2004 Buick Park Avenue review from North America

Thus far I have had, but one small problem with an electric door lock switch, however it was replaced immediately by the dealer. I had a similar failure twice with the 1999 Park Avenue I still also own. It would seem that after that period of time it would have been redesigned to fix the problem. This is small potatoes however, and it is the only one I have experienced with the 2005.

My 2005 is the fifth Buick Park Avenue I have owned (1985, 1988, 1994, 1999 and now 2005). When I heard that 2005 was to be the last model year for this magnificent car I just had to have another before the model disappeared from the line up.

All five Parks have been the most reliable and comfortable vehicles I have ever owned. Where else can you find this combination of comfort, features, handling and fuel economy? Sure, you can find many cars that get more than 32 MPG on the highway, but none with the comfort and room of the Park. Comfort I would never trade for a few more MPG.

All five have provided 29 - 31 MPG on the long road trips and 21 in the city. I can drive the Park all day on a long trip without getting fatigued and with the mileage and tank size we need to fuel only every 450 to 500 miles. The Park requires no effort to guide it down the highway as it seems to know the way. I do however highly recommend the optional Touring Package as the stiffer suspension adds greatly to the stability in turns with only a slight increase in ‘road bumps’ and the package adds wider high performance grade tires.

I have had only one major repair bill with any of the five, a transmission overhaul at 123,000 miles on the 1994 model. Other than that never a head off an engine or any other major component replaced. The 1995 Park was given to a daughter at 138,000 miles and she continued to drive it in college until traded for a new vehicle at 169,000+ miles, still with no major repairs or problems. Maintenance costs have been limited to tires, belts, hoses, shocks and exhaust parts.

None of them have ever used oil (Valvoline 10-30 always changed at 4000 miles) even toward the end ownership for the first three, typically around 135,000 or more miles. The GM 3.8L V6 standard in the Park is destined to be a classic akin to the legendary Chevy 283 V8 of the 1950-1960 era. It is rugged and reliable and with all the new monitoring and control provided by the on-board computers, goes for years without a tune-up. The 1999 Park we still have has 89,000 miles on it and runs as good as the day it came off the show room floor. I’ll probably have to go for its’ first tune up next year some time.