Good morning! Yesterday in the comments, among all the unkind remarks about Cadillac’s Northstar engine, someone brought up the undisputed king of the General Motors cheap used car powerplants: the legendary 3800 V6, which started out good and just got better. So today, you get a 3800! And you get a 3800! And… well, that’s it; we only have the two cars. Sorry.
Despite your dislike for the Caddy’s engine, which apparently is not one of the “good” years as I thought, Grandpa’s DeVille ended up winning the day, due to its significantly lower mileage and better styling. The Continental is sort of inoffensive but bland, but the Cadillac has presence, and that counts for a lot.
It also has a problem with the air conditioning, which is so common with used cars it’s practically a meme at this point. I think a lot of people equate it to checking and adding oil to the engine; if the AC doesn’t work, you go to the parts store, buy the little can of R134a with a nozzle attached, fill it up, and it works again – for a while. So the whole “needs freon” line of thinking makes sense; it’s just wrong.
General Motors gets a lot of bad press for debacles like the Northstar, but in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, it’s the undisputed champion of perfecting an engine design over the course of decades. The 3800 V6 has its roots way back in the early ’60s, though GM foolishly sold off the design to Kaiser in 1967 but had the good sense to buy it all back in 1974.
It wasn’t until the late ’80s and early ’90s that this engine really started to hit its stride, and then it became GM’s go-to large engine for FWD cars and vans. With good power and torque, stalwart reliability, and frankly astonishing fuel economy for its size, the 3800 has earned a following that isn’t likely to go away any time soon, even though the newest example is now sixteen years old. Today we’ve got a pair of Buicks to look at, one with a Series I 3800, and one with a Series II. Here they are.
1995 Buick Regal Custom – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: 3.8-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Heiskell, TN
Odometer reading: 134,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
For the first three years of the W-body Buick Regal, you couldn’t get a sedan. Like its Olds Cutlass and Pontiac Grand Prix platform-mates, only a two-door coupe was offered, with cool but troublesome door handles hidden in the B-pillars. Starting in 1991, a four-door sedan became available, and was very popular, despite having four utterly ordinary and boring door handles.
Buick was the only division to offer the 3800 V6 in its W-body, though the other divisions each got their own special engines as well. Pontiac offered a turbocharged version of the 3.1 liter V6, and Oldsmobile for a brief time offered its Quad 4 twin-cam four-cylinder in the Cutlass Supreme, along with a five-speed manual. I’ve never actually seen one in person. The 3800 in the Regal is a nice combination, torquey and smooth, and makes it feel like a bigger car than it is. This one runs great, and has been a daily driver for several years now.
W-bodies got a few different interiors over the years. The Regal started out pretty traditional, with a wide skinny dashboard and a column shifter, but it was later revised to this more driver-oriented design with a center console and a floor-mounted shifter. The seats in these are really comfy, and by the way, there are photos in the ad showing what the seats look like under those towels; they’re fine.
It’s rust-free, straight, and for the most part, shiny. I do see some dull or faded areas, but for a nearly thirty-year-old car, it looks really good. This is another one of those cars that you only see (or only notice) in certain colors; it seems like every four-door Regal I see is either black or green.
2001 Buick LeSabre Custom – $2,750
Engine/drivetrain: 3.8-liter overhead valve V6, four-speed automatic, FWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 104,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives, I assume
Step up the ladder of Buick’s product line and you find the full-size LeSabre, which turned front-wheel-drive in 1986 and was the best-selling full-size sedan in the US when it was discontinued in 2005. These things are everywhere, still, and for a long time they were my go-to suggestion for a good cheap used car when someone asked for a recommendation. The secret is out, though, and clean low-mileage LeSabres are getting a bit harder to find. This one is low mileage, but it could be cleaner.
The 3800 Series II, along with an overdrive automatic, was the only powertrain available in this generation of LeSabre. Stepping up to its fancier sibling the Park Avenue allowed you to add a supercharger, but the standard engine was no slouch; 205 horsepower was a V8 number only a few years earlier. The Series II did, unfortunately, bring the 3800 into the Dumb Plastic Engine Cover Era, a trend that I have never understood and has always annoyed me. I know it’s usually to quiet things down, but I don’t want to open the hood and see a plastic monolith. I want to see a damn engine.
This car’s ad, from a buy-here-pay-here lot, is a little light on details. We get a list of options, and that’s about it. I assume it starts and runs since they’re offering financing on it, but you’d be wise to check it out before buying or have someone check it out for you. It does look pretty nice inside, so that’s something.
Outside, it’s a little beat-up, and it rides on aftermarket wheels that don’t suit it. But the paint is shiny, and a few bumps and bruises just mean you don’t have to worry about it as much. Park it right next to the shopping cart corral; to hell with the consequences.
Obviously, even though the engines in both of these cars are solid, the rest of the cars could very well not be. A known reliable engine is a good reason to consider a car, not to dive into it head-first. But it’s as good a place to start as any. Which one are you test-driving?
(Image credits: sellers)
LeSabre for the column shift and ability to throw my arm over my sweetie while we slowly cruise to 70 in the right lane. Just needs a necker knob for true bliss…
I had to go with the LeSabray, one of the last Buick, or, really, GM, cars that I felt truly comfortable recommending to people. The ’09 LaCrosse was probably just about the end of that run
LeSabre due to my little brother getting my grandma’s hand-me-down in college. I made fun of him for having an “old lady car” till I rode in it and discovered the seats were more comfy than any sofa I’d ever sat on and the interior was possibly as big as my apartment, and definitely cozier. It also never had a single problem till he sold it – you might have to wait half an hour for the thing to inch its way up to highway speed, but it would do it every single time and do it in comfort.
This was a royally tough call.
You guessed it, I went Regal. What tipped you off?
Both are actually decent deals. This is just what a beater costs these days.
Tough call, but I’m going with the LeSabre due to Series II.
LeSabre vote based on my grandpa having one in the champagne good color and that thing was built for eating up highway miles in comfort.
LeSabre for me. The GM G/H platform vehicles are better than the W-body vehicles.
The LeSabre is a highway eater. Those La-Z-Boy seats will soak up the bumps for hundreds of miles.
I’ll take the LeSabre.
Normally I would go for the larger of the two especially with lower advertised miles, but Gramps sure did need to stop driving a long time ago. I will take the slower Series 1 in an older less destroyed car for the win Alex!
I initially thought I’d choose the bigger LeSabre. More car, lower miles, less money. It’s the obvious pick, right?
But from a BHPH lot with those tacky wheels? I’ll take the Regal. A textbook case of buying the owner, not the car.
I love the H and W cars honestly, but I voted LeSabre because I could easily swap the heads, intake, and supercharger from an L67 on to it, I have 5 3800 cars and none are NA so that would be something I’d do. Those LeSabres also ride like a trampoline covered in feather pillows, which is nice for long drives.
Just a side note that car reminded me of a guy I know who has a twincharged LeSabre that’s currently the stock cam power record holder, if one wants to make power the series 2 is still a decent option for relatively cheap.
I thought the bigger car would have more room under the hood, but no! Look at that LeSabre’s engine bay. The front of the engine is right up against some bar. The smaller Regal actually has space for the engine.
I voted for the Regal.
I would pick anything with a 3800 in it. But choosing between 2 is like picking my favorite child. Everyone knows the first is the favorite so I’m going with the Regal.
Tell that to my Mom.
I have an irrational love of W Body cars, gimme the Regal. Buick wisely chose the 3800 for their big W Body engine instead of the 3.4 “Twin Dual Cam”.
seems like it was a Buick motor to start, and rightly so, should have stayed that way. How they did not Turbo charge it on the Regal GS versions is surprising though.
the 3.4 for the time was a decent motor though, just seems like it was designed for a completely different space when trying to work on one in the Cutlass or even Celebrity versions of this car.
I always liked the W body 4-doors. The Grand Prix was my favorite but without a 3800 in it I suppose I’d have to go Buick.
I’m voting bone stock regal. Those aftermarket rims on the lesabre ruin it.
The aftermarket “RImZ”, the suspiciously low mileage, AND the buy-here-pay-here of the LeSabre disqualify it for me. I’m not saying they would, or could, roll-back the odometer but something doesn’t *feel* right.
I always like the styling of the 4-door Regals so that’s my pick.
I feel like it was Gramps car until he went into a home, then it sat with 90K on the clock until Junior hit 16 and it was gifted to him. He likely tried to make it look less Grandpaish with some cheap and stupid looking wheels and tires from tire rack dot com, I mean they looked fine on the 2d screen when “shown on vehicle” came up. but when the first sign of suging because of a vacuum leak hit the car he decided to trade it in for a clapped out Mercedes at the BHPH lot. probably got 100 bucks for it and a 10 year note with 50% interest and is currently looking at crappy wheels on Tire rack for the Merc now.
All those facts you cite indicate nothing else than that this ride lived in a bad part of town. It’s seen some shit it’d have to go to confession for.
It’s not a bad mofo, it’s just bad mojo.
Towels on the seats – were the owners nudists?
Or incontinent.
both?
Well, if you are incontinent, being a nudist has many advantages!
This is a less funny reply than others, but this was common with the farmers I grew up around. Tractor seats get dirty, so they always put towels down on the car seats to keep from passing the grime from the tractor to the auto upholstery. The photos look like it could be on a farm, so the seats may be pristine underneath those towels.
The Regal’s closer to me so that’s the one
I seem to recall the series 2 having some sort of issue I can’t be bothered to look up, but in any case my grandma’s last car was the same Regal in silver, so I’ll have that.
Series II had an issue with the LIM gaskets as well as the EGR tube would melt a hole in the coolant passage in the upper intake plenum which had the potential to hydro lock the engine; the intake issue was fixed once and for all in the Series III which has an aluminum upper intake plenum.
I went with the newer one. The engines are probably fine on both, it is everything else that is probably dying at this point. TN summers are brutal on rubber and vinyl. GM plastics from 1995 probably don’t stand a chance.
Pretty much the same thing and mileage isn’t that far off between them. I’d take the one that’s closest to me.
If one has to choose between two Bolides of Boredom, the Regal is the one. It doesn’t look quite as awful.
I had a Century that was the came colour as that LeSabre so I’m voting for it.