My 2nd Florida Car - 1983 Buick Regal Limited

In 1980, my dad, who lived in Sarasota, FL, found me a great deal on a used 1973 Buick Century that I happily drove more than 100,000 miles with no problems. About 1988, he called again, perfect timing as the old '73 Century was starting to wear out. This time, he knew an elderly man who lived about a block away and he decided it was time to sell his car. It was a fully loaded 1983 Buick Regal Limited with 8,000 miles on it! The guy bought it new when he was 90 years old and drove it for 5 years before he got into a fairly minor traffic accident that damaged the front end. A body shop had fixed the damage and it looked and drove like a brand new car. That crash convinced him to give up driving and he wanted to get rid of it. With only 8,000 miles in 5 years he sure didn't use the car much and it was always kept in a garage.

Like I stated, the car was loaded with a V-6 motor, padded vinyl top, fancy wheels and power everything. It felt like a very luxurious car driving it. The factory sticker was still in the glove box, with the MSRP at $13,500. That was not inexpensive for a car in 1983. My dad had driven it, said it was good and I told him to make the deal and I'll find a way to get down there.

That also was a great car right up until early 1993 when I started hearing lifter noise with the engine fully warmed up. I had always religiously maintained that car and was very surprised it let me down. This happened just as I was getting ready to make the move to Salt Lake City in July. Being just about ready to load up a U-Haul truck, I got a trailer to haul my other car and decided to leave the Regal behind. My wife had to stay an extra month to close on the house so she drove it until then, took it to a used car lot in Crivitz and took whatever the owner would give us. The amount he offered was ridiculously low, so I had not one pang of guilt selling the car to him. In fact, I believe he could have replaced the motor and still have made money reselling it.

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