26th Mar 2006, 21:35
I bought a 1988 skylark back in 1998 as my first car. I was a "custom", maroon with maroon interior, alloys, buckets, sunroof, auto on the floor, trunk rack an the awesome quad 4 engine. Being a guy driving this grocery getter I got made fun of. I loved this car though! I loved stomping people at red lights... this granny mobile was a screamer! Needless to say my close friends liked this car to. I miss it, is was reliable and I drove the crap out of it.. it had over 150k when I finally sold it.
3rd May 2007, 12:19
Sorry to intrude, but the 2.5 liter four cylinder in these cars is not the 'Quad Four' which was made in the early 1990s and I believe was an 'overhead cam' engine of 2.3 litres displacement. These have the 'Tech Four', a much better pushrod design - not as powerful as the Quad Four, but much more reliable as a result of being more 'low tech'.
I used to drive a taxi in a small town, and one of our cars was a 1984 Buick Century, also with this Tech Four, and it went well over 200,000 miles under heavy abuse.
20th May 2007, 14:58
I am a G.M. employee and own a 1988 Buick ruby red skylark. The car now has 170,000 miles on it. With the tech 4 engine that sounds like a diesel truck it still runs great. The body is really starting to rust out, and water is leaking in on the passenger side of car. I'm going to drive the car till it dies or I go first. I'm going to miss her.
10th Oct 2007, 15:09
I bought my 88 skylark back in may. it only has 49000 miles on it, but the moter has been rebuilt, only because the first owner never changed the oil. Athough its not a sports car like the other comments say, it is a very dependable, solid built car. I honestly think you could run it though a house and it wouldn't faze it.
3rd Dec 2007, 08:18
I own a 1988 Buick skylark "costume" It's a baby blue, with dark blue interior. My dad gave it to me in August of 2006, when I turned 16. it had 119,000 miles on it. I loved the little sport car, It looked more sporty than my granny's mustang. it has a v6 engine, I did have to replace the speedometor, and radio...duh...but, that is it... it is right now 12-3-07, my little car has 139,000 miles on it, and I have had no problems with it. due to the amount that a 17 yr old makes, I gonna drive it til it dies...
11th Sep 2009, 10:22
I got a 1988 Buick Skylark for my first car, and it is amazing. It is maroon 2 door with a tech 4 engine. Everything seems to still work except the trip, which has never worked. My friends love it, and oh did I mention I have a sweet system in it with a 12in sub. Ha ha I get that car thumping!
8th Mar 2010, 20:13
I just bought a 1988 Buick Skylark Custom with the Quad, 4 Auto. Nice little car. It has 164,000 and acts like it will run another 164,000. I was surprised at the power. I did some research and the Quad four was the first all USA built 4 cylinder engine designed after the offenhauser type block. It comes stock with 150 horse power. Ford and Chevy had to add turbos to there design to try and match the horsepower. They also used the engine with a pace car at Indianapolis one year, and had it boosted up to 250 horsepower. I have owned Corvettes and Cadillacs, this little car is as fun as they were. You just don't get the younger lady's with it. It's what we used to call a sleeper.
17th Mar 2010, 18:16
My wife bought the 1988 Buick Skylark 4-Tech in that year. It now has 104,000 miles. The only problem that developed 4 years ago and has not been corrected after multiple trips to the shop is when the AC is on --- it wants to cut out and stall. Otherwise, it is a great car until 100 degree weather strikes!
5th Feb 2006, 13:10
I have got a 1989 Skylark with a Quad 4. Having problems running replaced throttle body, fuel regulator valve,water coolant sensor. Still running extremely rough.