600 mile roundtrip in 1992 Brougham, details inside

96Fleetwood · #1 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 10:15 AM

I went back to Virginia this past weekend because one of my best friends was getting married. The marriage/reception were in Baltimore so I had to drive something from Virginia Beach up there. I was going to rent a car when my Father suggested I take his 1992 Brougham daily driver. It had 99,600 miles when I left Virginia Beach.

The trip up was uneventful, the Brougham performed flawlessly! The 5.0 liter TBI motor was underpowered and felt much like the 307 in my wagon. I was crusing around 60-75mph and averaged 21 mpg on the way up... which is the same mpg my modified 1996 Fleetwood makes!!

Once I got there, my friend was so impressed with the Brougham that he said I needed to be in the wedding procession following the limo. So that next day I woke up early to have it detailed and then we headed to the ceremony behind the limo.

Everyone ooh'd and aah'd at the car, it was great to see such a cheap car (cost my Dad $2,500) get such great respect!

After the reception we stayed the night at another friend's house in Laurel and they were also impressed with the Brougham!

The next morning we packed our bags, took our friends out to bfast, and then hit the road.

Once we got to Arlington, VA... the A/C compressor decided it was going to die... THIS HAPPENED 2 minutes after the car hit 100,000 miles:

Was it a coincidence???

Well, it turns out the car needed more than the compressor.. didn't get the details from Dad... but the whole A/C problem cost almost $1K

It was a nice trip, except on the way back when we had the windows down and 105 degree heat coming in. Even with the A/C off, the Brougham only made 21 mpg on the way back... not impressed with the gas mileage.

Well, that was my story. My girlfriend was uber-pissed at me once the A/C broke! Especially when my mother had offered her BMW 760Li for the trip... DOH!

Take care,
Elias

Cadillacboy · #2 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 10:28 AM

Nice story ,glad you had no trouble save A/C problem

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**I~LUV~Caddys8792** · #3 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 01:13 PM

Cool thread! Yeah, from what I've heard, those style Broughams only get like 20-22 mpg on the highway in the 60-75 zone. Brian said his '90 5.7L got 27MPG on the way back from Des Moines with the cruise set at 55.

Aside from the obvious differences in the ride/handling, is there a big difference in comfort between the ninety two and your ninety six?

gdwriter · #4 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 01:54 PM

The A/C system's death at 100K was surely a semi-amusing coincidence. I had a similar experience in the summer of 1986 when my '74 Toyota Celica approached 100,000 miles. It seemed as if the car was having a nervous breakdown. I can't remember all the different repairs that were needed (there were a lot of them), but I do remember the A/C compressor seized.

Like you, I was on a road trip, but unfortunately, it was on the outbound leg, so I had a very hot drive home (this was in Texas and Oklahoma). I got off lucky, though, since my Dad found a compressor at a local junkyard, and took it to his A/C guy to install and recharge. I think it was <$100 total, and the A/C worked fine for the rest of the time I had the car (sold it in February, 1989).

Wheelman322 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96Fleetwood

Once I got there, my friend was so impressed with the Brougham that he said I needed to be in the wedding procession following the limo. So that next day I woke up early to have it detailed and then we headed to the ceremony behind the limo.

Everyone ooh'd and aah'd at the car, it was great to see such a cheap car (cost my Dad $2,500) get such great respect!

It's funny because I used mine in my wedding and everyone was asking about the car all night. One of my wifes out of town relatives thought I rented it from a limo company.

96Fleetwood · #6 (**permalink**) 07-12-07, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I~LUV~Caddys8792

Aside from the obvious differences in the ride/handling, is there a big difference in comfort between the ninety two and your ninety six?

The seats in the 1996 are far more comfortable. The 1992 had more interior rattles and body creaks than the 1996 as well. Other than that, both are very good highway cruisers.