Ron's Rocket Riv

OK... Here are some pics.. I have enjoyed the first weekend with the car, getting a big thrill from the power, style, and comfort of the car.
Hope you like the pictures...

thats a sweet Riv thats been well taken care of.congrats.What she end up costing you?

Very Nice ... Congrats & Thanks for sharing the pics

I really enjoyed driving this great car over the last 2 days... Picked it up the other day and I haven't wanted to stop driving it since. It is powerful, comfortable, and stylish.

That's the finest looking Riv I've seen in a while...FIVE STARS !!!

Thank you, Dave! That means a lot coming from you as your car is just perfection!

I accidentally deleted a couple of posts, one by me and another by robotennis (sorry!). He asked how much the car ended up costing me.. So here it is...

The initial asking price was $7995. I thought that was a fair price and was immediately interested. I was also looking at a 1998 Mark VIII at the same time (it was also a one-owner car with under 50,000 miles - that was going for $8995).

I haggled a bit with both dealers and the guys that had the Riviera were better to deal with and willing to deal. For a final selling price of $6995, the dealer made the following updates to the car (included in the price): 4 new tires, new brake pads and rotors resurfaced all around, new battery, transmission service, oil & filter change.

I paid for (aboive and beyond the what was mentioned and inlcuded in the selling price) a power steering pump replacement (charged me $695 for that job).

When I drove it home (almost 140 miles from the dealer to my house), it was worth every penny!

I plan to do $3,000 - $4,000 of mods over the next 12-18 months. At that point, I will have about $12,000 invested in her... Not bad for a car with so much power, style, and comfort! Not to mention, there is a rarity factor and a cool factor (and a fun-to-drive factor) that is totally missing from so many of the perfectly sterile, 4-wheeled appliances that are called cars now....

Beautiful! Get rid of that dealer decal on the trunk lip first!

Wow, congrats Ron, thats a "like new" Riv you got there. Man, maybe I sould stop putting money into mine and look around for another one!

IBx1 wrote:

Beautiful! Get rid of that dealer decal on the trunk lip first!

Very carefully, it will peel off the paint! Ask me how I know

I see they had to stick their ad on the front too - you should have had them take it off and fix the damage they did installing that front plate holder!

Nice Riv Ron glad you joined up! The forum is seemingly limitless with information for these cars. A good place to remember when needing part numbers on you riv is to use the search bar. Best example from the site I can give is The Holy Grail of Riviera Part Numbers & Diagrams, just enter Holy Grail under Search bar.

Jack the R wrote:

IBx1 wrote:

Beautiful! Get rid of that dealer decal on the trunk lip first!

Very carefully, it will peel off the paint! Ask me how I know

I see they had to stick their ad on the front too - you should have had them take it off and fix the damage they did installing that front plate holder!

Hey, Jack...Not everyone considers the front plate holder to be something that constitutes body damage. Some of us ol' farts like 'em.

GO FAST WITH CLASS

Excellent buy for a super looking low mileage Riv. Nice to see another one saved by someone willing to take care of it and appreciate it.

Very nice Riv. Low mile models, that work, are rare indeed.


Before you put too much $$$ into the car keep monitoring resale values; hopefully we are on the rise.

I got my 72k mile 1995 SC Riv for $1300 but it needed a lot of mechanical work, beautiful car but a lot of aging parts.

Definitely worth preserving and customizing but be carefull to not spend too much unless you seriously plan on handing the car down to other generations in your family. Not sure you'd get the $12k back.

Again, beaufiful cars, worth preserving and running but I would be reserved about the costs of customizations.

Then again, there are a few Rivs on this site that could easily bring in over $12k. See what they've done when planning your projects.

Welcome.

I have a 1998 Riviera I inherited about 4 years ago when it had 50,000 miles. Now about 67,000 miles. This was my old aunts car, well maintained, a South Carolina car never driven in snow. Still never driven in snow as I put it in storage every winter. I have spent about $6,000 on stuff just to keep it Mint.
A year and half ago I paid cash for a 2011 Camaro with an MSRP of $39,000. The Camaro is also depricating. Love my 2011 Camaro but my Riviera is the better car.

Thought about buying a new Cadillac coupe for about $65,000. Would not trade my 1998 Riviera for a new 2012 Cadillac.

I would rather have Ron's Rocket any day PAID FOR than any car on this earth and be upside down on it like so many are. But, that's just me.

Fellas,

A big THANK YOU for the warm welcome, the words of advice, and the enthusiasm! I am as happy that I found this forum as I am that I found my Riv. This seems like a great forum; it is active and you are all really into the car (and I have to say, I am humbled by your rides - they are all impressive).

I am looking forward to a long relationship with my Riv and with you all.

Thanks again for your warm welcome! I am happy to be a part of this excellent forum!

Ron

Oh ronny! we love you !

robotennis61 wrote:

Oh ronny! we love you !

Sweet ride ron,at it again i see!!

Nice car!! Welcome

Eccellent find Ron, Lucky dog.
I found my '98' with 46000 miles, now at 100500, love it....

Welcome. That is one nice clean looking Riv.