fact. Still, the most the junkyard will offer is $250 (if they
come get it). And that’s only because of the newish alternator, starter and
battery. And the fact that the tires are all the same brand and have lots of
tread. It’s a sad time when the state of the tires is a major determiner as to
a car’s value. Before he moved and lost the key, he thought he had it sold on Craigslist for $1000, but that person never returned. That said, for somebody with the time, tools and knowledge to fool
around with it (not to mention access to a trailer), it could be made into
cheap transportation. Cheap, ugly and possibly unreliable transportation, but
transportation. Or not. Really, it could just explode. |
Buick Park Avenue for Sale
1999 buick park avenue base sedan 4-door 3.8l(US $2,495.00)
2003 buick park avenue ultra sedan 4-door 3.8l
2002 buick park avenue 62k 1 ownr diamond edition rag roof lthr onstr cd garaged(US $5,700.00)
2003 buick
1999 buick park avenue ultra
One owner supercahrged sunroof leather heated seats low miles very clean(US $16,000.00)
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Auto blog
China-market Buick Envista rumored possible replacement for the Encore
Tue, Nov 15 2022Buick currently sells four crossovers, the Encore, Encore GX, Envision, and Enclave. That number will soon be whittled to three, the Encore expected to end production after this model year. If speculation provided by GM Authority is correct, there could be changes afoot in the middle of the line in time for the 2024 model year. Buick has said it will maintain four ICE-powered crossovers, so the brand will need something to fill the coming gap. GMA sources suggest the China-market Buick Envista could get the nod. Buick launched the coupe-esque model across the Pacific in August, a relation to the Chevrolet Seeker that appeared on the Chinese market in April. The Envista debuted the brand's latest design language inspired by pure-electric concepts like the Electra-X and WIldcat. Thin, angled headlights frame a wide, low grille, leading back to a roof that slopes into a high back and double spoilers. GM applied to trademark the Envista name in the U.S. in early 2019, then maintained it with extension requests until earlier this year. Then, in September 2022, the automaker abandoned the application, which could bode ill for whatever chance there was, if any. Another snag could be that the Envista is 182.5 inches long, 71.5 inches wide, and 61.6 inches high on a 106.3-inch wheelbase. Various reports have pitched the Envista to fill the (small) space between the Encore GX and the Envision; however, the Envista falls just 0.10 short of the Envision's length, and it's three inches smaller in every other dimension. On the other hand, the Envista is 11.1 inches longer and 0.1 inch wider than the Encore GX, with a wheelbase 4.1 inches longer. That makes a lot of overlap in the dimensional Venn diagram. Were the Envista to come as-is, it wouldn't so much be a replacement for the Encore as be a different kind of compact SUV from the Envision on a more modern platform. Further speculation from "sources familiar with the matter" says a U.S.-market Envista could get the Avenir treatment. Avenir marks the ultimate in Buick luxury, an appellation currently restricted to the Envision and Enclave. According to a separate report, the Encore GX is also headed into the Avenir club with the compact crossover gets refreshed for the 2024 model year. An Encore GX Avenir would adopt some exterior tweaks like 18-inch alloys, and turn a load of optional equipment available for the Encore GX Essence trim into standard equipment. Related video:
2025 Buick Enclave changes trim names and pricing
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Buick picks top 11 highlights from first 11 decades
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