Mine was a 1984 Buick Regal. The transmission threw craps at 50,000 miles and it spewed black smoke from a too rich mixture despite having the carberetor rebuilt multiple times and the CPM replaced as well. The cloth interior disintegrated before my eyes as well. Is it any wonder GM is going belly up?
It took about 15 years to turn the Regal into a reliable car that was worth buying. In 1984, all front drive GM cars were dismal. A colleague of mine got a company Regal in 1997 and reported it was quite trouble-free. The last cars of this genre, the 2003 to 2005 Buick Centurys have above-average reliablily, according to Consumer Reports.