should i buy a 1990 chevy celebrity

[TanisHalfElven]

My university is going to auction a 1990 Chevy celebrity station wagon. I recently had the chance to drive it..... actually I think I was the last person to check it out. I really liked it. Its not in thebeat shape but it still was pretty fun to drive. Im thinking if II can pick it up for a few hundred it wouldn't be so bad. I nice project car. Its been well maintained, ans only has 80 k miles.

Any ideas on how much to pay, or if I sguld even do this. Im thinking it would be a neat road trip car to have for when I don't want toput miles on my main car. And I can use it to learn.

Thanks.

 

[NutBucket]

$2000 would be too much. Under $1500 would be fair IMHO.

 

[ElFenix]

$300

the GM A body chassis is made from old wet newspapers.

 

[SearchMaster]

$300

the GM A body chassis is made from old wet newspapers.

God, this. My parents had two Celebritys that they got for basically nothing after serving as my dad's company cars. They're junk. 80K miles was nearing the end of that car's lifecycle.

 

[kornphlake]

If you're looking for a project car I'd keep looking, there's nothing really desirable about a 1990 celebrity wagon. A late 70's Buick Estate wagon with a 350 would be a lot cooler wagon to restore IMO.

 

[mvbighead]

Yep, the celebrity is probably the absolute worst of Chevy's products in any year. Every one of those I have seen is rusted out and falling apart, and many of these were within 10 years of new. If you can get it for a few hundred, it might be a good car to learn on. But it'll never be worth the effort you put into it.

If you look at Fuzzy's MR2 rebuild (and others), it simply makes a bit more sense to take a beat to crap car that has some sort of uniqueness to it. If you do a half way decent job of restoring it, you'll have something of value when you're done with it. THe celebrity will still wind up being a POS that nobody wants or cares to look at.

 

[exar333]

No.

 

[pauldun170]

If the condition is ok, a few hundred bucks is a good price.
It probably has the 3.1V6 and a 4spd auto.
For the period...it wasn't the worst car in the world.

If you get it it, the only money you should put into it is maintenance which at this point should actually be ok. If its survived this long and all fluids were taken care of it should keep going for awhile longer. It should also be pretty straight foward to fix yourself.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Unless you need the car as primary transportation, no.

 

[manimal]

run away screaming

 

[exar333]

The 4-cyl was garbage and the V6 was good except for head-gasket problems (no minor issue here). I would say avoid, unless the car was extremely well-maintained, low-mileage, and close to free <$1000.

 

[Ferzerp]

Can it cruise the vista?

 

[T2urtle]

any car running should be worth least $500 but once you pay for all the paperwork and insurance it could be like a $2000 cost to own the first year. You might think your commiting a few hundred but really its COULD be $2000.

figure $500 car, $100-300 for TTL pending on location. Your in college so under 25 so insurance could be high. Figure $1000 for year. Plus w/e small crap you need for the car, like bulbs, wipers. tires and brakes.


My brother's friend who is in his 2nd year asked me similar question. He isn't getting a car anymore.

 

[mvbighead]

any car running should be worth least $500 but once you pay for all the paperwork and insurance it could be like a $2000 cost to own the first year. You might think your commiting a few hundred but really its COULD be $2000.

figure $500 car, $100-300 for TTL pending on location. Your in college so under 25 so insurance could be high. Figure $1000 for year. Plus w/e small crap you need for the car, like bulbs, wipers. tires and brakes.


My brother's friend who is in his 2nd year asked me similar question. He isn't getting a car anymore.

This depends entirely on location.

My guess would be that a 1990 Celebrity would be worth about 500 tops (IMO), insurance should be relatively cheap for a car of that value and I would assume liability only coverage is preferred, and licensing figures should be low due to an extreme low value on the car.

$2000 seems a bit excessive for a $500 car. I would guess under $1000.

 

[marvdmartian]

Drove an 89 Celebrity wagon, for about a year and a half, back in the late 90's. It had been a fleet vehicle for the Navy Exchange, and the guy I bought it from got it from DRMO (defense reutilization whatever the hell it is).

He had had to put a new computer chip in it. Cost him ~$800. Be aware of that.

When I owned it, I had to replace the starter. Had to remove the oil filter in order to access the 3rd starter bolt. Be aware of that.

However, it usually ran like a champ (V6 with the 4-spd auto), started right up, and drove like......well, like a station wagon! I sold it when I bought my Nissan pickup.

 

[HarryLui]

Less than $500... maybe.

 

[Bignate603]

Less than $500... maybe.

This. If you can buy it so cheap that you can treat it as a throw away it could be worth it. Otherwise, keep looking.

 

[TrueBlueLS]

I'd say if it goes for about $500-800 to consider it. My family actually had two of them, both with the 2.5 Iron Duke and 3 speed auto. My dad's Celebrity actually hit 215,000 miles before it was time to send it to its grave.

 

[MagickMan]

<$500 or pass.

 

[RU482]

Back in high school, a friend of mine had one of those cars. We'd take it out drinkin on the gravel roads, ramp ditches and chase deer across corn fields. Beat the shit out of that car and it kept going

 

[CraigRT]

That car is worth next to nothing.
I had an 86 with 2.8 V6. Overall it was reliable but the distributor was a weakness on that car. It caused troubles the odd time. Not sure about the 3.1 or 4 cyl.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

You're better off getting a car you (either have or) can gain a passion for. Otherwise your just going to tear it apart, lose interest, and next thing you know its a year later and you havent touched it.
I am thankful that Jlee suggested the MR2 to me everytime that I work on it - I have grown to love the car and this inspires me to keep working on it.

 

[desy]

If you are going that old, get a Volvo
Easy to fix as a project car and widely available parts

 

[Tikerz]

No.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

No thanks. I would rather spend more and get a real car that would be reasonably reliable, safe, and enjoyable. I'd rather have a Honda with 200K miles than a Celebrity with 80K. Actually in grad school I drove a 1984 Accord with 206K miles and it was perfectly pleasant, reliable transportation.