1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham 232Ci V6 from North America

Summary:

The greatest car I ever owned

Faults:

- Right rear frame rail rotted out at 170,000 (fixed it though).

- Power antenna went at 75,000 (fixed it cheaply).

General Comments:

The comfort level was extremely high.

Its cabin was perfect for listening to music, the speaker locations were excellent.

The gas mileage was pretty good (22-25 mpg).

I never had any major problem with this car.

I only did plugs, wires, and 2 mufflers in almost 200,000 miles.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th May, 2009

1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham Gas 5.0L V8 (307 cu.in) from North America

Summary:

A classic 80's luxury car

Faults:

Fixed:

Air Conditioner went out years ago, and cost a pretty penny to replace.

Paint was on its way out already in the mid 90's, and it was no small chore sanding the car down and popping the cash for a good paint job.

Brakes will be brakes, and they need replacing, as I had.

Oil...self-explanatory.

Tires, recently acquired some Yokohama Avid S/T p225/60r14's for my SS rims, and I'm sure you know how I feel, that "new tire never spinning and sticking to the road like bagels on cream cheese" feeling and all.

Exhaust system back from the catalytic converter had literally rusted off, but I replaced it with a nice dual-exhaust system from the Hurst/Olds.

Head gaskets leaking, somewhere around 37,700. A nice busy-work session to replace them.

Steering wheel (or what was left of it,) needed to go. Replaced with some random thick wheel off of some early 90's Olds.

Current Problems:

Transmission doesn't like to play nice: sometimes it doesn't want to shift up or down, and, recently, the torque inverter doesn't seem to want to unlock, and it locks up as soon as I hit third gear (thank god for getting that far,) even it not running at the designated 40something MPH that it usually is supposed to lock at. Not too annoying, but when trying to get up hills, I usually end up going back to second and getting a little roar out of the duals, which is never a bad thing.

It's slow as cattle off the line, but a 3.73 rear end should fix that right quick ;)

Dark blue exterior doesn't match maroon interior for jack. Need to find either a Blue or Black complete g-body interior that's *not* torn up in a junkyard. -_-

General Comments:

I purchased this car from my father at the age of 16 in early 2004. He said that he was "saving it for me," and I quietly forked up the cash, having never driven it before. Needless to say, the car is slow, but, even so, the fact that it has an 8-cylinder engine is always a nice little 1-up to my japanese car friends. The interior, being a "Brougham," features some wicked comfortable seats, the drivers' being power adjustable, and a fits my tall self very well. I like these seats so much that I snagged one of the same kind from a local junkyard and created an office chair out of it!

As for all of the work that I've done to the car, I can safely say that I'd put up with everything and do it all again, if the situation arises. The car is a classic, hands down, and other than the three little punks who prefer their moms' SUV to my car, (since god forbid they drive a piece of American history,) it's a very popular automobile. Unfortunately, the knowledge of my car being a little... too popular with local color keeps me on full alert with video surveillance on the car whenever it's in my driveway, and the alarm, and the ignition-cutout-hood-lock 9000, but that's just how it has to be.

Would I recommend a vehicle like this to your average joe-shmee who doesn't know jack about maintaining, let alone fixing their car, no. While my car hasn't left "cream puff" status yet (less than 40000 miles still,) I can easily see a high maintenance future for the car, being that it is from a time where endurance in an American vehicle wasn't a selling point (not that it is today, still, but this is just ridiculous.) However, for an enthusiast of classic American vehicles with a lot of style and headroom for expansion... COUGH ROCKET 350 COUGH... these cars cannot be overlooked.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th August, 2005

30th Aug 2010, 22:24

I have an eighty five with nothing wrong with it but normal wear and tear and behind the rear wheel the frame is rusting out. But it is common on these years. I'm having a hard time finding a solid rear bumper also.

31st Aug 2010, 11:15

Actually durability should be no problem with your Cutlass - I've owned many early eighties Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets, and they're about as durable as cars get. The 307 should last into the very, very high miles. If the transmission becomes a problem, just replace it with a simple, heavy duty old 350 turbo automatic from the junkyard - this should cost you only a few hundred dollars, and will be extremely durable.

31st Aug 2010, 20:25

I had an 85 Olds Cutlass. Great for long distance highway cruising, but steered like a cow.

A little piece of trivia. During the mid 80s, GM was selling these for less money than it took to make them. The recession of 1982-1983 had seen unemployment up to 10%. People weren't buying cars. But GM had calculated that the age of the cars Americans were driving had gotten up to a point that soon they would all need continual repairs to keep them going. So Americans would have no choice but to buy new cars in the coming years. GM had also calculated the cost of shuttering the car plants, then the cost of re-opening when demand for cars picked up. It made more economic sense to keep the factories open and sell cars at a loss. I remember reading all this in Forbes magazine at the time and it stuck with me since I had just bought my Cutlass. Also at the time, Forbes was pointing out that with such low prices available on new cars, the car rental agencies were keeping cars for an unusually short time and low mileage used vehicles could be got for good prices.