Normal wear and tear. With the exception of a wheel cylinder bursting 100 miles from home, the car has never had any major problems.
This is the 7th full size Chevy I have owned. It is a part of a dynasty that includes a 78 4dr. Impala, a 78 Impala wagon, a 79 Impala wagon, an 83 Caprice wagon, a 72 Impala 4dr hardtop, and 78 4 dr Caprice.
I bought the car from my brother for $200 6 months after he bought it for $200. The black paint was badly cracked from sitting in the scorching NJ sun and humidity. Other than that the car looked like a 210,000 mile car. Used, but not badly abused.
I chose to remove the original (and still running) 305 and 700R-4 transmission to replace them with a 350/TH350 combo.
At that time, I also installed a gauge cluster (with tachometer), dual Flowmaster exhaust and Corvette Rally wheels.
I can't leave well enough alone, so I also installed an oversize alternator (for headlight brightness), a transmission cooler, an oversize radiator a performance carb and did a few other tricks to the car that I'm not willing to share. Oh yeah, I also shaved a few pounds off the car when the emissions system was mysteriously misplaced at engine-swap time.
The old battle wagon is for sale minus its engine and transmission for the right price. If it doesn't sell, I have my eye on a rusty old 4x4 Silverado that would make an excellent mate that just happens to have the same wheelbase as the Caprice. Do you remember Stompers from your childhood?
Geez dude you ever drive anything that's NOT at least 20 years old?
Leave the guy alone. Old cars are fun. Beats the same common generic SUVs and Tauruses you see on every corner.
The last sentence of the review pretty well sums it up.
These old cars are just big toys.
To the guys first comment age has nothing to do with a car being a good car, however there are people that feel they need a new car so that they are socially accepted in the "money world". a person makes the car,the car does not make the person.
So, take that, all you people who DON'T drive old cars: you are just trying to be "socially accepted in the money world".
Whatever that means.
Looks like someone with a new car got offended!
I recently bought a 1985 caprice and I am facing the same problem the "money people"; my friends have Mercedes and Golf and BMW the newest and they're making fun of my old car, although I could have bought a new car, but I didn't because I'm 6 feet 8, and I can't fit, plus all the good things everyone said about their reliability and performance and the fact that it's very spacious. but I didn't buy it for 200$, I bought it for 1400$, and I installed a 1400$ sound system in it, with a DVD and TV and 15" woofer and an amplifier with 2 50-watts speakers in the back. now everyone is envying me for what I got. I still have some problems, the back glass leeks when it rains, and the drive side window keeps coming off the track, other than that, it's a problem of a parking spot and gas money.
I would be offended by a big monthly new car payment with little or no equity in order to be accepted... or a trapped lease with no residual.
I have an '87 Caprice Landau and wouldn't trade it on a new Impala. As long as the car is in good shape and presentable, I don't have a problem with fitting in. It might not be very high-tech, but it's more distinctive than a new Impala or something like that.
I have owned seven full sized General Motors cars,since I have been old enough to drive. The list includes, a 78 Pontiac Bonneville,2 84 Oldsmobile Delta 88`s,1 Oldsmobile 98,1 84 Chevrolet Caprice,1 85 Buick Le sabre, and the 85 Caprice Classic, which I purchased this week for the sum of $500.00.It has 118,000 original miles on it. The only work it needs is a new alternator, a tuneup, and a couple of sections of it`s exhaust replaced. It is my opinion,that aside from the 1960`s, and 1970`s muscle cars, these full sized American cars and full sized trucks and sport utilities, are the best. In a time when everyone is buying Japanese automobiles, I would recommend these classic legends to anyone. They won`t die, and they are simple and cheap, to repair. The only complaint I have is the gas consumption, but it`s a trade off for safety, comfort, and dependability.Really, who cares which cars society, deems acceptable.
There is a common misperception that because something is larger it is safer and that is not the case. A modern subcompact with six or eight airbags, safety cage, ABS, EBD, and so on is safer than any large car from the 1980's.
Let's see: 1985 full size Chevy Caprice versus 2006 Toyota Yaris in a head-on collision. I'd have to see that one to believe that the subcompact is actually safer. I guess you're counting that as being safer that you survived even after the firemen cut you out of the mangled wreckage with the jaws of life. Never mind that the folks in the Caprice barely felt the impact and drove away. Nice try.
I have a 1985 caprice classic and true enough when they get old the windows come off the tracks and the bushings get wore out, but I have 341,000 miles with the original engine and transmission and still drive at least 40 miles a day and this car will not break down. I'm still rolling and very happy with my 85 caprice.
All the airbags in the world won't help you when the SUV just rolls right up and over your aerodynamic new tinfoil car and squashes it into a pancake.
I would rather put my hard earned dollars back into something like my home. That way, when I sell, I can get it back plus some. A nice place to live has always seemed more important to me than what kind of car I'm seen driving around in. Most people with means realise this as well.