Just put a deposit down on a 97 Riviera :)

Hey fellas my names Abe and i just found a 97 Riviera with 69k miles on it for 3200. Ive had 13 cars in the past 3 yrs and the best being my SC'd 98 Regal GS i just sold last week because the motor locked up and trans was burnt out. Anyways the riviera looks brand new and I am buying it from a ASE GM certified mechanic who did a run through of it and only had to replace the waterpump. Its the Greenish blue color with grey interior and it has the sunroof. Wanted heated seats but i could like without em. Anyways I wanted to know if there are any problematic issues with the rivi, what kind of mpg your getting and if $3200 is really as good as a deal as i think. In the mean time heres a cppl picks of my last ride and the buick that got me hooked. had the lesabre for a week before is sold it for the regal lol.

Lol glad to see you went through with it.

I'm tonys96riv on regalgs.org btw...

Yes 3200 is an excellent deal. I paid 4k for my 96 with 74k miles last year.

And welcome to the club!

Very good price for a 97 with those miles, esp if it's in nice shape. Is it supercharged? That was optional until 98 and 99 models.

forgot to mention yes its supercharged ive driven test drove and checked out dozens of cars in the past couple of years and was shocked how clean this one is.

Heres the plan for this project:

For the interior Im gonna do blue LEDs for the gauges and the floor lights and white led for all the rest. also want to dye some of the hard plastic parts black to have a 2-tone effect going and will do a dark woodgrain kit to set it off. Im not sure if its possible for this application but ive seen places that will do a custom designed dash kit. i wanted a marble kitchen counter top look but with the color of the car incorporated. so it would be black/teal/white. it looks good in my head but just cant figure out a better way to word it.

Exterior wise I wanna take the side "riviera" badges off, black out the tails and sidemarkers, dual dual exhaust tips, HIDs and get a chrome grill (the factory style one, anybody know where to find one?). Down the road I will get some nice 18-20" chrome wheels and color match the calipers teal. for the tails i wanted to do the sequential turn signals and brake lights and thats about it. No portholes on this one lol

Motor wise i want a FWI, SSAC headers, 3.5pulley, Tune and possibly rockers for some more top end. Dont want anything crazy and dont want to kill mpg.

Brakes will be Fbody fronts and some decent pads/drilled rotors all the way around

When it comes to suspension what are some good places to start upgrading? For the regal is was the GMPP swaybar kit. I dont want to kill the comfy ride but if theres some easy mods to tighten the handling up a little i wouldnt mind.

Chrome grille, not available. But several members have used chrome tape strips to achieve the same effect, and it looks good if that's the look you want.

The interior woodgrain kits are available on Ebay in assorted colors and are supposed to be good quality.

Suspension: Best CHEAP mod is the Caddy STS front strut tower brace, was around $30. There's a thread on that already.

1998 Riv wrote:

The interior woodgrain kits are available on Ebay in assorted colors and are supposed to be good quality.

NOT!

Pay the extra money for a good kit, skip the cheaper BD Trims kit.

Welcome ghost. Glad you found a nice deal on a clean car.

Quote :

what kind of mpg your getting

It depends on driving style. These cars are heavy, but they roll very well. In the city stopping and going, you may get 15 MPG. On the freeway you might see 30+ MPG. My year-round running average is 20 MPG. In the summer I can average 22 MPG or better. It takes practice, but very possible.

Sounds like a great deal! I wish I could have found a similar Riv so cheap! I bought my old 90 for 1600.