Post by auroarin on May 19, 2020 22:12:36 GMT -6
New to the board, but previous Aurora owner, and LONG time Olds fan.
I bought a '96 in 2007, had it only about a year. It was in pretty rough shape when i bought it, it had been flooded, the floor pan had some rust on it, the radio had been ripped out, and the tranny went out out it and had to be replaced. it was ok after that, drove pretty well, but i didn't keep it too long. My wife and I already had two other cars, and there was too much needing to be done to the Aurora, so I ended up parting ways with it; we actually gave it away to some friends who desperately needed a car. At least it was pretty much mechanically sound. I yhink i paid $1000 for the car originally, then another $3000 or so for the tranny.
Then in 2009 the '97 came into the family. I say the family, because my Mom needed a car, so I did a little looking and found it on Craigslist. And what a find - it was white with tan interior, almost the perfect combo for Arizona, had only 65,000 miles on it, and the guy only wanted $2800 for it. I called him up and asked "What's wrong with it?" "Nothing, really, just a couple cosmetic issues, runs good, a/c works." "Why is it priced so low??" He was a US Airways pilot, had recently gotten married and moved out of Phoenix, and only lived here part-time, whenever he was in town for either training or on layovers. He was finally getting around to selling his house and wanted to get rid of the Aurora, as well. I told him "You hold onto it, DON'T sell it to anyone else, I will be there tomorrow to pick it up, SIGHT UNSEEN!" And believe me, it wasn't a mistake - there were a couple chip spots in the paint, the cupholder was half broken, a couple cracks in the leather seats, but otherwise it was a CREAMPUFF! I ended up having to replace the serpentine belt and idler pulleys, a brake job, routine oil changes. It ran like a top - an ANGRY top, LOL! Mom loved it, and so did I. When our second car (98 Jag XJ8) took a dive with a blown head gasket, mom let me use her 'Rora occasionally for errands and stuff. All that came to a tragic end one Monday in November 2012 - I was going to a therapy session, sitting in a left turn lane waiting for the three lanes of oncoming traffic to go by. Feeling kinda good because for once, I was actually early, when the light turned yellow, I watched the oncoming traffic come to a halt; the two outside lanes were dead stopped, and just as the light rolled red, I rolled around the turn... and never even saw the bastard in the middle lane, running the red light at over 55 mph. The Chevy S10 Blazer Xtreme impacted just forward of the center post on the passenger side, and lurched the heavy 'Rora left a lane and a half. I was so stunned, for a few seconds i was wondering what had happened, and why i was suddenly parked in front of a lady staring at me, mouth agape. The air bags had deployed, of course, which added to my confusion; it didn't take too long to figure it out, tho. The Aurora was totalled, of course, but the Blazer came out of it worse. Karma, Baby. >
Fast forward to Dec 2018. I found a 95 Aurora for sale on Craigslist again, only $500. The guy said it was his mom's car, from Alaska, but she lived here most of the winters. She had got old & infirm, and was now in an assisted living facility, the car had been parked for two yaears Long story short, with limited time and resources, I've had to replace the fuel pump, water pump, plugs and wires, finaly got it running. But it won't pass emissions, first attempt in Oct 2019 it ran 2.03 NOX, (standard is 2.0 max), and second attempt a couple weeks later, after replacing EGR valve it ran 2.02. I got it running on a 30 day tag now, but i'm having some issues which i'm gonna post on an appropriate thread later.
A bit more background on me and my family's associaiton with Oldsmobiles...
When my parents met, Dad had a '55 Olds Holiday 88. A couple years later, they bought a '59 Dynamic 88. In '67, Dad bought a Vista Cruiser, which he special orderred with the 330 Ultra High Compression motor (10.25:1, 320 HP, 325 ft-lbs). I would later inherit the Cruiser as my second car, then trade it up for a '74 Cutlass. In '78, I bought a brand new Cutlass Calais, black on black with a red velvet interior, 5-speed manual trans on a 260 V8. Loved that car, but it was totaled from under me; on the way home from work one day, on a two-lane highway, a drunk idiot coming at me made a left turn directly in front of me at 45 mph. I left exactly 10 feet of skid marks before impacting the little Chevy Monza. He lost. I took the insurance proceeds and went to the local Olds dealer and bought a '83 Cutlass Calais, although i REALLY was lusting after the Hurst Olds in the showroom! It was just a bit out of range for me, though; but the Calais was a super car, i loved it. Unfortunately, my 2nd wife totalled that one out 3 years later. I went without an Olds for a few years, but in 2000, after moving here to Phoenix, I bought a '94 88 LSS, then a '97 88LS, which I gave to my mom a couple years before i bought her the aforementioned '97 Aurora. She's also had a 2003 Alero, the only Olds in our family so far that's been a real POS, and is currently in a 2000 Intrigue. My dad also had a '94 98 Regency before he passed away in 2006. Going way back, my grandpa had several Oldsmobiles, among them a '63 F-85 and a '66 F-85. My grandma also had a couple, the one i recall best was a '74 Omega. Oh, and my son had a '96 Aurora for a couple years, too.
I think GM was outta their frikkin minds when they killed Oldsmobile. For my money, they shoulda killed off Buick first, then Pontiac.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting and discussing these great cars with y'all!
I bought a '96 in 2007, had it only about a year. It was in pretty rough shape when i bought it, it had been flooded, the floor pan had some rust on it, the radio had been ripped out, and the tranny went out out it and had to be replaced. it was ok after that, drove pretty well, but i didn't keep it too long. My wife and I already had two other cars, and there was too much needing to be done to the Aurora, so I ended up parting ways with it; we actually gave it away to some friends who desperately needed a car. At least it was pretty much mechanically sound. I yhink i paid $1000 for the car originally, then another $3000 or so for the tranny.
Then in 2009 the '97 came into the family. I say the family, because my Mom needed a car, so I did a little looking and found it on Craigslist. And what a find - it was white with tan interior, almost the perfect combo for Arizona, had only 65,000 miles on it, and the guy only wanted $2800 for it. I called him up and asked "What's wrong with it?" "Nothing, really, just a couple cosmetic issues, runs good, a/c works." "Why is it priced so low??" He was a US Airways pilot, had recently gotten married and moved out of Phoenix, and only lived here part-time, whenever he was in town for either training or on layovers. He was finally getting around to selling his house and wanted to get rid of the Aurora, as well. I told him "You hold onto it, DON'T sell it to anyone else, I will be there tomorrow to pick it up, SIGHT UNSEEN!" And believe me, it wasn't a mistake - there were a couple chip spots in the paint, the cupholder was half broken, a couple cracks in the leather seats, but otherwise it was a CREAMPUFF! I ended up having to replace the serpentine belt and idler pulleys, a brake job, routine oil changes. It ran like a top - an ANGRY top, LOL! Mom loved it, and so did I. When our second car (98 Jag XJ8) took a dive with a blown head gasket, mom let me use her 'Rora occasionally for errands and stuff. All that came to a tragic end one Monday in November 2012 - I was going to a therapy session, sitting in a left turn lane waiting for the three lanes of oncoming traffic to go by. Feeling kinda good because for once, I was actually early, when the light turned yellow, I watched the oncoming traffic come to a halt; the two outside lanes were dead stopped, and just as the light rolled red, I rolled around the turn... and never even saw the bastard in the middle lane, running the red light at over 55 mph. The Chevy S10 Blazer Xtreme impacted just forward of the center post on the passenger side, and lurched the heavy 'Rora left a lane and a half. I was so stunned, for a few seconds i was wondering what had happened, and why i was suddenly parked in front of a lady staring at me, mouth agape. The air bags had deployed, of course, which added to my confusion; it didn't take too long to figure it out, tho. The Aurora was totalled, of course, but the Blazer came out of it worse. Karma, Baby. >
Fast forward to Dec 2018. I found a 95 Aurora for sale on Craigslist again, only $500. The guy said it was his mom's car, from Alaska, but she lived here most of the winters. She had got old & infirm, and was now in an assisted living facility, the car had been parked for two yaears Long story short, with limited time and resources, I've had to replace the fuel pump, water pump, plugs and wires, finaly got it running. But it won't pass emissions, first attempt in Oct 2019 it ran 2.03 NOX, (standard is 2.0 max), and second attempt a couple weeks later, after replacing EGR valve it ran 2.02. I got it running on a 30 day tag now, but i'm having some issues which i'm gonna post on an appropriate thread later.
A bit more background on me and my family's associaiton with Oldsmobiles...
When my parents met, Dad had a '55 Olds Holiday 88. A couple years later, they bought a '59 Dynamic 88. In '67, Dad bought a Vista Cruiser, which he special orderred with the 330 Ultra High Compression motor (10.25:1, 320 HP, 325 ft-lbs). I would later inherit the Cruiser as my second car, then trade it up for a '74 Cutlass. In '78, I bought a brand new Cutlass Calais, black on black with a red velvet interior, 5-speed manual trans on a 260 V8. Loved that car, but it was totaled from under me; on the way home from work one day, on a two-lane highway, a drunk idiot coming at me made a left turn directly in front of me at 45 mph. I left exactly 10 feet of skid marks before impacting the little Chevy Monza. He lost. I took the insurance proceeds and went to the local Olds dealer and bought a '83 Cutlass Calais, although i REALLY was lusting after the Hurst Olds in the showroom! It was just a bit out of range for me, though; but the Calais was a super car, i loved it. Unfortunately, my 2nd wife totalled that one out 3 years later. I went without an Olds for a few years, but in 2000, after moving here to Phoenix, I bought a '94 88 LSS, then a '97 88LS, which I gave to my mom a couple years before i bought her the aforementioned '97 Aurora. She's also had a 2003 Alero, the only Olds in our family so far that's been a real POS, and is currently in a 2000 Intrigue. My dad also had a '94 98 Regency before he passed away in 2006. Going way back, my grandpa had several Oldsmobiles, among them a '63 F-85 and a '66 F-85. My grandma also had a couple, the one i recall best was a '74 Omega. Oh, and my son had a '96 Aurora for a couple years, too.
I think GM was outta their frikkin minds when they killed Oldsmobile. For my money, they shoulda killed off Buick first, then Pontiac.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting and discussing these great cars with y'all!