1989 Buick Riviera review from North America

Touch screen unit CRT went out. I was still able to control everything, but I had to memorize where all of the buttons were.

Brake lines failed, but on a car with 200,000 miles, I can't say it was any fault of Buick's...

Automatic air-ride load-leveling suspension failed.

Fuel pump failed, which finally prompted me to send the ol' girl up the river.

I bought this car from a friend for $450 after I totalled my 1995 LeSabre and had no money to replace it. The car had been smashed before I bought it, and it had a lot of miles on it, but I needed a car, and it was a Buick. True to form, it was a great riding car, even after the air-ride suspension gave up, and the engine and transmission were bulletproof. The big problems stemmed from the fact that the car had nearly 200,000 miles on it when I bought it and had already been beaten into the ground, picked up, and beaten again. The all digital instrumentation and the touch-screen climate/radio/misc. controls were beyond futuristic for a 1989 car. I know that it could have truly been something special if it would have been in better condition, but I know that if I ever come across another Rivi' in good shape, I will have a very hard time walking away from it.