1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate

No Reserve: 1996 Buick Roadmaster for sale on BaT Auctions - ending February 24 (Lot #99,336) | Bring a Trailer

 

Any thoughts on this one? I rather like that red interior. The seller mentions that the electric level control isn’t functioning. I’m hoping to purchase a 94-96 Roadmaster in the near future, so wondering what things to look out for.

 

I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find one that has better colors and options, it's even got heated seats. Definitely need to watch out for the door panels cracking and breaking like they all do (keep door hinges lubed, etc) and the window regulators use plastic rollers so they fail as well with use and age.

The black rubber trim looks to be in really great shape but be prepared for it to start turning grey if you let the car sit outside in the sun for any length of time.

The roof glass can leak as the seals get old, so watch out for that.

The radio, AC and heater controls all look to work and that's important because the dimmer for the AC controls runs through the radio and if one fails the illumination either fails in the other or the dimmer function doesn't work (full bright AC controls at night is a nuisance).

The automatic load leveling I suspect was disconnected because the load sensor circuitry has failed or the lines are leaky. GM used an arm and rotating lever assembly and they fail over the years, there are replacements but they are questionable on quality. The shocks (I believe) you can no longer get in the factory style of 2 different sized air fittings so you'd have to adapt what you can get, and all originals or NOS are going to leak at this age even if the seller claims they work perfectly. If you aren't hauling too much, just replace the shocks with quality heavy duty ones with helper springs and avoid the headaches and hassle.

I question "plug wires and distributor cap" because this an LT engine and they used an optispark, of which there is no reason to change if it isn't bad. And if they replaced it with a generic parts store replacement it is garbage or will be garbage within 15-20k miles. Seriously, the generic replacement optis are terrible and if they run right at all when you install them they don't last.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response, it’s very helpful. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one for the last day of its auction, although I suspect it will surpass my budget. Still useful information to have for future prospects, so thanks again.

 

Auction currently at $10,000 high bid with just under 24 hours left. If you want to watch the final countdown, tune in around 11:30 AM PST tomorrow, Friday.

 

Sold on 2/24/23 for $18,000

 

Seems like nice ones are 15k+ now.