FAQ: New Riviera Buyer Questions

If you plan to mod, 97-99. If you don't, any of them.

I won't be doing any modding, I just plan to put on a set of newer buick rims off a lucerne or allure, currently there's 2 95' rivieras i am interested in one is 95' black on black sc with 150000 km's 4500 asking price, the other one is 95 tan with beige leather (my fav) with 114000 km's for 5000. I hope I can get the price down though. There is also a 99 silver arrow in a bit roughed up shape with 4 flats and the pic taken behind what it looks to be some barn lol so i will see. so series 1 is not that different from series 2 as far as quality goes?

The series I engines do OK, my '95 doesn't have many miles on it but I am hoping it lasts a long time. You can tell the difference when you drive both, but it isn't enough to be concerned about, I don't think so anyway.

If you have nice '95s available I would go for that over a rough Silver Arrow, even though they are a bit more rare it might not be worth fixing it up if it is in too bad of shape.

Good luck with your search,

Thanks for all the insight guys, the 2 95's are in really good condition although pricey, I will try to put some pics up when I'm off my mobile, the 99 has only 1 pic in the ad i see no rust, the body looks fine but it sits on 4 flats and the ad doesn't really specifiy anything but that it is 197 out of 200. funny thing is there was a 198 out of 200 for sale here 5 months back but it was really banged up, and i still didn't get rid of my Tiburon at that time so I just went to check it out. Like I said I would prefer a NA series 2 but looks like they are really rare

Here are the ones i am checking out, the tan one is a 95' with 113000 km (70k miles) priced at 5000 CAD , black one is 95' with 160 000 km (100 k miles) priced at 4500 CAD, and the silver arrow has 200 000 km's (125 k miles) price unknown (please contact, no reply yet)

They all seem to be priced so much higher than what I'm used to here in the states. Don't know how the dollars translate to Canadian bucks, but still seem high priced.

I'd stay away from the 99 due to the fact that anybody that will advertise a car for sale with 4 flats and high mileage isn't worth looking at.

Is the car Jason is offering for sale on here too far from you to consider. I know he is anal about keeping his cars in perfect condition and he seems to be willing to let it go for cheap. I would buy his car in a heartbeat even if I had to take a flight to get it and drive it home.

Just my opinion. Good luck in your search.

5000 cad is about 4000 usd, for the 99 i'm curios how the interior and the engine look like...unfortunately trip to vancouver is not doable at the moment, it would stretch my finances too much, plus i'm not allowed to exit canada for the time being and if i would drive from vancouver i'd wanna drive across the US

Marko, the riv you seek is right here, bro.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t11390p15-98-buick-riviera-60k-miles#183302

MarkoRv wrote:

5000 cad is about 4000 usd, for the 99 i'm curios how the interior and the engine look like...unfortunately trip to vancouver is not doable at the moment, it would stretch my finances too much, plus i'm not allowed to exit canada for the time being and if i would drive from vancouver i'd wanna drive across the US

Maybe I'm very confused about the geography, but does traveling from his location in BC cause you to leave Canada to get it home.????? I need to look at the map of the northern part of the continent.

You could drive through Canada, that's not the biggest issue, finances and time are, all these cars I'm checking out are pretty close

I'd be all over the black on black one. Black interiors in a Riv were only available in 95 and extremely sought after!

69GSColorado wrote:

I'd be all over the black on black one. Black interiors in a Riv were only available in 95 and extremely sought after!

Really? I wasn't aware of that

Yes sir. And to find one with the black exterior is a bonus! Although you're not really interested in modding, a set of gunmetal or gloss black wheels and a blacked out grille and window trim would transform that car into a real looker!

even nice buick chrome rims would look good on black, that's more to my taste, but beige interior is my favorite, although black is nice, just wasn't aware it was rare, the only interior i neve saw live is the red one, and on pics i only saw pretty worn out ones didn't look good, never saw a mint one.

Well you're in luck! I was able to stumble upon my favorite color combination in 2011 with the Medium Garnet Red Metallic paint and burgundy interior. This color was only available in 1995 and 1996, and I was dead set on Series II supercharged engine, so 1996 was the year I was looking for.

Here is a shot of the exterior and interior. I just took the interior shot outside, so excuse the dirty floor mats. It's time for spring detailing!

Jordan,
Where did you get the instrument pod on the A pillar.??? Did you custom make it.??? Or are they available somewhere.??

I would have liked to get one of those for a couple of 2" gauges I was going to install a few years ago.

If that is still available somewhere I'd still be interested.

Thanks,

Rick

See that looks very nice, i saw the red interior on a white riv and in pretty bad shape, i think this matches red, also the burgundy riv would look good in this combination, maybe even the black one, mercedes is known to match red leather with black amg models but it is more reddish than burgundy. My least favorite interior would be green and adriatic blue on white, adriatic blue paired with a 95' adriatic blue riv is nice

Rick I built my gauge pod and then had it reupholstered to match the original fabric used on the A-pillar. The gauges I used were Autometer GS series.

Welcome.

I'd be all over that black-on-black car. Black interiors are really nice, and possibly easier to maintain long-term. If you keep the car long enough, interior parts are going to be harder to find in all the select colors they made. But black is easy for matching custom interior repairs and replacement parts. Plus the steering wheel can wear over time, and they're black under the color coat...

If you are looking for a driver's car for the road, I'd say '98 or '99. They worked out most of the bugs by this time, and tweaked the suspension/steering for better handling. But for light cruising and the privilege of owning a Riviera, any year will do just fine.

Colors I think are nice are: black, Slate Green Metallic (like mine), and the deep cherry color like found on mid '90s Impalas (hard to find).

69GSColorado wrote:

Rick I built my gauge pod and then had it reupholstered to match the original fabric used on the A-pillar. The gauges I used were Autometer GS series.

Do you have a mold or something that would allow you to make another one.???

If you can make another one, how much would it cost.? I'm no good working with fiberglass or molding pieces. Have tried and failed in the past.

Thanks,

Rick

69GSColorado wrote:

I'd be all over the black on black one. Black interiors in a Riv were only available in 95 and extremely sought after!

AA wrote:

Welcome.

I'd be all over that black-on-black car. Black interiors are really nice, and possibly easier to maintain long-term. If you keep the car long enough, interior parts are going to be harder to find in all the select colors they made. But black is easy for matching custom interior repairs and replacement parts. Plus the steering wheel can wear over time, and they're black under the color coat...

I was going to say the same things, I like the black on black combo too