Faults:

Radiator, fuel pump, fuel injectors, full brake service short of the master cylinder.

General Comments:

Best car I have ever owned. Yes I had problems with it, but it sat for over 2 years before I purchased from the original owner, a 88 year old lady. She never replaced a thing on it in the 15+ years she drove it except the oil.

I bought it from her for 600 bucks, plugged the battery back in, and it fired right up and has ran great ever since.

The fuel pump and injectors went out one by one. Being a 18 year old car that sat for 2 years though, things could have gone worse. The fuel pump was a big buy, but I was replacing injectors as they shorted out over about 9 months for about 45 bucks a pop.

The brakes also were never replaced or the tires.

When it was all said and done, I had about 1400 bucks dropped into this car and I haven't had a single problem.

I have put 30K+ miles on it, and plan on putting 100K more. Every mechanic I've talked to has told me the GM 3300 and 3800 engines will run forever.

Faults:

Brakes ($400, though was informed of this by previous owner..should've done it sooner)

Crank Shaft Sensor ($250; this is common for this car)

Radiator Fan? (haven't paid for it yet-temperature will rise if in idle for a long duration)

General Comments:

This is a great car for a college student as well as a second car; I use it every day, and haven't had many problems besides the ones above. The sensor is very common for this car, so get a new one if you buy one--otherwise it will cut off while driving (and won't restart until 15 or so minutes before repeating)! I wish I bought it with lower mileage, though I paid $800 for it.

The 3300 engine is a close relative of the popular 3800 in many General Motors cars--gas mileage is decent at 20 in the city and 30 for the highway--just fill up at half a tank, otherwise you will pay.

Trunk space is very wide, and the spare is located below a cover, where it won't block anything you put in it.

Faults:

Several months after I bought the car, both the muffler and exhaust pipe behind it (at separate times) rusted all the way through and I had to replace those.

The fuel pump and sending unit needed replaced.

Some electronic board in the engine went on it. I forget exactly what it was because I was in college at the time.

General Comments:

This car is SOOOOO easy to drive. I was very impressed when I first bought it at how smooth it was for a 1990. With 160 horses, it was kind of peppy too. Let's just say, on the 80's-like rectangular speedo, I made the needle disappear :) And it coasted great... the car just felt like it was gliding. The steering was rather tight for the car as well.

It doesn't handle great when driving fast around corners, but hey, it's a Buick sedan.

I think I can speak for many GM mid/full size cars back then, that the car moves a lot on the suspension front/back-wise as you break or accelerate rapidly. It's a bit jerky. Also, the seats didn't recline, so it was at a nonadjustable setting that was a bit too far back for the average person.

The transmission is simple, and shifts very quickly and smoothly.

In general, this car represents beauty in simplicity. The radio/cassette was simple, the climate controls were simple, and the gauges and steering wheel were simple.

Being just a Custom, it wasn't that well equipped. But it still managed to have power door locks, tilt, cruise, AM/FM cassette, rear defrost, and air conditioning. It also had a cool little map light that popped out on the dashboard.

I love how the engine sounds...there's something about GM V6's that just makes them sound unique. I also love the huge taillight bar that manages to fit 14 lights completely from left to right!

Overall it's a pretty classy, elegant looking car (for the time), inside and out. Mine was white with blue interior which was a good mix, and looked nice with the wood grain on the dash.