The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby 89ARIES » Fri Jun 05, 2009 2:29 am

As you all know by now, I love GM 80s cars, even though I like Chryslers more. I also like browsing other 80s car clubs and forums. I went to a club called A Body.net. I have a general
question open to discussion. What was bad and what was good about the A car. I read in the forum about owner's problems on most of the cars before 86 with heads blowing, pistons breaking,
chains snapping, and every type of malady where one thing breaks and destroys the engine. To put it in perspective, the early 80s A bodies are much rarer than K-cars now as I can't find an 82 Ciera on the road
or anything online hardly. Maybe the only reason I see late 80s GM A bodies around is because they were better than the earlier ones and they made 8,200,000 A cars versus our mere 3,300,000 Chrysler
K-cars. I know this thread will probably be one-sided as we are Chrysler people. Yet, many A bodies got 300,000 plus. What da ya think?
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby taxiguy » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:37 am

The later ones from the 1990s are supposedly very reliable, which is surprises me since they are GMs. I wouldn't mind maybe picking up a nice Ciera sometime. They're ever so common here in Lansing ("Olds-town") , and the Century's too for that matter.
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby 1of10K » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:05 am

Even though this is a K forum, its ok to talk about some of the other 80's cars once in awhile. From working at a Buick dealer in the 80's, I know that the steering rack issues that the X cars had did carry over to the A models. The GM V6 had several reliability issues, again was the same as the optional X car V6. If you had an early '83 A, several of the severe recall issues the original X cars had seems to be cleared up for the A's, but alot of A's still had it really bad. Rust is the biggest enemy, as well as the common problem of uncaring drivers beating these cars to death that has killed most of them, just like the K cars!
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby Baron » Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:11 pm

I had both a an early 90's Celebrity and a 93 Ciera- both basically handed down from my parents. The Celebrity was just good basic transportation- probably no more, no less. It eventually threw a piston and that was the end of it. The Ciera was a better car, and while it would have never been one I would have bought myself, I had no complaints- except one- during the time I drove it, until one of my teenage sons totaled it.

The one complaint I did have about both of them was the handling was HORRIBLE!!!! Granted, before I started driving the Ciera I was spoiled as I had been driving a 92 Intrepid ES that was a great handling car. But to illustrate the difference- I used to turn onto the onramp from my town's main street to the freeway in the Intrepid and get up to whatever speed I wanted without even giving it a thought. In the Ciera I started doing the same thing I was used to doing in the Intrepid, and suddenly found myself fighting to keep the car under control- what I had done easily in the Intrepid just about sent the Ciera into the ditch. I now understand why so many of those older people who these cars seemed to appeal to drove so slow. Anything close to freeway speed was scary driving and heaven help the one who tried to drive faster. I did improve the handling tremendously by putting on some seriously designed tires for handling but the car was never a comfortable one in any kind of handling situation.
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby 88 aries » Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:00 pm

some of the cars that are forgoten are the Yugo and the renult alliance, i do know where one Yugo is in my city, it no longer runs and is parked under a tarp.
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby 1of10K » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:30 am

Yes, the Renault Alliance, the 1983 Motor Trend Car of the Year that gave AMC a few more years before they were gulped down by Chrysler. When the Aliance first came out in fall of 1982, I just had to have one. went down to my local AMC dealer and waited in line for a test drive. I loved the 4 dr, as it had slightly skirted rear wheels that the 2 dr didn't. They had these "amazing" rocking chair bucket seats. When you went to move the seat, the whole unit would slide on a curved slider. if you held the lever up, you could actually rock back and forth, or roll up and down like a roller coaster that lost power between hills and was settling down to the bottom.. But, they didn't have enough leg room, or a nice pea green one would have come home with me! History isn't kind to them or Renaults in general, but in their time, they were really interesting and extremely economical. Also had a 1990 Yugo Cabrio Convertible, let me just say that Quality was not "Job One" with the Yugo. Not well put together, brittle feeling trim and flimsy parts. The stick shift was like stirring a spoon in Jello. The car did have one good feature, a fully lined, almost Mercedes quality, power cloth top, mine was a beautiful medium blue. The little trunk lid slid straight up, not much could go in it. Even the oener's manuals were cheap, Yugo just put "1990" sticker over the regular 1986 owner's manuals.
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby Chief » Sun Jun 14, 2009 5:09 pm

"YUGO's!!!"


Q: How do you upgrade a Yugo?
A: Put in an engine.

Q: Why do Yugos have heated rear windows?
A: To keep your hands warm when you're pushing them.

Q: What goes on pages 4-5 of the Yugo user's manual?
A: The train & bus schedule.

A man goes to a parts garage:
Man: "Can I have a windshield wiper for a Yugo please?"
Parts man: "Yeah, that seems like a fair swap."

Q: What is the sport-version of Yugo?
A: The driver wears Nike shoes.

Q: What do you call a Yugo at the top of a hill?
A: A miracle.

Q: What do you call two Yugos at the top of a hill?
A: A mirage.

Q: What do you call a Yugo with dual exhausts?
A: A wheelbarrow

Q: How do you double the value of a Yugo?
A: Half fill it with gasoline!

Q: How do you make a Yugo look good?
A: Park it between two K-Cars!

Q: What to you call a Yugo with brakes?
A: Customized.

Q: What do you have to do if your Yugo gets in the way of a swarm of killer bees?
A: Stop pushing and take refuge into the car.

Q: What is the Yugo owner's most ardent wish?
A: To buy a car.

Q: What do you call a Yugo with a seat belt?
A: A rucksack.

Q: How do you make a Yugo go faster uphill?
A: Throw out the passenger.

Q: How do you make a Yugo go faster downhill?
A: Turn off the engine.

Q: What do you call a Yugo with a flat tire?
A: A write off.


Peace,

Chief
Link to view my web-page:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3215080
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Re: The GM A Car. Pros and Cons. Celebrity,Ciera,Century, 6000.

Postby 1of10K » Mon Jun 15, 2009 11:04 am

Love it! Needed a good laugh!
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