Hey guys...ive been a really big fan of turbo buicks for a long time and have researched everything(ive read all the kirban books)on them.Up until now i havent had the financial resources to be able to afford one.Ive been considering other newer cars because of the fact that i do alot of driving.If i get a gn it has to be my daily driver because i cant afford to insure 2 cars.I know that gn's r better 2nd cars,but i was wondering if i could mabye get away with using it as a daily driver.A couple questions...how reliable r gns as a daily driver?Is it possible to do any mods that would really help reliability?....also how bad is the insurance?....if i get a gn i can probally do most of the work on it myself(have access to a lift etc.),but i was wondering if anyone knows if there is a good turbo buick mechanic in socal(ive herd of one called lou's auto)...thank you so much...
Looking to buy gn...please help!!
- Thread starter Stefndogg
- Start date
Until my wreck, I used my GN as a daily driver. I do suggest however that yo learn to work on it yourself as most mechanics will not no diddly about them. I bought a low mileage car to avoid having to do a lot of work a higher mileage car would need. I put 12k on my car in the first year of driving it everyday. I had no problems other than a transmission failure and that might not have happened if I didn't crank the boost and run alky everyday.
James
James
strikeeagle
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2001
I can't honestly recommend a GN as a daily driver, although lots of folks have piled up lots of miles on these cars.
The way I look at it, if you buy a nice, low miles one, piling a lot of miles on it will detract from its value. On the other hand, if you buy a high miles one, reliablity may be an issue.
I have collector's insurance on my TRs, so I'm not sure what you can expect to pay for a driver, but it may not be cheap.
Get a driver, and make the GN a Sunday car - make it a treat to drive...
The way I look at it, if you buy a nice, low miles one, piling a lot of miles on it will detract from its value. On the other hand, if you buy a high miles one, reliablity may be an issue.
I have collector's insurance on my TRs, so I'm not sure what you can expect to pay for a driver, but it may not be cheap.
Get a driver, and make the GN a Sunday car - make it a treat to drive...
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
First get ahold of some of the TR people in your area. Look on this and the other boards and you should find some. This is a good network to have. Most of the board and TR memebers are very good about helping current and future TR owners. Now for the good stuff. A GN makes a very daily good driver. I purchased one that needed a few minor things with a few door dings very cheap. With some cleaning and a few minor fixes the car has run beautiful. I has excellent power, excellent ride qualities, fairly good on gas and other than having to install a CD player, had all the creature comforts I want. It is a little noisy from the wind but I do not mind at all. Reliability is up there with any other vehicle I have owned. Other than regular oil changes and good gas I have had no problems. I did install a set of valve springs, a O2 sensor and plugs wires ignition module. This car has been so far very reliable. Even when my winter beater died I cranked the car with the ECM disconnected until it had oil pressure. Plugged in the ECM wire and drove the car out of the trailer in 15 degree weather.
Performance. My car has a hooker exhaust, K&N filter, 009 injectors a chip and a DIY alchy system. The car runs 12.80's in the heat and I have no problems getting 25.8 miles to the gallon and I would drive it anywhere today.
Reliable yes, A little expensive than other cars YES, Somtimes a pain when they break YES, Look on mustang dudes face after whoopin on him with my V6 daily driver? Prices less
Performance. My car has a hooker exhaust, K&N filter, 009 injectors a chip and a DIY alchy system. The car runs 12.80's in the heat and I have no problems getting 25.8 miles to the gallon and I would drive it anywhere today.
Reliable yes, A little expensive than other cars YES, Somtimes a pain when they break YES, Look on mustang dudes face after whoopin on him with my V6 daily driver? Prices less
JoeNational
Uh oh.. Look who got ALKY
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
I completely agree using a gn as a daily driver shouldn't be allowed in this contry i think it is just wrong, it depends on what state you get the insuarance mine isn't that bad because it is down as a v6 regal hehe so not bad at all, iam lucky if i put 20 miles on the gn in any given week. so get a daily driver than find a nice TR and than get it, but these cars are built very strong the if you beat on it expect things to break but if you baby it except it to last a very long time. just my 2 pennies.
thanks alot guys.....ya i was planning on keeping my current car as a daily driver but i know that i wont have the self control to not drive the gn at every chance...another thing i was wondering...does anyone make a chip to run on cali's 91 octane *hit gas or will some 91 with a bottle of octane booster suffice??Man i think im just gonna buy a $10k gn and keep it for weekends and for a coulple good street battles....bye the way how much $$ do u think it would take to beat a 600rwhp 03 cobra??....lol he has the fastest car in pasadena...i want to show him what a buick can do!
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Actually most insurance companies will see the vin7 engine and do classify the car differently for insurance reasons. My nice GN is insured with Grundy. I personally only carry liability with extra uninsured underinsured on all my other vehicles. I do this not because I am worried about wrecking but due to the idiot drivers out there. If your car is insured as a regular V6 regal then getting anything for it under the worst circumstances is going to be futile at best. I would talk to your insurance company about that if you have full coverage. If not then I would not worry about it. And I usually refrain from the following statements that I intend to make but in this case I will not. If and when you become chancellor of america and your Nazi views are actaully desired by the populace then I will only drive my GN on the weekends, at least until I can overthrow you. However at this point in time we still live in a free america and I can drive my vehicle anytime I want and that includes in the snow with salt on the roads. ( Oh my the humanity of it ). I purchased the second car as a daily driver with that in mind. Please try not to belittle people because they are proud of what they own or drive. If you choose not to drive yours then so be it. I do beleive though that the individual who asked the original question was looking for fact not a personal opinion. With that finished buying a low mileage GN at a reasonable 10K price tag should not be all that hard to do. You can do what I have done also which is to purchase a second daily driver. My winter beater is usually only driven in the muck and yuck but during spring and summer and fall I drive my daily driver GN everywhere. The only comlaint I have is it is usually very dirty after it rains. Really though, if you can stand a TR's little quirks, it does make an excellent daily driver or part time daily driver in your case.
JoeNational
Uh oh.. Look who got ALKY
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
Easy Fella!!!!
Understanding exactly what that person was asking and giving my answer but since you said it is a "Free America" i can and will give my opinon since i do love these cars with such a passion I do not feel that these cars should be driven every day since that is a form of abuse but that is how i feel and many others, but at the same time many others also feel they should drive the car everyday and hey thats fine i dont care enjoy the car.
Understanding exactly what that person was asking and giving my answer but since you said it is a "Free America" i can and will give my opinon since i do love these cars with such a passion I do not feel that these cars should be driven every day since that is a form of abuse but that is how i feel and many others, but at the same time many others also feel they should drive the car everyday and hey thats fine i dont care enjoy the car.
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
I am sorry then, it seemed like you were making it sound like I was the worst person in the world. You are correct it is an opinion and I beleive we all have ours and what ones maybe, may not be anothers. I do have a very nice GN that would never be allowed outside its garaged cocoon if it was not nice. I do however drive both as frequently as I can. My only complaint is my daily driver GN is a ttop car and they do make alot of noise. My 92 sunbird with 160000 miles is sometimes nicer to drive due to that. One of these days I will fix the windows and do away with the noise but for now I just love driving it.
Ya im not really worried about the insurance anymore....got a couple quotes from different companys....reasonable(reg. as a turbo regal..not a na v6)....ya im 100% sure that im gonna end up driving the gn daily...lol i dont have to worry about snow though thank god.
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Yeah just kepp up rubbing it in PAL!!! They do not do very good in the snow with BFG TA radials that are half bald.
Machinegun
In reply to the above posts on whether or not it is appropriate to drive a GN daily let me say:
As Machinegun's wife, he is absolutely anal at making sure both of his GN's are always top notch. Before we can go anywhere in one of these cars, it has to be washed, waxed, vacuumed, etc, etc. Right now I need to replace the breaks on my daily driver, but can one of the GN's sit out in the cold long enough for me to have the warm garage. I don't think so. I will have to lay in the snow and ice to do this project. As I am sure he would rather have me freeze than any part of the GN's. Although if there are any ladies on this forum, let me warn you. If you husband has a daily driver GN, he is very unlikely to come home soon after work because he is always out there on the road looking for the next
victim to challenge to a race (on the dragstrip of course).
Ha, Ha.
In reply to the above posts on whether or not it is appropriate to drive a GN daily let me say:
As Machinegun's wife, he is absolutely anal at making sure both of his GN's are always top notch. Before we can go anywhere in one of these cars, it has to be washed, waxed, vacuumed, etc, etc. Right now I need to replace the breaks on my daily driver, but can one of the GN's sit out in the cold long enough for me to have the warm garage. I don't think so. I will have to lay in the snow and ice to do this project. As I am sure he would rather have me freeze than any part of the GN's. Although if there are any ladies on this forum, let me warn you. If you husband has a daily driver GN, he is very unlikely to come home soon after work because he is always out there on the road looking for the next
victim to challenge to a race (on the dragstrip of course).
Ha, Ha.
JoeNational
Uh oh.. Look who got ALKY
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2003
Right i agree i loooooove to drive the gn right now iam fuming because of the wheather over here with all the ice and salt on the road its horrible , any chance i get i drive it even if its to the store the fact that i get out and drive that beast its the best.
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Yes they are the best to drive and the GN can be moved for daily cars to be worked on.
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
P.S. You are full of it and you know it. The keys are sitting there anytime you want to move it.
machinegun
Active Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
Alchy is your friend especailly with that 91 ethynol oxygenated crap they call gas.
JDSfastGN
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2001
properly tuned and run with out detonation these cars can be awesome daily drivers, but like most cars some last forever and others don't, we have an 86 GN with 150,000 miles that never lets us down and runs great, my dad drove his 85 GN to 280,000 miles, not rebuilding the motor or trans til 200,000, my 87 on the other hand has been through a few trannys and has always been finicky. I think its finally good to go, knock on wood, i have got it at school with me right now. I don't even want to drive my truck now
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