1997 Buick Riviera supercharged review from North America

Well, its been in one major accident head-on (previous owner) and it still handles remarkably, BUT>>>

1. Security system is total flop, rain dripping on or moisture collecting in ill-tempered sensors causes system to go off at all hours, key is not being read constantly so I may have to wait an extra 15 min to start it AND it has totaly cut out on me at 60mph AND steering and brakes failed coincidedly causing a near death situation.

2. Brakes... decent enough, but not right for a car of its size.

3.That's it! very few problems event though its been totaled once and had countless owners.. then again I have babied it..

Love it! beautiful car all around, gorgous interior refinments reminicent of the 60s models of rivieras, plush interior, but seats are back-breaking (though heated and well adjustable) It's a pure shame this model has been dropped or else id own a newer one.

Great sleeper car, very responsive to performance mods and your buddies VTECH or Type-R won't know what hit em'. Great performance forumn niche, the Aussies love these motors too...

Buicks always combined luxury, performance, and reliability and this is what you get.. if you can stand the few electrical bugs here and there... overall the fastest and (almost) most fun car I've had out of all 9 of my previous makes.. Love that l67 motor, it's a race-car motor driving the wrong wheels... damn you FWD.

Gas mileage is decent depending on driving habits, great car to be seen in even if you're a 20yr old kid..lol..Grandpas grocerey getter with balls.

My complaints... first off, Wrong damn wheels!! needed RWD for a number of reasons... not just smokey burnouts, but for room, car could have been made a little smaller up front and easier to work on, also, had it been RWD it could have taken advantage of the f-bodys 4l60e transmission, THE WORST PART OF THIS WONDERFULL MACHINE IS THE TRANNY!!! I can't stress how much I hate the auto in this car, it shifts sloppy, hard to wake on cold mornings, not well suited to 240+ hp 280+trq, it strains this otherwise perfect engine, it gets the job done, but don't count on it lasting long even if you're not a boost-head like me, should have offered a Manual, but its buick so whatd you expect..lol.

I would recommend this car to anyone, family man and performance minded kid alike, but look hard at the one you find, and check for things in high-mileage cars like.

1.transmission fluid color, smell and transmission shifts, if they strain into overdrive or fall hard back into 3rd after slowing from highway speeds the trannys on its way out.

2. supercharger noise... itl sound like its grinding rocks if its got a cold-air and itl make a high-pitched whine when active, but any other noise than that and it may have bearing problems, always ask when the oil in the blower was changed last, and listen to the belt tensioner for the blower, they are a bit shoddy too.

All in all a wonderfull, but semi-expensive car, overall very enjoyable and a joy to own, take care of it if its low-miles and 2nd owner, its the last of a proud mark!