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The Delta 88 passes on


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Tomorrow is the day, after 336,910 miles, the Delta is going to that big Oldsmobile dealer in the sky. Its been a long road with the 88, a car that has lived up to Oldsmobile's 100+ year reputation of quality while smoothing out the road to a point that my Aurora's ride is almost hard after a few trips with the 88. For those who have questioned the GM FWD cars of the 1980's I say this. My 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale 4-dr did 336,910 miles on the original engine, original fuel pump, the original exhaust system last 321,000 miles, the original starter lasted nearly 300,000 miles. It took 18 years for the headliner to fall down even though the car wasn't garaged. The next time Websters needs to update its dictionary I suggest adding Oldsmobile 88 as one of the definitions of quality, durability, and reliability.

As they said in the 1988 Oldsmobile brochure " And so it goes at Oldsmobile, as it has for the past 90 years. Doing it first. Doing it better. Offering the engineering innovations that make driving an Oldsmobile easier, more convenient, more comfortable and a down right pleasure. And doing it right. Demanding a level of quality and dependability so exacting, the Oldsmobile owner is assured lasting value, tangible value- over the miles- and the years."

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Its a lot of little things, the fuel and brake lines are totally gone, in fact I lost a brake line the other day and almost made friends with a tree. Shes leaking about a quart of oil every hundred miles, the heat isn't working, the master cylinder is gone. Time has taken its toll on the big 8

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  • 1 month later...

I always wondered why they didn't call those models "86", since they were (presumably) the 80-series powered by a six-cylinder engine. Same would hold for the 1977+ models with the standard 231 V6. :)

My dad had a 1990 Olds 88 that went a long ways too. I think his made it to around 250K, with very minimal maintenance (that's the only kind of maintenance my old man has ever practiced!).

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I miss that car, it rode so smoothly and was so quiet. The simplicity of roll up windows and manual door locks seems so out of touch now, but I associate that simplicity along with traditional Oldsmobile characteristics of quality and durability as to why the "8" as it was known lasted so long.

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I hear ya, man.

For a long time, my mother-in-law drove an '86 LeSabre. That car was sweet in so many ways--quick, comfortable and fantastic fuel economy. I always enjoyed taking her car on trips.

She traded it for a '96 Riviera (SC), another very sweet car.

Wish she still had a Buick. Now she's driving a Volvo S60, which rides like an old haywagon relative to the Buicks.

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