After 15 years, the starter died. I was impressed that it would last that long.
After 14 years, the gas tank had a leak.
The 15 year old alternator died, an easy repair.
Minor electrical components needed repairs.
The paint was flaky, a service issue with many General Motor cars at the time. $1200 solved that problem when I repainted it.
A/C doesn't work, a loose connected let the compressors seals harden while it was inactive.
One of the best cars we've ever owned is the first thing to comes to mind.
The interior was of good quality material, lasting many years already without much wear.
Most of the components, electronic and mechanical have lasted a long time. I have had little headache to date.
The V6 would have been a better choice, but the economy of owning the 4 cylinder engine seems a good choice nowadays since the price of gas has sky rocketed. The gas mileage is spectacular for its age and heavy weight. The engine is a bit noisy, but it's an old 4 without high tech available at the time.
The body on this car is in excellent condition, thanks to some annual rust-proofing. The car looks like new.
The strength of this car, has allowed me to keep it on the road after being rear ended by a meat van. It wasn't much damage and no one was injury. Easily said, a safe automobile.
There is lots of room in this car, the visibility is great, and all in all, this leads to a very easy car to drive.
Repairs have been easy for the most part, only the distributor is awkward to access.
The ride is stiff in the Eurosport edition, but when loaded it's a good handling automobile.
The trunk has plenty of space, thanks to the hide-a-way spare.
The car has been winter driven, abused many times, and still continues to go strong with some simple TLC. I can expect it to go another 10 years with out much headache. I wish I was able to take care of it when it was still new, I would have seen problems and fixed them myself.
All in all, a great car even if it is old. I'd buy another if I could.
Amen brother. I have an 86 2.5 fi and it just now come up with a problem that it won't start. I think its one of those ignition things, but it's very hard to get to. All in all, I'd buy another one if I could too.
I agree wholeheartedly when you say its rugged. I hit a deer with my old '86 and all that happened to my car was a broken parking light cover. The deer didn't do as well.
Just an update on "my old baby". I still have the old girl. I've reached the 21 year mark of ownership with this car in the family. I've reached just over 308000 km right now and with it being -20 Celcius lately, she still starts and goes strong. I've had to replace some exhaust parts (luckily I had spare parts from my neighbours old car). I've had some suspension parts replaced, but they were surprisingly cheap. I am considering keeping this car even if I have to refresh or rebuild the engine someday :). If anyone has experience with rebuilding 2.5L 4-tech engines, please let me know. "Keep 'em going! "
Another update from me. Well, my car is at 326000km now and shakes, rattles and most importantly, rolls down the road. I managed to get my air conditioning working nicely with the recharge kits. There is quite a bit of valve train noise so I think one or two lifters are acting up. Somehow, it continues to run. I am planning on getting another Celebrity which I just came across the other day. Low miles with a good body. I still swear to this day, they are one of the longest lasting beasts on the road. Its like the old Impala's with the V8's in them, they could be driving forever if the body was in good shape. Keep comments coming!
Thank you for continuing to update your page here, I enjoy reading about a Celebrity which keeps on going! When I was VERY young, my mom owned a 1982 Celebrity which reached 178,000 miles (not sure on the km distance) before she sold it. Then in 1998, my dad got a 1988 Celebrity Wagon Eurosport with the 2.8L V6 with 130,000 miles on it. Right about then is when I first learned to drive, and took over the rights to that car. The exterior wasn't in great shape, but I soon fell in love with that car. To make a long story short, I babied that car until it's final day on June 25, 2007 when it was no longer reliable to start every day (even after spending $300 on fixing the module, spark plugs, etc). It was sent to a junkyard after 199,600 miles and faithful service. When I drove it to the junkyard, I hammered the hell out of that car and the tranny never once slipped and that motor still had as much pickup as the day I bought it.
I went on a chase for another Celebrity and found the EXACT same car out of Missouri, the only difference being 1986 vs my old 1988 and carbureted vs fi. I live in Wisconsin, yet bought it pretty much without hesitation. The exterior is in FANTASTIC shape (I would rank it 9/10), but a lot of things were wrong when I got it. I replaced the cracked radiator, alternator, starter, tranny fluid, oil, and other various things and boy do I have a car that's gonna go the distance. If you're bored sometime, check out the pictures of my old and new car I'll have linked below. Take care, I'll be checking back on this a lot!
OLD CAR:
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o208/goldenjimbo007/100_3399.jpg?t=1192784190
NEW CAR: http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o208/goldenjimbo007/question10.jpg?t=1192784291
Its great to hear that you enjoy my comments and I appreciate yours too! I'm happy that you found another Celebrity to keep going. I recently had a chance to buy another, but didn't have the money the guy was asking for ($1200 is a bit steep for me). Anyhow, I'm going to try to get some pictures up if I can. I was recently driving mine on the highway and despite the valve train noise at slow speed, it seems fine at about 60 to 85mph (yes, 85mph! in the old Celebrity). Feel free to write me or msn messenger me: rumnut23@hotmail.com We may be able to exchange ideas and any problems/solutions we have with our cars. Take care!
Where can I find a 1986 chevy celebrity radaitor.
Try an auto parts store. Or a junkyard.
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