Nothing yet, but had to refurbish it when I bought it. It only had 39,000 miles on it, but it hadn't been washed in years. 68 year-old lady owned it since new. It had been sitting in a carport for some years.
Here is what I have done so far:
-A lot of Cleaning!
-Complete tune-up. Still had original plugs in it... original everything.
-Replaced all the fluids (engine, tranny, rear axle)
-Had to compound the white paint and all the chrome, had heavy oxidation, but shines now!
-The woodgrain was scratched and peeling from the heat (Texas) and exposure. Scraped it all off! Paint under paneling was great, but took a week to get it all clean.
-Replaced the rattling wire wheels with 1990 Cruiser aluminum wheels (Thanks Ebay!)
-Replaced the rear bumper fillers, the originals were cracked and some were gone altogether.
-Installed new N.O.S. Custom Cruiser emblems (ebay!)
-Installed new rear speakers and put a CD changer in the rear side pocket.
-Replaced the rear springs and replaced all the shocks with KYB's. Ride is much better!
-Installed a new trailer hitch for my wife's bike rack.
-Various detail work.. i want it to look new!
Since getting it and driving it, it runs much better now. I talked to the mechanic that the lady used to bring it to, and he said it never was driven over 45 mph...ever.
Since I've started driving it, the engine runs MUCH better, it tended to ping when I first got it, but sure the highway has helped clean everything out.
The cruise control slowly came back to life, never was used, but now works great.
Things still to do:
-The speedo cable squeaks sometimes, it's gotten much quieter, but still makes noise sometimes
-The car shifts a little to the left when accelerating, think it has a weak suspension bushing, but can't find it.
-TRYING to find a rear tailgate weatherstrip (squeegee). Mine is cracked, and all the ones in the salvage yards are cracked.
Other than that, it's done!
I traded a very troublesome Ford Aerostar for my Cruiser. The car looked horrible when I bought it, but after four months it is looking great.
The 307 V8 is not a powerhouse, but it is smooth, uses no oil, and will hold 80 mph from Austin to Dallas to visit in-laws. Gets over 20 mpg too!!
The interior is like new and very comfortable. Has neat options, powere seats on both sides, fiber optic lights in the rear roof and tops of front fenders, power everything. Very comfortable car!
My wife made fun of it when I brought it home. She wanted an SUV. Well now she askes to use it and leaves me her car.
My son loves the rear-facing third seat. Plenty of room for kids, friends, and everything else.
WHY did they stop making these things???
The shift to the left on acceleration is probably due to a bad motor mount. With the transmission in park, see whether the engine tilts when you rev it up, if so your motor mounts need to be replaced.
You are SO lucky to have found this car! I have been searching e-bay / internet for a low mileage good condition Custom Cruiser for MONTHS, and am now reduced to keeping one eye out on the roads for someone driving one that I can ask if they will sell!!! If you hear of another one, e-mail me at rharris@coldwellbanker.com. Great job on your car!
I just got a 1989 Custom Cruiser with only 18 thousand actual miles. My husband got it at an estate auction for only $1300.00, I thought he was crazy when he bought it. The estate sale was at a funeral home and the cruiser had been converted into a hearse. We have since changed it back into a station wagon. Went to a junk yard and got the second seat for only $25.00 and had the window in the back that were covered with leather cut out and the glass was still there so I have a full leather roof. It rides great and is like a new car. The third seat is not going to be put back in so it gives us hidden storage. The back tailgate has a steel panel in it to prevent the casket from ever hitting it hard during transit and falling out accidentally. I will be working to get that out. Gas mileage is only 15 mpg freeway, so hoping that if I remove the steel panel in the tailgate that the mileage will improve. I will tell you I though my husband was nut when he got this car, but now I LOVE THAT CAR.
After totaling my 2001 silverado, my father gave me his 1990 olds custom cruiser. Although its look may not be very appealing, it is a extreamly good car. It has been very reliable even after 15 years and 110000 miles of new york city driving. It is designed with all the old style american "boat" features; but I will admit that I have come to like a lot of them. I think that in GMs quest to model their cars towards import models, they changed some things that actually worked well. Athough I am looking foward to buying a newer car, the family truckster (as I like to call it) will always have a small space in my heart!
I'm the person who wrote this review. Since writing it, I've replaced the factory wheels and wire-wheel hubcaps with a set of factory 1990 Olds Custom Cruiser aluminum mag wheels I found on Ebay. I also added raised white letter Radial T/A tires, and have tinted the windows... and done various other things. If anyone wants to see the car, pics are posted at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AustinOlds/
The car now has 62,000 miles on it, and I feel a little guilty for putting so many miles on it in a year, but it's been used as a family car, and I still love it. It's still reliable as the sun.
Thanks for the comments!
-Mike.
I'm the former owner of this Cruiser. I work at a large computer company in Texas (hmm what could it be?), and got tired of being made fun of for driving it. Hard to climb the corporate ladder in an old station wagon with raised white letter tires, ha. So now I'm driving a newer Pontiac Bonneville that blends into the parking lot.
I sold the Cruiser to my best friend for next to nothing, because I knew he'd take care of it. Sadly, the week after I did, he had a fairly expensive transmission problem (damn 200R4!). He fixed it, and really likes the car. It needs rear bumper fillers...again...but it's still really sharp. I MISS it. Ha!
Hello again, I'm the original writer of this and thought it was time for an update on my white over burgundy '89 Cruiser. In late 2006, after being constantly made fun of for driving a giant station wagon at work, I sold the Cruiser to a good friend of mine, and bought a "normal" late model 4dr Pontiac sedan. I regretted it almost at once.
With the recent jump in gas prices, my friend, who still loves the car, decided he needed something more efficient to commute in, so he offered me the Cruiser back. Damn my co-workers, I bought it back!
I hate to say it, but this nice old car that only had 39,000 miles on it when I did the original post now has 91,000 miles on it.
That being said, it still runs and drives great, and I now don't feel so much guilt for putting miles on it, since it no longer has those low miles.
Since getting it back, I've done a lot of cosmetic work to it again. My friend kept it clean, and the inside still looks wonderful, but he basically just drove it.
So far I've removed the rear bumper, and painted and installed new plastic rear bumper fillers (again!). I've replaced a missing chrome wheel center cap, replaced three of the four headlights, since they had gotten moisture in them and made the car look like it had black eyes. Don't know if you know this, but to make the fiber optic lights work on the tops of the front fenders, you have to remove the metal "BB's" from the back of new headlights. This can let moisture in the light, so the headlights have to be changed often...fyi.
I've rotated the tires and changed the oil, and gave the car a really good bath. The factory mags I installed still look wonderful. She shines.
I also sent a factory 2-spoke burgundy leather '86 Olds 442 steering wheel to Dallas and had it recovered. Just installed it, and it feels great and looks wonderful, plus keeps the stock Olds look. You would not know it's not factory.
I still need to compound and wax the car. The tail gate window "sweep" weatherstripping dried out and cracked, and I have one on order from Ebay. Also the speedometer is making noise again, so I'll have to pull the dash and lube the cable again. Lastly, the lock on the tail gate no longer works with the key... wonder of something came off?? It still locks and unlocks with the power switch, and the door opens or lays down fine, just can't lock/unlock with the key now. Will look into it.
On funny thing, it now has a small "Wally World" oval sticker on the rear window, remember, from the movie "Vacation"? It's getting a lot of thumbs up. HA!
Anyway, it's back home where it belongs, and I hopefully will hold onto it this time!
Keep your wagons on the road! -Mike 2/2008.
Original writer again. Replaced the rear tail gate "sweep" weatherstrip this weekend... what a pain. You have to remove the entire rear window. On top of that, the aftermarket sweep is shorter and does not fit as well as the original.. and because it's shorter, I had to re-tint the rear window. I had a clear line at the bottom of the window the original weatherstrip covered. That was $60 I was not planning to spend.
Oh well, it's on at least. Will keep water out of the tail gate. Now the car just needs to be compounded and waxed and we'll be looking good!
Just to make a wheel suggestion for these cars if you have one, you might consider replacing the stock steel wheels and wire wheel hubcaps with 15-inch aluminum sport wheels off a 1981-1990 Buick station wagon.
These wheels were actually offered on the 1990 Olds wagons, but are a rare option, and the stock center caps are impossible to find. You will still retain the ride and not get steering wheel wonder/walk that larger wheels/tires create, and also not wear out your suspension, and will improve the looks of your car a ton.
In many cases the clear coat is peeling from these wheels. Get some paint stripper and brush it on, then let it sit a while. Spray off the thinner with a water hose and the clear coat will be gone, showing a shiny wheel. If you polish and wax the bare wheel with Mother's polish, they will look fine and will not tarnish. Two years and mine still shine great.
For center caps, hit Ebay. Order a set of 1980-82 Corvette chrome center caps (cheap). These will clip on to the Buick wheels just fine, then order some Olds Rocket wheel center decals, like what come on the Olds Rallys (Super Stock II) wheels used from the late 60's through the mid 80's. These are also cheap on Ebay.
Just stick the rocket emblems over the Corvette flags, and it looks totally stock. Lastly, add a set of chrome flat bottom lug nuts, and you wagon will look wonderful.
Between the wheels (you can still find these in salvage yards cheap), lugs, and centers I spent around $150 and totally changed my wagons looks... while still keeping it basically stock. I did install a set of raised white letter Radial T/A tires, instead of white walls. Think they look great and make the car look a little "younger".
Oh, a good tip, get some 3M weatherstrip adhesive and glue the centers on. They will clip on, but I never trusted the plastic clips to hold.
Keep in mind these cars use the big bolt pattern hubs, so wheels off most sedans don't work. Other options are the chrome 15-inch Buick "road wheels" used on full-size Buicks from the 1960's-1980's, and the full size "truck rallys" used on 1970's-mid 80's Silverado and Suburban 2wd trucks bolt on.
In my opinion, the aluminum Buick mags look best, and still retain the "stock" Olds look. Add a comment if you want some pics, always glad to share. I also added a stock leather 80's Olds 442 steering wheel to my car and dark tinted out my windows as well. I own the white over burgundy '89 Cruiser also posted on this site.
Good Luck! -Mike.
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