"...It's possible to make a car that does not break. Period..." Really? Even LEXUS owners have problems with their cars! And my old boss bought a new S class Mercedes. (S500) And it was eventually declared a "LEMON" and was replaced. Automobiles are still assembled by humans. And those huumans can have bad days and miss something on the line. It happens. And yes, not too long ago all American automakers built crap. But the quality has improved a great deal. So a Buick that's over 10 years old is not even in the same league as a Buick that's 2 years old as far as engineering goes. As a matter of fact, in 1999 we rented a brand new Park Avenue while on vacation. My wife called it a piece of garbage compared to our '88 Volvo. The power seat controls came off in her hand! Yeah, garbage! But I'll guarantee that the Lucerne is light years ahead of that Park Ave! In both quality and engineering.

The thing to remember is that buying any car is a gamble. New ones have a warranty, with an accompanying big price tag. A used car is more of a gamble unless you know who's selling it and how it's been cared for. Even if all's well, things still break. You can reduce your chances of unpleasant surprises by deciding on a year, make, model ahead of time and look only for that car. The year can vary a little as long as the design hasn't changed much. Then educate yourself on that particular car before you go shoping. When you get an idea of what you might want to buy, do some research as to what the maintainence costs for that vehicle are. IMO, forums like this are a good place to look. There are forums for honda, toyota, chevy, most anything you can think of. After doing the research, you might conclude your first choice wasn't a good one and explore something different. Keep in mind all cars need things. Belts, hoses, coolant changes, spark plugs, wires and such every 30k. Transmission service at 30k to 100k. Some have a timing belt that needs to be replaced at 100k. Brake life varies, for me they last about 70k at a time. ect. Read through the forums to see if the particular model you're considering has any common problems. Some engines seem to develope sludge easier than others. All will if neglected. If the previous owner hasn't changed the oil as often as he should, or used dino oil when synthetic was required, there could be a serious problem on the horizon. Is it a car that needs a timing belt every 100k, it's a $1000 service, and the vehicle has 110k on it now and never been changed? Something to consider. Don't forget to check the tires. If the tread is about gone, that's another $200+ you may end up adding to the original price tag before you know it. Easy to overlook that kind of thing while admiring the shiney paint. Keeping all that in mind and tenatively making a choice, it'd be nice if the owner would let you take it to someone for a look see. They can check for brake wear, tire wear, condition of the exhaust system, ect. Often times an experienced person can tell if a vehicle as been pretty well maintained or totally ignored with a visual inspection. If you buy off a car lot, keep in mind those guys don't know a thing about the vehicle and don't want to know a thing about it. They'll also clean the hec out of it. Though it's very nice to be looking at an ultra clean used car, all that cleaning may have hidden it's true condition. If you want to be even safer, keep $1600 or more available for things the car may need that you and everyone else may have overlooked. If you find out after the fact that it needs a water pump or something, that's ok. You predicted it might need a thing or two and got the money to cover it. jmo

You seem to have a non-standard setup (Not described by repair manuals for standard models). I think I see a carbureator instead of a TBI or multi-point fuel injection, the air cleaner is modified from standard, and you mentioned a performance manifold. You are prety much on your own for finding specifications. However, there are guidelines you can use. Look up the opening temperature of thermostats for engines of the era for this one, probably the 1970s. While you are looking, also record the pressure setting for the radiator cap. The cap's blow-off pressure goes up with coolant temperature. Recalling from memory (not accurate), thermostat opening temperatures were increased in the 1980s for clean running, etc. I seem to remember seeing a number of thermostats at 195 F. If you lived in a hot climate and the engine ran a litle too hot, the thermostat could be lowered to 190 or 185 F. Even on those early sytems from the '70s and '80s, the engine had to attain a high enough temperatuere for the emmissions controls to work. For example, I had a 1980 Cevy Citation and it ran in the start-up mode until the coolant passed 140 F. Some of the ignition advance was held off until passing 140 F. This was done to speed up warmup on cold mornings. Holding back on ignition advance made the engine less efficient, and less powerful, and made it heat faster because the driver gave it more throttle to do the same job it would have done with usual settings. A 180 F thermostat is likely about right for your setup. I would not go above 195 F. Here's what to do. (1) Look up in GM repair manuals for thermostat temperatures for the years that represent your setup. (Chilton's manuals are useless in the years of 80s and 90s. Those do not specify thermostat temperatures.) (2) Go to an auto parts store and look up thermostats for the year of your engine. (3) Search the internet. With the thermostat closed, there should be a passage for coolant to flow through the water pump and the head and possibly the cabin heater core. This reduces cavitation in the water pump, evens head temperature while warming up, and allows the thermostat to sense the rising coolant temperature. It also provides early cabin heat, although using the heater slows warmup. By the way, the top of your engine is clean.

I bought my brother's 90 Maxima over six years ago for $3K and am still driving it without too many maintenance costs. Bought my brother's 96 Avalon with 225K miles for my son over a year ago for $300. Had a minor front fender bender. I just bought a new headlight assembly and so far so good. It's a bigger car that was rated pretty good in crash tests - has front air bags. I would be leary about him driving an older car without air bags and the other recent safety equipment and design. I know it's not as safe as it could be since it had a minor accident and a lot of miles, but I keep an eye on it to look for worn parts. I knew my brother treated his vehicles well and did regular maintenance. Oh yeah, and we got him a new stereo, which was definitely high priority for him. So, there are cars out ther for that price. As stated previously, consider insurance costs, as they vary with type of vehicle and 16 old boys pay a lot! I just have liability on the older cars.