New forum member, looking for 97+ Riviera

Hello,

My name is Rafael. Rivperformance has been the best source of Riviera information for me so far. That's why I decided to register and introduce myself. I would like to purchase a 97+ low mileage Riviera (with a blue interior) simply because I am fed up with Euro-basic transportation devices I've been driving since I got my driving license. The best of them was an Astra GTC (known to You as Saturn), it was stylish (compared to 95% of compact cars) and quite reliable. Thanks to it I have trust in GM. Other cars in my family have been neither as stylish nor as reliable (Mercedes A,B-Class, Audi A2, Mercedes E, BMW X6 - the ugliest one). Personally I am into coupes, 2-door sport, muscle cars. I love CTS coupe the best. Mustang, Camaro, Challenger are OK too. Unfortunately import taxes are so high I must look for a cheaper alternative. The 90's Riviera price range is acceptable and I always liked the looks. Therefore I search for the on craiglists, autotrader etc. Also let me know if any of Your well maintained garage queens is for sale  

P.S.

There was a guy from Germany asking here about a blue Riviera for sale in Germany. I was about to buy it but the car appeared to be a piece of junk (especially for nearly 6 thousand Euro).

Welcome to the forum

I'm sure you'll find something. Not many people actually list their Rivs "For Sale" here, as we aren't a site for that. However, we have members that troll Craigslist and what-not all the time and list the Rivs they find.

If you can help it, stay away from Rivieras from the Northeastern states. We have rust problems.....

  

Thanks for a warm welcome. I am aware people prefer and recommend cars from states as CL and FL. The problem is I have somebody who could check a Riv for sale in Chicago area. Also the shipping costs would be higher of course if the car is located far from the North-East Shore. I am not going to save every penny but I have money limit due to high import taxes I mentioned. As far as exterior issues are concerned, what's up with the paint on Rivieras? Was it really that bad? I am asking because many of cars I look up on web, have paint issues.

It just happens on pretty much every Buick of the era. Have a read through this thread

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t1063-faq-flaking-chipping-cracking-thinning-paint?highlight=peeling+paint

sorry, the low-mileage, well-maintained 98 Riviera with metric cluster I have for sale on the East Coat (Montreal) has a light green interior, not blue.

I am not fond of green interiors but certainly I like the idea of interior color matching the exterior (something rarely seen in modern cars). Unfortunately those interior shots on Your cardomain account don't show the wide view of the interior and they come from 2005...
Were there two shades of green? I am asking because I have impression there is dark green exterior color (yours) and light. However it might be just a picture impression. And I also admire the mods You did on the car of course. The exhaust sounds lovely...

2 shades of green interior exist.  There was "jadestone" in 95-97, sometimes called "Grinch Green," which was REALLY green.  98-99 Rivieras had "light autumn green."  It's a light greenish-grey.  Here's a recent pic (Nov)







For exterior colours there was "Emerald Green Pearl" like mine, and Slate Green, like AA's riv.  Earlier riv's had "light jadestone metallic" exteriors but that colour is almost indistinguishable from the colour "light adriatic blue."  There was another jadestone colour that is fairly similar to 98+ emerald green. It might be a bit lighter, not sure if this is the one you are referring to. The only other "light green" riviera you may have seen was Andysdorm's.  It was a custom paint job.

this looks grey...haha

I am sorry that I bother You again with questions but I've been recently analyzing 97' Rivieras and 98-99' ones. I see there is some difference between them. Is this source trustworthy? http://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_cmp2.php I know 240hp was standard since 1998. But was it available before 1998? I am a little confused because sometimes I see classifieds with 97' cars claiming they have 220hp and sometimes 240 hp. In the comparison table I pasted above there is 208 hp... In the link I also see weight difference but previously I thought that there were modifications made on the car only after 1996 not 1997.

All supercharged 96-99 Rivis produced a claimed 240hp stock from the factory. The non supercharged from 95-96 (maybe 97 too?) were 200hp from the factory. I don't know what the SC 95 made because it was a Series I engine with an M62 SC instead of a Series II with an M90 found on later Rivis.

thanks, I see that the comparo in the link I made doesn't work anymore. But it seems it compared non-SC version with SC one. I am still curious about the weight difference of 97 and 98 (1705 kg / 3759 lbs vs.

1678 kg / 3699 lbs). Wikipedia isn't a good source, they only mention there was a major update of 1997 compared to 96' (transmission etc.). I know I can find everything on this forum but there's so much information here that it takes time