Buick Skyhawk 1978 as Daily-Car?

[_Lucky_Luke_]

Hi folks,

sorry for my bad english, im from Switzerland.

I have the chance to buy a Buick Skyhawk here in Switzerland.
Its a 1978 with original 18700 kilometers, condition is crazy! absolut crazy like new!
No point of rust or something... i Cant describe... its just like NEW!

The problem is, i want to drive it as a daily car... but i cant find infos about longevity of these cars?
i heard the had a bad rust problem... is that correct? what about the engine? is it a good engine?

i just felt in love with the car... i drove it yesterday and its so perfect! but i'm really scared if something brakes or something is not ok with the car... will i find parts to fix it?

are here any Skyhawk experienced users?

thx for your help.

Best,
Luca

[OldsStarfire]

Hallo,

I would not recommend it for daily use if it really is that perfect. Yes - these cars re prone to rust like any 40 yr old car. It would be a perfect "Sunday drive" car. Can you post some pictures? What part of Switzerland are you in?

I was in Switzerland last summer.

Jeff

[_Lucky_Luke_]

Thx, yes i know what you mean... but im not the one who buys cars just for letting them sitting in the Garage... i want to drive them

but as i really know nothing about these cars, im a bit scared... i also had never such an old car...

rust is clear... but whatbout if i do a body conservation and protect it from rust...it should hold longer, correct?

i have no pictures at the moment... but its a brown/golde one with brown interior... i love the color!

i wonder how many problems they had when these cars were driven daily, as in the good old times...
i want to protect myself to buy something which maybe lasts me 3 month before the first problems are coming...

can i drive it daily or not? i meant not because its in so good conidition, i mean because of the quality of the car in general...

[_Lucky_Luke_]

http://c.tutti.ch/images/buick-skyhawk-3072500105.jpg

http://c.tutti.ch/images/buick-skyhawk-3089546743.jpg

[OldsStarfire]

Wow - that really is in amazing condition! Being a 40 yr old car you can expect to have to fix a few things if you start driving it regularly. The parts are easy to get in the US, much harder to get in Europe unless someone here helps you.

[RedFiveKBS]

Odd that it has Pontiac Snowflake wheels.

[_Lucky_Luke_]

it has also the original standard wheels... it comes with two sets of wheels as the owner bought the snowflakes... as upgrade

so yeah, condition is crazy! my dad worked on old cars many years but has no idea of americans.. but he said i has never seen a 40 y old car in such a condition...

so...why i'm scare is, i readet trough many blogs... and always there is written that these cars had bad problems with rust... and the quality was crap... thats why there are just so few around today... and i heard of rear axial problems because of rust... you can't fix it you have to buy a new...

then im scared also because i don't know how hard it is to get parts if something is damaged...

and winter here in switzerland ist about 2-3 month of salt... so rust problems...?

what about if i can do a hollow space sealing... will that help?

i really don't know if i should buy that car... its pretty expensive with 12'000 Swissfrancs... its almost the same in us-dollars...

what do you think...?

again, i want to ride it EVERYDAY to work about 20 kilometers a day...

[dindin]

Hello, This is a summer only car..do not buy it for everyday use, you will destroy it and have problems you cannot easily fix..Just my opinion but thats what you asked for.

Al

[_Lucky_Luke_]

thx for your opinion, no problems, that is what i want to know from you all, so i can figure out if i should buy or not...

are here no h-body daily drivers? i just read in some threads... and saw that here are daily drivers too... may anyone can share experiences?

thx!

[EagleFish]

Hi! That certainly is a beautiful Skyhawk! I understand why you want to own and drive it. But, understand: this is a 40 year old car with low kms on it. This is a now a "COLLECTOR" car. It is NOT a car you should buy to drive every day! The car will be destroyed especially, during the winter months. There are many other reasons you should not buy this car, which I will not go into at this time. It is not a bad car. It is the purpose for what you want to do with it that is the problem. Best wishes and thanks for contacting H-Body.org.

John and Richard

[Greybeard]

25 years ago I bought my daily driver. It's not an h-body, a bit simpler. 1966 Elcamino with 6cyl, manual trans with O/D, no power equipment, not even a radio. It has had 1 overhaul, 1 paint job, and needs interior after 300,000 miles. It'll be my driver till I'm gone. My Hagerty insurance is 1/4 what my wife's Camry is, and plates are zero $ forever. Cheap, reliable, and comfortable to drive, particularly for long distances. Last, if it won't start this morning, I'll know why in 5 minutes or less.

[cammerjeff]

My only concern with using it as a daily driver is parts availability, the odd fire Buick 231 V-6 is not a bad engine, but getting parts for it is starting to get difficult in this Country, I can only imagine how difficult it will be in your Country. I would think it would take a month or so to sort it out for DD usage, with the low miles and probably been sitting for some time things just tend to go wrong, oil seals, vacuum lines dry out causing leaks, brakes tend to need work after not operating for months or years, all the flexible fuel hoses would need to be changed in my opinion just for safety.
They can be reliable cars, but things to look out for are the intake electric fuel pumps tend to go out stranding you, all Buick V-6 powered H-bodies have them. Not that difficult to change or expensive a repair but it does involve dropping the fuel tank. The electronics can also be an issue on cars that sit. Just FYI

[classic_cruiser]

I know from my perspective the reasons and qualities I look for in a daily driver car are not the same as for a collector car. A car built to 1970's standards was engineered to meet the criteria of the 1970's, but not the criteria of today. While I think you'd likely be Ok at the start, over time I think you will find it harder and harder to maintain this car to its current condition at a certain cost than you would for a more modern vehicle for the same cost, especially if you plan on keeping it in it's current "perfect" condition.

[BillB1210]

Luke,

Nice find! 12,000 SF is a lot of money. If you purchase it, I would recommend as all others have said. Never drive it in the winter due to road salt. It will not last long. Exceptions are like the El Camino Greybeard has in Washington State. No road salt, not too much sun to ruin the paint and interior in the summer. There are few places that are kind to a vehicle both winter and summer.

Where are you near in Switzerland? I remember a large GM dealership in Chur, I don't think there were many others - perhaps Zurich or Geneva.

Good luck,

Bill

[Monza Harry]

I think the others have said it pretty well! The only thing that comes to mind for me is that in DD [daily Driver] duty, that nice looking interior will be ruined in no time with the fast food and coffee stains that always happen with cars that are driven. Buy a cheap "Beater" car and the H-Body. But remember the 'Hawk will need a Garage to stay nice, and we encourage driving them, just not to work and the mall, you will get way too many "wounds" You can drive your "other half" (spouse) out to get some "Ice Cream" or whatever one or more night(s) a week and "Cruise The S T out of it [good weather of course]. Just my two cents Harry P.S. Your English is quite understandable especially for your second tongue [language]