1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Brougham 4 door Sedan review from North America

This was my first car and I didn't know about any maintenance. I just did engine oil change at every 3,000 miles at a local gas station, and that was it (no coolant or transmission fluid changes, etc).

The things that have gone bad - brake pad, brake master cylinder, brake fluid leak, signal lights, headlights, seatbelt, waterpump, drive belt broke while driving (never changed it before, I guess that's why).

Bad rack and pinion, shocks and struts - Goodyear tire shop (they suck) wanted $1,500 to replace them, a local Oldsmobile dealer wanted $1,100, but ended up doing no repairs and drove the car like that for almost 5 years. Power steering fluid leaked and had to top off monthly or it would become empty. Used Locas PSF fluid that was guaranteed to stop leaks, and the leak stopped after two bottles.

I bought this car for $2,000 in 1996 from someone who worked at an embassy and was going back to his country. He told me he traveled a lot with his family, and the car had 140,000 miles on it. This was my first car and I drove it until 2004. The car failed a safety inspection for suspension and brakes, so I just donated the car and bought a new car. The car had 240,000 miles on it when I donated and it still ran smooth.

I didn't do any preventive maintenance other than oil changes, so some went bad, but for the last 2 years of the car, nothing broke down. $2,000 really well spent! Oh BTW, I found out the car had bad rack and pinion, and shocks and struts in 2000. I didn't fix any of them and drove it like that until 2004 November.