As I noted on the previous page, I bought this car with around 244,000 miles on it, for $2000, back in August of 2000. This was the first car that was actually mine. I didn’t know it at the time, but this is the car that would eventually lead me down a dark path – a path where no car I own can remain stock.
Anyway, this car has been many places with me – tons of trips throughout Ohio, to Indiana, and even Georgia. That is not counting the all of midnight drives through back and country roads with my friends. I have had only one accident in this car in all the years that I have owned it, and even that was not a major accident. Although, at some point during the previous owner’s time, the car was severely rear-ended, completely destroying the back end of the car. The owner had it repaired, which means everything from the c-pillars back are not part of the original car. That transmission also gave out after that accident, so a new one was put in (which I believe this transmission only has 90-110K on it, compared to the 312K of the engine).
I’ve treated this car well, and it has treated me well in return, with me only having to replace parts 6-7 years into ownership. This LeSabre was manufactured in October 1994, and some of the parts that are still stock, are still original. So, in October 2014, this car will officially be 20 years old. I hope to have most of the work done by then so I can celebrate.
I can remember my first mod to the car – it was the front 5×9 speakers. Not long after I bought the car, I noticed a nasty crackling from the rear speakers. Upon inspection, I had found out that the factory speakers were starting to crack. Well, that would not do with me having to drive back and forth to school – 80 miles a day, with poor sounding speakers. So, I knew someone that had wrecked their vehicle, and the 5×9’s did not fit the new vehicle, so I bought them off him, with the rear 6×9’s following not long after.
Well, anyway, time for some pictures. Below are a few shots of when the car was almost completely stock:
Next is a close up of the Buick symbol on the grill, the hood ornament, and the letters “B U I C K” that were on the old grill, plus the factory 15 inch polished aluminum star/sunflower rims:
Here are a few pictures of the mostly stock interior (at this point I had already replaced the Delco tape deck with a Delco CD/tape player):
This is my instrument cluster and interior lighting with the stock incandescent light bulbs (before I went full LED):
And finally, here is a picture of the very dirty, yet completely stock engine — the GM/Buick Series I 3800 V6:
Now, to provide more complete information about this particular Buick LeSabre, I wrote up a list of the factory options, replaced equipment, added equipment, and a maintenance list. For most of the items that are considered mods, more info can be found for them on the following pages. Also not every thing in this list is covered in detail throughout the following pages. I’m just using this list as a guide (mainly for myself) to know what has been done to the car.
1995 Buick LeSabre Custom Sedan
— 3.8 Liter 3800 Series I Sequential Fuel Injected V-6 (170 HP / 225 FT/LBS Torque)
— 4T60-E 4-speed Automatic Electronic Transmission with Overdrive with 2.84 Final Drive Ratio
— Polo Green Metallic Exterior Paint
— Medium Beige Interior with Cloth Seats
— Estimated Fuel Economy: 19 City / 29 Highway
Standard Equipment:
— Driver and passenger side airbags
— Air conditioning
— Anti-Lock power brakes; front disc and rear drum brakes
— Power door locks
— Electronic warning tone for seat belts, ignition key, and headlights
— Solar Ray glass windshield
— Back-lit analog instrument panel
— Ashtray, dome, trunk, engine, glove box, instrument panel, and courtesy lights
— Rearview and electronic outside left and right mirrors
— AM-FM stereo radio with seek, scan, clock, and electronic power load cassette
— Driver and passenger side recliner seats
— 6-way power driver seat
— Rear door child safety locks
— Dual front and rear extended range speakers
— Power rack and pinion steering
— Tilt wheel steering column
— Extendable, supplemental front sunshades
— Front independent McPherson, and rear independent suspension with Dynaride
— Pass-key II Theft Deterrent system
— P205/70R 15 all season radial whitewall tires
— 15-inch premium aluminum wheels
— Power windows with driver auto-down and passenger lockout
— 2-speed wipers with low speed delay feature
— Automatic power antenna
— Front seat armrest with storage compartment
— Deluxe front and rear floor mats
— Electronic cruise control
— Rear window electric defogger
— Keyless entry remote with trunk release
— Trunk cargo net
— Gold body side stripping
— Buick Emblem hood ornament
— Buick hood lettering
— Factory installed transmission cooler
Replaced Equipment:
— Factory struts with KYB gas struts
— Goodyear Viva 2 Touring 215/70R 15 all season radial whitewall tires
— AM-FM stereo radio with seek, scan, clock, electronic power load cassette, and compact disc player with random and auto-tone features
— Rearview mirror with map/reading lamps
— Extendable front sunshades with vanity mirrors and lamps
— Front and rear driving and turn-signal lamps replaced with LEDs
— Thermal turn-signal flasher replaced with heavy-duty turn-signal flasher
— Fuel pump and strainer
— Front seat armrest (broken hinge)
— Front seat armrest cup holder
— Driver side window and mirror control panel (twice) and passenger side control panel
— Driver side front seat belt
— Driver side lock/unlock button
— Headlamp and parking lamp switch
— Heater air conditioning control unit
— Front passenger and rear driver side power door lock units
— Replacement rear speaker deck (cut holes and added speaker grills)
— Lesabre grille replaced with Park Avenue grille
— 195 degree thermostat replaced with 180 degree thermostat
— Neutral safety switch
— Ignition lock cylinder
— Weatherstripping on all four doors
— Driver side, side marker housing
— Master cylinder
— Starter
— Replaced various vacuum hoses
— MAF and EGR sensors replaced
— GM replacement front endlinks with polyurethane bushings
— Turn signal switch
— Wiper fluid pump
— Original Lesabre headliner replaced with Park Avenue headliner
— Black shifter, black tilt lever, and black turn signal lever all replaced with a chrome shifter, chrome tilt lever, and chrome turn signal lever from a Park Avenue
— Headlight housings
— Tensioner pulley and bracket
— Lesabre Custom trim replaced with LeSabre Limited trim
— Replaced bent driver’s side front lower bumper chrome piece
— Replaced c-pillar panels
— Stock front speakers replaced with 5×9 JBL’s, stock rear speakers replaced with 6×9 Pioneer’s (with grills)
— Factory (replaced stock) AM-FM/CD/TAPE player replaced with Panasonic head unit, with line level booster for auxiliary inputs on the Panasonic unit
— Lesabre b-pillar/seatbelt panels replaced with panels from a Park Avenue
— Stock air box replaced with K&N cold air intake
— Stock muffler replaced with Edelbrock SDT dual outlet muffler
— Stock catalytic converter replaced with high-flow catalytic converter
— Removal of front middle seatbelt
— Replaced driver side lower interior running board
Added Equipment / Parts (non-stock):
— Buick emblems on c-pillars
— Low profile spoiler
— 6000K Cool Blue HID 9006 low beam headlights
— Sylvania SilverStar 9005 high beam headlights
— PIAA 2100XT Bright White fog lights
— PIAA Mini Marker Blue LED lights
— 120 dBa dual air horns with compressor
— 20% tint on all windows (except windshield)
— White interior LEDs
— Rear floor lighting and courtesy lights on all four doors
— Pyramid Sound Equalizer (mostly to control side door speakers fade)
— 5.25 Pioneer door speakers added, SPL tweeters (with crossovers) added to a-pillars
— 12 inch Infinity subwoofer in custom enclosure with a 1.5 fared capacitor, and Lanzar 300W amp
— Noise filter added in-line with Panasonic head unit power
— 3-port DC outlet with ON/OFF switch
— 6×9 rear deck speaker grills added
— XM Satellite Radio
— Dual exhaust with Camaro style polished stainless steel exhaust tips
— 16 inch Pontiac Grand Prix GTP 5 spoke painted aluminum rims (replace stock 15 inch aluminum rims)
— BF Goodrich Touring T/A 215/60R 16 all season radial blackwall tires (on Pontiac rims)
— Black & wood grain patterned steering wheel cover
— Passenger auto-down added, with ‘auto’ window switches added to driver and passenger door control panels
— Replica 2003 Park Avenue Buick portholes
— Added Concert Sound II door speaker covers
— All 4 door reflectors now have light (red LEDs)
— ‘V-6’ emblems added onto front doors
— ‘3800 TPI’ emblem added to trunk lid
Maintenance:
— Oil changed at almost every 3,000 miles
— Fuel filter replaced (October ’06)
— Belt replaced (January ’08)
— NGK copper spark plugs (August ’07)
— Radiator flushed (2003)
— Upper and lower intake hoses replaced (2003)
— Oxygen sensor replaced (October ’07)
— PCV valve replaced (March ’06)
— Lower intake gaskets replaced (July ’06)
— Upper and lower intakes, and throttle body cleaned (July ’06)
— Transmission fluid and filter changed (almost 50,000 miles ago)
— Front brake pads replaced and rotors machined (June ’05)
— Wiper blades (January ’07)
— Fitting on a hose coming from the water pump (October ’05)
— Rear shoes replaced drums adjusted and machined (June ’11)
— Transmission replaced at approximately 175,000 – 190,000 miles
— Lower heater coolant hose replaced (January ’09)
— Front brake pads and rotors replaced (May ’09)
— All 3 battery cables replaced with brand new AC Delco cables (April ’13)