Other than normal wear and tear items:
Front wheel bearing.
U-joint snapped one day in -45 degree weather, this at over 240,000 miles.
Heater fan replaced at 254,000.
Rear main seal got bad at 268,000, so I did the valve covers, front main, front cover and replaced timing chain, head gasket, manifold gasket to save myself the trouble down the road.
Speedometer cable broke at 233,000.
Fan clutch radiator and thermostat yesterday.
Replaced entire brake system a year ago at 262,000 miles.
4 ball joints replaced at 199,000 miles.
Check Engine Light comes on and off as it pleases, this started the day Fuel companies made it mandatory to add ethanol to gasoline.
Wiper motor two years ago.
If you want a reliable car that's cheap to maintain, tough as nails and simple enough for the common man to work on, get a 1977-1990 Full Size GM car with a V8. I can't believe the way this thing has stood by me. It has never failed to start, EVER. I live near Tower, MN where it is not uncommon for the temperatures in the winter to drop under 50 below Zero. Sometimes my car and the '70 Ford F-250 Pickup 2 miles down the road are the only vehicles around for miles that will start without being garaged or plugged in. This Car was stripped to the bone and repainted 1 year before I bought it and still looks like a new car. I don't drive it when the roads have fresh salt on them, I like to keep it clean and shiny. The small underpowered motor makes this car a gutless pig, but you can't kill it. Someday thousands of years from now some Scientist is going to dig up an old Buick from a junkyard, turn the key, and drive away. :-)
I get criticised for driving an "old, ugly, unreliable, American gas hog", yet somehow my car mysteriously gets nearly 23 MPG on the highway at 75 MPH, while everyone else's 2 ton SUV's and Minivans are stopping to refuel every 250 miles.
The car handles well considering it's massive size and old age. It gives its passengers the illusion of being fast because the ride is so soft.
The A/C hasn't worked in nearly 10 years, but with the short summers up here it isn't that big of a deal. The almost instant heat in the winter makes up for it.
This car is nothing special, it's not that "pretty", has hardly any options even for its era, but at least you can tell someone was using their head when they designed it. I'd like to drive it through the door at some exec's office in Detroit and show them what a real car is. Maybe this will teach GM to stop slaughtering its reputation and wake up and smell the coffee.
I agree these were great cars. I have a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which is very similar. The 307 is a wonderful, reliable, long lasting motor. I don't even find it that underpowered.
I did have one question though - does your Buick have the four speed automatic with overdrive? I used to have a Delta 88 with that, and it got much better mileage as well as feeling better at high speeds than with my current three speed non-overdrive.
God bless the old GM B&D Bodies!
To the writer of the first comment: I am the author of the review and owner of the car. Yes it does have the 4-speed automatic. I was exaggerating a bit when I called it a gutless pig, But it does have a low axle ratio (2.73) which makes for
sluggish power off the line, but excellent mid to high rpm power and good highway fuel economy. I also owned a '78 Chevy Caprice a few years back, which was my true winter beater. This car had a Chevy 350 with the three speed TH350 transmission. This car sucked much more gas in town (about 14-16 MPG) but did almost as good at nearly the same speed on the highway as my Buick (21-22 MPG) with a 2.56 axle ratio. I believe a 307 has to work harder than the 350 to haul the same amount of weight, therefore the smaller motor really has no benefit. Had GM kept their 350s until these cars were fazed out and equipped them with the automatic overdrive, I think the highway mileage would be equal to the 307. My cousin has a fully restored '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme with a 403 V8, older eldlebrock carb and intake, and a TH700 R4 tranny from a newer Chevy pickup, and a 3.08 axle ratio. The car achieves nearly 23 MPG at 70 MPH on long trips.
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