1976 Buick Electra Limited from North America - Comments

Let's see, I haven't had to replace a lot of the crap that has broke on the thing, but since I have owned it;

It had a bad vacuum leak from the hose going off the pcv valve to the from of the carb. 80 cents of hose fixed that.

The car has a valve lifter rattle at idle, but it is pretty quiet and will be fine for a while.

Brakes got really mushy and so I put a new Wagner master cylinder into it. Now they work great.

Cruise control broke. The vacuum system and electronics are working, but there is a plastic clip that holds the chain to the throttle and since its plastic it dried out and cracked. I haven't figured out a way to rig the thing, but it's an easy fix.

The blower motor stopped working due to a bad ground wire and 10amp fuse. That took about an hour and a buck for more fuses.

PCV valve went bad and let some oil into the air cleaner, cost like 3 bucks for a new PCV valve.

The exhaust pipes are riddled with tiny holes, it needs a new exhaust system. I'll run dual and get rid of the catalytic converter.

It needs a new heater core, but that's only like 30 bucks plus it'll only take about 30 minutes to do since the heater core is on the engine side of the firewall.

8-track player was intermittent, so I stored it and replaced all of the stereo and stereo wiring. I am now a stereo wiring master for this car.

Now, the guy I bought it from replaced the basic old car stuff like shocks, waterpump, battery, and alternator.

It is 19 feet 4 inches, 4709lbs, and has a 7.5L 455cid V8 built by Buick.

It's a great car, it has never left me stranded or quit running. During the winter it started right up every day. It doesn't get real cold around here, but I've read the same from other people from around the world and they also say in negative temperatures these things start right up.

The car has quite a bit of roadnoise just because its old and tar paper isn't as effective as the new microfibre crap they put into cars. With a little work and some Dynamat, I could get the thing pretty quiet inside though.

For a rear wheel drive car, I haven't had a real bad time with snow driving. It has a 3.23 positraction rear end, which is rare and kinda cool.

This car is ultra slow. It only has 205 horsepower, it makes a good amount of torque though. It is a detuned engine, but it has potential I guess. Disregard what you read from people on this site that say they race Japanese cars and win, I estimate that this car takes about 20 seconds for a quarter mile and probably about 8 or 9 seconds to get to 60.

It does have a great ride though, and the sheer size of the car is unlike any other. The only car that is bigger than this one is the 74-76 Fleetwood Brougham and the Fleetwood 75 limousine.

The only difference between this car and it's Cadillac brother (DeVille) is that the DeVille is quieter inside because it has more sound insulation. The DeVille weighs more too. However, I think the Buick is a better car, I have owned both. That Cadillac was even slower than my Buick is! HA!

The 4 door hardtop body style is really cool, putting all four windows down is like having two giant windows.

The trunk is pretty big, I have had 3 full size spares in there and there was lots of extra room still.

The driver seat is really worn on my car and is getting less comfortable, again they are much better than the leather seats I had in the Cadillac though. The fabric is holding up on the seats though, the interior looks great.

My only real problem with this car is the lack of speed and the road noise. If you want a quieter car, get a 75-76 Electra Park Avenue. I was looking for one, but there weren't any at the time of my search.

Get an old car like this if you want reliability. I'm pretty hard on this thing. I accelerate quickly, I turn sharp, and I love burnouts.

The car looks pretty mean at nighttime with the running lights on.

Despite the high mileage it keeps running and running, the engine is quiet on the inside of the car and idles smoothly. Keep an eye on the oil pressure though. The big block Buick engine family are known for having poor oil pressure.

Everyone likes riding in it because there is so much room in the car. Gas mileage isn't that bad with it either. I don't really pay attention to it, but it has a 27 gallon tank so fill ups are expensive, but I don't do a lot of driving so a tank of gas lasts quite a while. People are always like "why you drive that old gas guzzler, how can you afford to do that?" I'm like, "Leave me alone, I don't make a car payment, I own this crap, and my insurance payment is half of what yours is, PEACE"

Running costs on old cars like this is cheap despite what people say, people don't buy cars like this because of fuel economy. If you are commuting 50 miles a day, maybe its not the best, but if you aren't, you are safe, you are comfortable, and everyone looks at you. Remember, this car has no computers, you can fix anything that goes wrong with it, and most parts are really cheap, like under 50 bucks.

If you have any questions, midgee007@hotmail.com is my email feel free to ask, I don't mind.

Now its May 1st 2006, and the Buick is still as it was last year when I posted the review. All I have done to it since then is oil changes and new tires.

Great review. You tell 'em, man! I love the look of those mid 70's boats.

Yea, I totally support you for driving this old car and agree with all the reasons. Gas mileage savings are never going to pay for a new car, and these run pretty clean if you keep them tuned up and taken care of. No car payment, and thus the finance company doesn't make you buy the maximum insurance coverage for "their" car. Also agree on reliability--no computers breaking, no software crashing in the transmission, and no engine sludge problems that everybody seems to be talking about on new cars. Before I got my '85 Dodge truck, the newest car I ever owned (or still own) is a '73 Dodge, and I don't really see any good reason to get anything newer. This year I finally drove a car (2006 Impala) that rides more quietly and smoothly, but I doubt it would be more dependable, and it isn't so much more smooth to blow 25 grand on.

I'm about to purchase a 1976 Buick Limited. I got it for a reasonably low price. As a child, my parents used to own and drive a 1974 Buick Electra. That car was the smoothest machine I ever rode in! Such cars are so rare nowadays that I would usually look twice whenever I see one. I've always wanted to have that car ever since my parents got rid of it 25 years ago. Now I get the chance to own a piece of the last great American car.

Hey Buick Owner,

I just inherited a 76' 455/210hp 2 door Buick Electra Limited Red with the custom leather landau top from my great grandpa who took excellent care of it. I took it because it was a sentimental gift It even has a name that he named it (Josie), Its even got a CB Radio. I am absolutely in love with the car now and am looking for ways to fix it up. After I take it in to get things running in top shape of course. It had been in a shed since he died, when I got in it, it started right up and I drove it back to topeka kansas with me 4 and a half hours away on one tank of gas with NO PROBLEMS. You have listed some typical problems with these styles of cars. I was hoping you could share a little more info on what I can expect these cars to be weak on. Also, that fin towards the back side of the car on mine between that bumper guard and my taillight is missing... Got any good references on where I could find it? I'm not used to the older vehicles, I've had a 98 chevy 1500. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

1974 Buick Electra Limited Landau Coupe - Bought it on Ebay and drove it home to San Antonio from Long Island, NY. Almost made it all the way before a runaway alternator fried the ignition system! It is bright red with a white Landau roof and red velour interior. The odometer worked intermittently, but I figure it burned about 6 gallons an hour on the interstate! You can get replacements for the plastic and rubber parts for the rear fender extensions and the rear bumper fillers from a company in Georgia who reproduces them in fiberglass. Just enter what you want on EBay motors and their EBay online store will pop up with pictures of the items.