Faults:

"Damp" around valve cover/oil pan gasket.

General Comments:

I bought this diamond in the ruff Olds from a fellow pastor who purchased it from an 80 year old lady. He realized he couldn't keep it, so after posting it for sale, I jumped on it quick.

The vehicle has 81,xxx miles and is cleaner than the Board of Health. The motor alone literally looks as if it was just opened from a crate, so that should tell you about how the rest of the vehicle looks. The car stayed garaged its whole life and literally only went to the grocery store/church on occasion. Only after her husband passed on, is when she decided to sell it.

I'm in the process of changing all the fluids/filters to include plugs/wires. Although it runs as if it only has 100 miles on her, I'm still going to do the maintenance for reassurance. Because of the age of the vehicle, I know problems will arise as its driven daily; I'm just hoping that by driving it, the seals swell up enough to contain the wetness. Good thing is, it's a common motor/drivetrain so as to access parts reasonably. The car definitely wasn't sold in vain, and it'll be taken care of as best as it can be.

Faults:

Auto transmission issues at about 250,000 km.

Starter needed to be shimmed because it was out of alignment.

Water pump failure at about 253,000 km.

Various build quality issues related to trim items.

General Comments:

Actually a good car overall in terms of ride and power train, but it does show that GM's quality control on even its higher end cars like this one was not the best. Interior trim is coming apart: seats and carpeting are looking terrible. The headliner has discolored near the right rear roof pillar because of a water leak.

By comparison my 1988 Mazda 626 has an interior that's near mint at 338,000 kilometers. Admittedly how an owner treats their car makes a difference, but my Mazda is not really a top of the line model either. But the build quality is far superior in terms of the interior fit and finish and overall dash and instrument design.

On the Delta 88, the carpeting fabric on the interior and the trunk is a really cheap cheesy looking mouse fur that is aging badly. Not exactly a good indicator of quality in what was GM's upper end in the model range.

The car would not always shift into gear when it was cold. This prompted a transmission rebuild.

The water pump failed as well, but provided plenty of advance warning, so it wasn't catastrophic. The problem is that even though it is very accessible, for some reason GM stuck a motor mount and engine strut right in the way. In order to change the unit you have to basically jack up the right side of the engine. Hence a $C300.00 repair bill for the extra labor hours required.

Starter cable corroded and the starter was dragging because it wasn't aligned properly to the flywheel. It had to be shimmed to get it to sit properly.

Alternator went on this car as well, but very easy to change for a do-it-yourselfer. These cars are known for alternator failures as well.

The car has numerous seal leaks that are basically turning the underside of the engine into an oily mess. I don't even want to think about getting that fixed because it means taking out the oil pan, the crank and cam pulleys etc. to get to them. Very expensive.

The engine starves for fuel if you go around a corner when the fuel tank is at about 1/8th of a tank. I have never had this issue with my previous car, a Mazda 626.

The good stuff: the car is very nice to ride in and GM's 3.8 liter engine is a very nice torquey motor. It can easily keep up with traffic and is excellent on the highway. Watch your speed or this car could get you a speeding ticket. Nice growl when it revs up. Sufficiently powerful at 170 hp and about 200 lb-ft of torque.

Very quiet interior at city or highway speeds. That's a great thing when you travel 800 highway kilometers on so-so highways like I do sometimes. My Mazda (which is stored right now pending a sale), is a far noisier and buzzier unit at 120 kph.

Very powerful and effective heating and air conditioning on this car, a GM strong suit. You can comfortably cool down or heat up no matter what the outside temperature.

I love the outside temperature display on this car's interior. It's very accurate too. Instruments are nicely arranged although the dash design is showing its age. The 1995 and up models got a redesign that's much more modern.

Overall the somewhat vague steering and slightly tippy handling can't hold a candle to my previous car's razor sharp reflexes. But the price was right and so my beloved Mazda must find a new home. It would have needed more work anyway.