I set out to find a nice highway cruiser. Back and forth to BC will extend into October now, currently driving a 2007 Impala for this task. Nothing wrong with the Impy, but it’s as exciting as a bowl of All Bran.
I started looking for a nice LS Lexus. A 97 popped up through the dealer auction that was severely rusted underneath-up, then a nice 2006 LS 430 with 190k, thought it was a winner but it turned out to be a rebuilt title with a $38,000 hit in 2007. Scratch that as I wanted some resale possibilities (it was very nice looking though) It ended up selling for $5700 which I thought was too high for a rebuilt car.
So last week a 2011 Genesis 4.6 comes up. It had 108,000 km, clean carfax, and a strong 4.0 auction grade (grade is 1-5, a 4 is considered better than average with nothing more than minor wear or scratches). Wonderful Hyundai resale had me high bid at $6800, the seller came back wanting $8500 (traded in at a Lexus dealership) After looking online I figured at $8500 I couldn’t go wrong so I agreed to meet their reserve pending inspection (car was sold green light which means after sale inspection is mandatory and anything needing more than $750 to fix you can deny the deal or re-negotiate with the seller)
That’s where the deal went sideways. Car had a timing chain rattle (over $750) a rear main seal leak, and a noise at highway speeds from the rear diff. It was also noted the passenger power window was inoperable. Wow, guess that’s why it was traded off. The selling dealer decided to pull the car from the sale pending their own inspection and we went our own ways. I was bummed, that was a awful lot of car for under 10k and it sure is rare, and from what I’ve read, powerful and a nice drive.
So, what I ended up with is so completely different. It old, belonged to someone who was old, would only be purchased new by someone who was old, and considered the last dying gasp of a car that was basically obsolete even when new. But hey, it’s RWD, has a big V8, and eats up highway miles like nobody’s business. It won’t be any fun at all in the twistys, but whatever, I’m not in any hurry anyway.
If you’ve read this far I’m sure you’ve guessed it’s Domestic and a boat. Since I like GM’s this fits pretty well. It’s a 92 Roadmaster! The car has been extremely well looked after, body and interior in great shape. It’s the limited model, that includes the 16 way power seats and many other luxuries. It’s so isolated going down the road that it’s almost too quiet and smooth.
The big 350 moves it along adequately (unfortunately it’s not the Vette motor available from 94-on) and it shifts perfectly. At 120k it’s turning about 1900 rpm, so it should get decent fuel economy.
I’ll post more once I get it all cleaned up. Note the Uniroyal “nail guard” tires lol. It’ll be needing those replaced right away (they haven’t sold those since 2003). I can’t fault the mechanicals, I’d service it and drive to Florida without hesitation.
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