2006 Buick Regal GS. $1,000. Located in North East, MD 21901.
- Just under 100k miles
- Runs great, looks crappy
- Dent, ding, or scratch on nearly every body panel
- Symptoms of a bad wheel speed sensor (CEL, traction control, ABS)
- Potentially sketchy brake lines
- Battery may or may not hold a charge, I'll toss a charger on it and see.
I got this car two years ago from a friend. It was his MIL's car from new and she gave it to his son as his first car. He drove it for a few years and managed to put a dent, ding, or scratch in just about every body panel. He upgraded and put the car in a damp cement block/cement floor garage for a couple of years and forgot about it. Being stored in that environment means that it's a little crusty - most notably, I would recommend all new brake lines. More on the brakes later. There's no significant rust on the body/unibody structure.
I was fishing around for a first car for my daughter and my buddy offered this fine specimen for a friendly price. My ever-practical daughter liked the idea that it was already dinged up and crappy because she figured that she'd do more of the same as she learned to drive. She didn't. In fact, she hardly drove it because she hates driving. The tags expire tomorrow and because this isn't a car I'd send her off to college in the fall in, it's a good time to cut ties. I actually made that decision months ago but have been dragging my feet as I don't enjoy dealing with Marketplace buyers. We've probably only put ~500 miles on it in the two years we've had it.
It runs great. It's sorta fast and drives just like you'd expect a big-ass Buick to drive. The interior is clean - I had it detailed when we got it because it was FUNKY. Tires passed inspection. I think I pad-slapped at least the front brakes when we got it but I don't recall for sure. I replaced the battery, changed the oil, and probably changed the air filter, and that's probably it. It's a deferred maintenance special for sure.
When we got it, it had a CEL for a bad wheel speed sensor (right front). I threw a Rock Auto part at it and the light persisted. I dug around and found that the wire harness for that side had been repaired and I re-repaired the issue. It is now showing the same CEL. I figure it's 50/50 that my hasty repair or the Rock Auto cheapy wheel speed sensor failed. It is integrated with the wheel bearing unit which is kind of a pain. If I were going to GRM Challenge or Gambler 500 it, I would leave it alone. Who wants traction control or ABS in that scenario? :)
It came to us with a janky front brake line replacement that didn't follow the original routing as it was a tight squeeze behind the engine. Several months ago one of the rear metal lines began to leak and I committed a similar offense by quickly slapping in a poorly routed brake line so that I could safely move the car around at home. I intended to replace all of the metal brake lines but ultimately decided that it wasn't worth my effort knowing that we weren't going to send her off to school in this car. The brakes work just fine today, but if two lines have needed replacing, more will likely follow.
I have a little bit of a car problem right now. By that I mean that there are 11 cars/trucks in my driveway and one at a buddy's house because I'm out of room. I really need to thin the herd. If not for that, I would shave weight everywhere that I can and drag race this thing in the spirit of the old Hot Rod "Caddy Hack" article.
It would make a great GRM Challenge car or Gambler 500 car. It could be a fun beater RallyCross or Autocross car. It could make a great daily beater too. I just don't want to put it in the hands of someone who is stretching to buy a $1,000 car and will ignore the brake lines. I don't have any current pics, but these are the pics my buddy sent me a couple of years ago. The snow and engine pics are of the car when they got it. The garage pics are more representative of how it looks now. It'll be the weekend before I am able to get updated pics.
