How "good" are the '85 Riv t-types?

[SavageATL]

Are the '85 Riviera t-types solid daily driver cars? It has 108K miles. I know they're front wheel drive and the Eldorado version had the troublesome 4.1 V8 but are they reliable cars? Is there anything in particular I should ask about before buying one?

[TurboSportCoupe]

It depends on what engine the t-type has, 3.8L turbo or the 307. The 307 is an engine that will last for awhile, my 85 riv has a 307 and about 126,000mi.
The car it self is great, mine was white with tan cloth interior, also have four cig liters is cool. Some cars had digtial display and automatic climate control.
The car gets lot of traction, I remember some old guy come up to me. I was parking in the lots of farmer's store and made some commets about his riv and how he put in a 350 and with the front wheel drive he was getting good traction.
Well I could go on for hours talking about the riv's but I have other thing to do today.

[SavageATL]

The one I was considering is the Turbo on the other buick board. How are the transmissions? Are the cars overall known to be troublesome, and I would not mind at all if you went on and on all day about it. I love the GN so much I want another one, but I don't want a car that is very troublesome as a Driver.

[turbofish38]

Do it. I drove a 84 Riv T-Type as a DD for many of years. As dependable as the sun coming up every morning. Transaxles last just as long as the engine. Decent highway MPG too. New parts are virtually not available.Even if it does break something I bet I can come up with a suitable fix using something off of another model. The climate control can give you fits,especially on a 20+ YO car. The nice thing about the 79-85 vintage Riv is that those were record producing years for the flagship Buick. Almost 500K built in that time which means they'll be showing up in the bone yards for years to come.

The real advantage is they are true sleepers. You get to have a turbo Buick with out the hassles of owning a TR. You dont have to worry about leaving it in the mall parking lot and coming out hours later to find it missing. Nobody wants those for racing or building ghetto cruisers any way.

[TurboSportCoupe]

Really the only problem with my riv is the engine leaks oil badly and the trany doesn't want to downshift when it get warm.(It could just need a new filter.)
Just like any other car that is 20+ years old, there is going to be parts that wear out. It happens. It was the car that started my love for buicks and if the thing didn't need major repairs I wouldn't have my '78 TR. Maybe a sign from above?