11th Aug 2007, 16:36
Public service announcement:
If you can't afford premium in a premium only car put E85 into it.
It satisfies the octane requirements so the system can still work smoothly.
However the motor will get worse mileage and have less power.
Its perfectly safe don't worry.
(coming from a driver of a non flexfuel avalanche run on E85 for 200,000+ miles)
31st Oct 2007, 16:40
Filling a non flexfuel vehicle with E85 may damage fuel hoses and the combustion characteristics are different. I mean, if you want to fill up your riviera with E85 go for it; just be ready for some kind of failure that your mechanic has "never seen that happen before."
24th Nov 2007, 21:29
Dayfydd says: I have never had so much fun with a car... what a sleeper in the performance category; 0-60 in the mid 7's. They really slipped this one by the insurance companies. The Regal with the same 3.8 SC drive train is a full second faster because it's simply lighter.
Superchargers have about a 100K mile life if you use them. The transmissions are surprisingly tough and reliable given the torque they face on a full supercharged start.
Don't ever get in the habit of using less than premium gas on the supercharged model... you'll be sorry later.
The living room sized leather seats are so comfortable you may want to install your TV in your car instead of the house.
To those who like more radical styling, the Riv is poetry in motion... and for an almost 4000 lb car, its performance is unexpectedly full on fun. The handling is different, but a great compromise for a stylish European inspired luxury coupe trying to maintain a quiet and comfortable ride. If you think the maintenance is high, try Cadillac... you'll come back to Buick in a hurry.
The engine and seats have won numerous awards, except for the plastic intake in the 96-99 model year; that's a terrible mistake, that GM allowed the dealers to make a fortune on way too long.
But overall, it's been nothing, but a pleasure to own my 95 (with the metal intake) which I now have 160K miles on... and I'm seriously thinking of looking for another 95 with low mileage so I can take off where this one stops.
3rd Mar 2008, 19:09
My 1995 Supercharged Riviera ran great until yesterday... I put normal grade unleaded into it and heard a terrible knock as I floored the gas pedal at around 65mph on the freeway to merge into traffic. Now the engine knocks badly, and there is aluminum looking metal on the oil dip stick. My guess is that I blew #4 piston as a previous writer suggested. Not too happy about having put unleaded in a car that specified super-unleaded. But it really should NOT have had such a negative effect, & with only 65,000 miles on this cream-puff of a car. I might rebuild the engine with bullet-proof racing parts and make it into a 1200 horsepower screamer! Do you think I can get Buick/GM to sponsor this modification?...Good luck to all. Oh, I am on the west coast and this all happened at sea level on a 75 degree day. BTW I had just driven through a car wash about an hour before this happened, don't know if this made a difference.
22nd Mar 2009, 11:47
I have a 1995 Riviera. The car runs great, although I need to replace the two front lower motor mounts located on the passengers side and the driver side. Dealer prices are ridiculous. Anyone know where I can get them used?
fadiashere@yahoo.com
9th Mar 2013, 14:54
Sure, get Buick/GM to "sponsor" a modification of an engine they stopped using five years ago.
Hey, it could happen...
8th Mar 2015, 23:58
To all Riv owners who are somewhat less than happy with their car, remember GM went bankrupt recently. Having met and talked with retired GM assembly workers re GM's lack of serious QC commitment during the 80s and 90s, it's understandable that GM's whole line of vehicles from Caddy to Buick were failure prone. If you think you got a good one, maybe made on a Wednesday, feel lucky. At least those year's cars did not have the infamous ignition switch failure of some of the 2000 models!
22nd Feb 2007, 19:43
I purchased my riv in 2003,it was a great car for the first year. after that it was all down hill I put over 6000.00 dollars. in this car in the past 2 in a half year's I owned it. my advice to all riv owners looks great, but get rid of this car.