1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale Coup from North America - Comments

Power antenna at 60,000 miles.

Cruise control at 50,000 miles.

Complete exhaust system at 40,000.

Replaced fan in a/c blower four times.

Starter replaced at 90,000 miles.

Transmission seal at 85,000 miles.

Dimmer switch at 87,000 miles.

Hood release cable at 110,000.

Carburetor rebuild at 85,000.

A/C clutch broke at 150,000.

Water pump at 90,000.

Ignition failure at 110,000.

The car was purchased used from the original owner. Car was only two years old with few miles on it, from a neighbor.

This was a very good riding car.

Many parts on the car just did not last and lots of money was spent on the car for repairs, even when the car had relatively low miles.

The car got horrible gas mileage.

The cabin was luxurious and comfortable.

After having this car, I vowed never to own another Oldsmobile and have kept my word to this day.

Fact of life: mechanical parts wear out and break, necessitating repair or replacement.

Vowing never to buy another Oldsmobile shouldn't be too hard, seeing as how they stopped making them a few years back.

"Water pump at 90,000."

- Excellent amount of mileage for that! And everything else as well!

I don't know that this was such terrible service from a car of that era. In the 1970's it was a big deal to go 100,000 miles and people didn't put more than a few thousand miles per year on a car because they didn't do all the long-distance commuting that they do now. Also, I remember that all cars had rusty mufflers and tailpipes back in those days. If it lasted 40,000 miles, which was probably six years, that was pretty good. Ditto for the carburetor -- if it went 85,000 miles that was probably 10 years.

I bought a '67 Chrysler Newport with 90,000 miles when it was 26 years old (yes, average 3,500 miles per year), and it also desperately needed new plugs, wires, a carburetor rebuild, new light and dimmer switch, and other little work. When I knocked that all out, it was a great running car again.

Oldsmobile made some good cars. My family had a '69 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight that was a real luxury cruiser, though my dad blew the transmission by throwing it in gear and racing the engine after it had sat all winter, without letting the fluid warm up and circulate.