1991 Reatta Value

[RJ968]

Hello all, new guy here. I’m not the owner of this 91 coupe but have been tasked with selling it for the elderly owner who’s going into assisted living and giving up driving.

 

I brought the car to my place to clean it up and fix any little things I could. I’ve taken advantage of some of the “how to guides” on thissite already.

 

Cosmetically it’s got two problems that I wanted to ask Reatta owners about. The car has always been in San Antonio Texas, I don’t see any rust anywhere. The paint appears to be original except for the top half of the rear bumper cover. Someone painted that area with a rattle can in the wrong shade of white. (very poorly done). I got a quote from my “Bumper Fix Guy” of $345 to correctly fix it.

 

So, here’s the question. Would getting this re-painted add anything to the car for resale, or are we just throwing money away? The other problem is the driver’s door armrest has two splits. I don’t see any fix for that other than a vinyl patch that’s not going to match but it will look better than some yellow foam staring at you. The rest of the interior is very nice.

 

Some info on the car. 68,000 miles, Current owner worked as the receptionist at an independent Porsche shop for decades. If the Buick needed something it got done there, with maintenance records from 2009 at 37,000 miles when she bought it. It was in my garage for four days and not a drop of fluid on the floor. Buick shop service manual comes with the car. Good original glass with VIN markings. Headlights go up/down with no binding or noises. I saw a service ticket for headlight repairs 10K miles ago.  I drove it about 25 miles and tried every button knob and switch. Cruise works, radio doesn’t. Radio comes on, all the functions, seek, scan, etc. work, but only static from the speakers. There is a humming noise in the back, since there is nothing back there but the fuel pump, that would be my guess. Whatever it is it will get fixed before it’s put up for sale.

 

Looking at Reatta’s for sale around the country I see prices all over the place, and some that look nice have been listed for over a year! Ouch.

 

Comments and suggestions are very welcome!

 

RJ, San Antonio, TX

 

[rogold]

Does the power antenna raise up when the radio is turned on? The humming noise in the back could be the power antenna motor running, trying to extend the antenna, If the plastic cable inside is broke, it won't extend.

[RJ968]

13 hours ago, rogold said:

Does the power antenna raise up when the radio is turned on? The humming noise in the back could be the power antenna motor running, trying to extend the antenna, If the plastic cable inside is broke, it won't extend.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check when I'm back next week. I notice the antenna is not all the way down, may be stuck there. Probably not the antenna though since the radio is off. But I'll check anyway. One more thing to add to the things that work or don't work when I list it for sale. Since I have the shop manual I may pull the radio and have it checked by a local radio shop that specializes in old car audio. He's good and cheap! A rare treat these days.

 

RJ

[Top Down]

When I bought my Reatta and parked it in the garage for the 1st time, I noticed a buzzing sound as i was about to go inside the house.   Well, you guessed it, the antena  was running non stop with the engine/radio being off.   It was not the way to start our relationship.............