Faults:

Nothing ever went wrong with this car until it had 101,000 miles on it.

At 101,000 miles I was driving on the freeway, going about 75 mph, and a car pulled out in front of me, I slammed on my brakes, then my car stalled. It restarted and seemed fine, until the next day I noticed the engine was knocking bad.

I replaced the engine for nearly four grand, and I just kick myself to this day, I should said my good byes to the Park Avenue then.

I had the Buick dealer replace the engine, and that is where my nightmares began. I picked the car up, the car checked out fine, or so they said, but all was not well, the rear main seal was not installed right, and it leaked massive oil, which I did not know about until it was too late. I had the engine replaced again, at the dealers cost this time. I picked my car up and for the next 20,000 miles this car leaked oil until I got so mad I went out and bought a new Honda Prelude, I made a huge scene when I went and dropped my Park Avenue for the last time to have the oil leak fixed. I love GM cars, and will purchase one again in the future. I have never recieved such horrible service from any car dealship in my 57 years of driving. I think they saw an old lady coming and thought they had a fool. GM and the zone area manager were not at all helpful. New engines are not supposed to leak oil, or use oil.

This car was very well built, as all Buicks are.

General Comments:

This was a stunning car! Black on black. It held up very well, even the paint, which had been a problem on past GM cars.

This car handled very well, and was very, very fast.

This car always got around 525 miles to tank of gas, which is very good when to take into account the cars size. I wish my Honda got as good mileage.

I truly miss the size, comfort, and power the Park Avenue had.

Faults:

I have not had any problems with this car in the last 1,000 miles. The only complaint would be the poor material used on the headliner. In particular, the inside panels on the C-pillar are easily prone to sun damage.

General Comments:

This is an excellent 2nd or 3rd car for commuting back and forth to work - especially if you drive long distances in heavy traffic. The base car comes with numerous creature comforts standard. The front wheel drive is very good in the snow.

Purchase price for a used car is low since the car depreciates rapidly. The car depreciates rapidly because the resale market for this type car is small, not because of poor mechanical or electrical systems or body integrity.

I average about 23 MPG in mixed driving. The operating costs, such as insurance and taxes, are very low. The drive train is a bullet proof setup that is good for 150,000 to 200,000 if you take care of the maintenance.

Safety is good since it is a full size car. Anti-lock Brake System and a driver side airbag are standard.

This is not going to be a car that corners on rails. The handling is safe and predictable.