The engine burned oil on start up. It would stop burning oil after it ran for a few seconds.
A/C did not work. No big deal.
Needed new front brakes. Cost for pads and rotors, $73.00.
Tape player in stereo was not working. Replaced with Pioneer CD player, cost, $189.00.
Transmission was slipping in overdrive. Never got the chance to fix it.
Seat belts did not function as they should have. Found this when I wrecked my car.
This was my first car, bought it for $385.00 at an auction.
Drove it home at night and thank goodness it had great headlights.
Noticed weird vibration when I would get on the brakes, thought it was a warped rotor till I took the left front wheel off and noticed the caliper was being held by the bottom bolt only, thankfully it never locked up on me during one of my many high speed runs (120 MPH or so).
I loved the look of the car, kinda sporty, with it's rally wheels and just before I wrecked it, white letter BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires.
Handled very nice, with a ride that wasn't too soft, the shocks were still in good shape, and so body motion was kept under control.
The interior was great, worn of course, but still comfortable when I would go on drives of 3 hours or more everyday.
The engine freaked me out, ran fairly well, and still got 27 plus miles per gallon in spite of a lot of sludge in the oil and the car burning oil on start up. And it sounds great too, nice burble at idle and it continued to a growl at full throttle.
The paint wasn't too bad, the clear coat was peeling, but the paint was still there and there was no rust, and the body was as straight as an arrow, till I wrecked it of course.
Not a fast car by any stretch, and the transmission made that worse in the end with it slipping, mostly in overdrive, but I had many plans for the car such as an engine swap and a few other things, and when I wrecked it, it bothered me, and I will say that I would buy another in a heartbeat.
One last thing, the 17 year old paper speakers could still belt out great sound with the Pioneer stereo I put in it, though I was going to replace them.
I wrecked my '89 Celeb wagon last year (2004) with 60,000 miles on swapped motor, and it lives on.. my friend actually rebuilt it (barely can tell there was damage) and its doing great now with 165,000. I hit a concrete barrier in this car, sold it for $350.. and its still roadworthy. If you find another one, Buy It.. they don't make em like this anymore..
I do plan to buy another very soon. I just need to find another that is a straight as my first one was.
I can't believe you people! This car sucks! I have one and can't wait till it dies, it is the ugliest thing I have ever laid eyes on, slow, transmission makes such bad sound when you shift into gears, that you think it's going to fall out. Honestly, I can't wait till the thing dies. I want to get a Chrysler minivan, get rid of the piece of crap.
Just because you have a crap Celebrity, doesn't mean they are all crap, and every car has their share of troubles, more so at the age of these cars. I bought mine not really liking the Celebrity at first, but I had only driven my mom's wagon, and it handled like a whale. My car was great, I miss it badly, I want another, this time maybe a 2 door with a 5 speed, but even my 4 door was a blast to drive, just a bit tail happy was it's only fault, which I normally could catch till a year ago tomorrow when I wrecked mine. If your car isn't dead yet, then that is a good sign, bad noises and all. Maybe if you took better care of it, it would run better, and as for ugly, to each his own, but I think one that is well taken care of is a sharp looking car, and with the white letter tires I had on mine, even more so. And to speak of the handling of the car again, I blew the doors off a newer Ford Taurus with mine, both in the turns and the straights. That also proves that they are not slow, again, if yours is, what did you do to it, or the person before you? Granted, mine was a little short on the take off, but once going, I had mine to well over 100 MPH and the car never faltered. In the end, the transmission was slipping, but I am sure that with just a little money, that could have been taken care of. It just comes down to knowing a lot about cars though I guess, I would rather have a new Subaru Impreza WRX STi, however, I can't afford one, so what I plan on doing is getting rid of my crap 1993 Chrysler New Yorker, which handles like a whale, and I want to get another Celebrity, simple as that. Oh, and in closing, if you would try, I bet that car would run better, and if it is ugly, try painting it.
I'm going to have to agree with the person who said they hated their Celebrity. I too had this awful car and could not stand it. It had so many problems. First of all, have you ever seen the original paint job on these things, they're awful. The clear coat flakes off and random, and then begins to rust, as do the metal bumpers. So I ask you, why paint a car, that's probably going to flake again anyway. It's fine if people liked these cars, but I personally could not wait to get rid of it. And lay off, and the person doesn't like the car, don't freak out.
I'm not really freaking out, but a few bad eggs doesn't make them all that way, yes, the clear was flaking on my car, but most 80's early 90's GM cars had that problem, and as for rust, mine had none. All I am saying is that the cars are great cars, if you know what you are doing, and with the proper care, can last a long time, not to mention, they make great sleeper cars, I dusted off that newer Taurus with no problem,if you don't like the car, fine, but you just didn't get one that was taken care of. Neither did I, however, the car is so easy to maintain, that I did not complain. If a car can be fun to drive, easy and cheap to maintain, and take a lot of abuse, why put them down?
I never owned a Celebrity, but let me say that as an outsider, I think those cars have sharp lines on them, especially if you ever saw one in good shape. They sure look better than the other bland cars they share the platform with.
I agree, but the 1990 Buick Century, which shares that platform, looks pretty good in two door form stock, but looks even better with what my roommate plans to do with his.
I have a "snot" green 4 door 2.5. It is gutless and noisy like a Diesel, the body and paint is rusted away; BUT is runs great and will not die. The only problems I have are minor that I can fix, but nothing worth trashing the car over. It is a simple design and a dependable car. I would highly recommend picking one up if you want a good beater car over its same era counterparts.
These cars will not die, I have ran mine so hard I can't believe that it still moves. Paint sucks on mine too, but does that really matter. They are supposed to be cheap and not stop.
I owned a 87 Eurosport as well. Worst car I have ever owned. So many things went wrong with it... after the front axle broke at 70mph...that was it. The 2.8L engine is one of the worst that ever came out of Detroit. Since then I only bought Buicks with the 3.8L engine.
I will never ever buy a Chevy again. Trust me I grew up loving Chevys. They "uses" to have some style... not anymore. I am from Flint, Mi. We love our GM's up there. Since Flint was Buick town... I have to say a Buick is a far better engineered vehicle.
If you are looking for an older Eurosport... might as well get a Pontiac 6000. Better built then the Chevy.
Hey guys my buddy just inherited a 87' celebrity it was his grand fathers and it was garage kept since it was off the line and washed every week, he's in love with it hes just disappointed that he can't find any after market items for it... he mainly wants "looks" stuff, but also engine performance. please if you have any suggestions email me at lilplaya_4life@yahoo.com both of us would greatly appreciate it.
thank you
Alex
I’ve got an 87 Eurosport like all of the mid 80's early 90's GM cars it has a flaking paintjob and a little bit of surface rust. It has the 2.5 4 cylinder it’s fairly slow, but gets close to 30 miles to the gallon. It handles great and drives straight as an arrow. Rotors are a little warped, but that might be because it hasn’t been in a shop since 95. This car has been thought drifts of snow over the hood and up to the top of the cab mid door deep in mud and I can’t get it to die. Its one hell of a car I would like to make a sleeper out of it I'm thinking bout buying another one and try dropping a 3800 seriesII supercharged in it, but if I can't i’m looking for some performance parts for it just for the hell of it. Their strong dependable car that’s all I can sat about it American steel can't beat it.
Has anyone had any experience with the Steering column coming loose on their EuroSport? I had to take mine in 3 times over this. I had one dealer quote me $300.00 to fix this. What a bunch of thieves.
Turns out I had another Dealer fix it. For about a $100.00 They had to tear down the steering column all they way down to the 4 bolts holding it in place. Basically tighten those and rebuild it back up. 3 times this happend. That is Chevy's for you. They USE to be a well made vehicle. not anymore. Slapped together junk!