Pictures - Description - Finished Changes - Planned Changes - Reatta Links
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This is my daily driver. This is a somewhat rare sports car with a great deal of luxury built into the design. There are only two seats, but they are covered in leather. An all digital dash and vehicle status system will show the driver exactly what the car is doing. There are also sensors in about everything. Any error is displayed on a small touchscreen that is built into the dash. This touchscreen is also used to control the heat and air, the radio, and a trip monitor that will show information such as the distance traveled and the average mpg that the car is getting. There is even an event calendar that events can be entered into. These events will display on the date and time that they are set to display (an anniversary, a birthday, etc.)
This two seater is small, fast, and an absolute joy to drive. This is one of those cars that feels like you are traveling at 35 mph when you are actually going 70mph. The transmission is a three speed automatic with overdrive. Once the car is into overdrive and cruising down the highway, the 3.8 liter V6 gets great gas mileage. I recently found out that this Buick is capable of going about 400 miles on a tank of gas. That's close to 30 mpg. And a V6 in a car this small means that it has plenty of power when power is needed.
I have not yet had a chance to make any big changes to the car except for one emergency situation. The planned changes I have made include normal tune up (plugs, wires, etc.) and replaced some of the interior trim that was damaged. The emergency fix that was required happened after the back window blew out of the car. One minute I was driving, the next minute, the back glass was gone. I took advantage of the situation and repaired the rust that had started around the back glass. Since this was the only rust on the car, having removed the rust and repainted the area means that this is a rust free car.
There is still some work that I need to do to this car. The brakes and struts need to be replaced. I have the parts, I just need to find a weekend to take care of this. This should smooth out the ride nicely by taking some of the excess bounce out of the vehicle. I have also purchased a remote start and door unlock system. Once installed, I will be able to start the Reatta from up to 400 feet away. This will be nice to be able to do on days when I want the car to heat up or cool down before I get into it. The last modification that I have in the works has to do with the dash panel trim. I found some very rare woodgrain trim that will fit. This kind of trim is rare since the 1988 Reatta was not offered with a woodgrain dash. Still, the woodgrain trim improves the look of the interior a great deal. I will post pictures when this is all done.
After getting the Reatta, I had to find places to get parts and accessories for this car. Here is a list of some of the better links that I have found. Click on the picture to open the site.
Just search for Reatta. There is usually about two pages of parts
and accessories.
This is the place for new GM parts. They can get any parts available
through a dealer; only at an excellent discount.
This is the only salvage yard I could find that has Reatta parts.
The only problem is that they know it. That means that the prices
tend to be a little high.
This is a club devoted to all things Buick. There is a division devoted
solely to the Reatta, including a discussion group with some great information
from Reatta owners.
This is an online specialty shop for Buick automobiles. There is a section
for Reatta's. I also hear they have some of the carpet and trim available.