Topic: Olds Alero - My last GM

[Richardd]

 I am the "proud" owner of not one but two Olds Aleros (1999 and 2001).  I've owner GM vehicles for about 40 years but these two piles of junk are probably my last.  Electrical problems, water leaks, expensive repairs, pieces of plastic falling off - in short very poor quality, expensive to maintain.  You should always own two of these so you have a spare -you will need it.  If you're lucky you'll have one to drive while the other one's being fixed.  

My biggest concenr is how to get rid of them and get something else.  One is ownerd and the other is on a four year lease - with a three year warranty.

Greatlooking cars, good handling and fun to drive but reliability and quality is the poorest I've ever seen.

[Snowman]

 Welcome to the club Richardd….I was in the same type of situation as you have described. All you can do is swallow your pride, take the loss, and buy/lease a Japanese car.  

There are dealers out there that will take you cars in on trades…even your lease. Short term pain for long term gain.

[ovr50]

 Richardd - just make sure that Barrie1 reads your comments. He likes GM stuff so much, he might even buy them from you if the deal is right!!! A three year old Alero should be about depreciated to 20% of MSRP by now, not even counting being an "orphan" car co. LOL.

[neil]

 Ovr, it's amazing how close you are!  Average BB on the '01 2 door GX is a whopping $7800!!!  By comparison it is $800 less than an '01 (unloved) Echo, which cost 1/2 as much new in '01 as the Olds.

[ovr50]

 Geez, Neil, I was only joking - that bad, eh? Yowser!!

[barrie1]

 Its unfortunate that Richardd has had such bad luck with these vehicles. Oldsmobile used to be one of the best out there but I have never heard of anybody who dislikes something that much go out and buy another one 2 years later. I agree with some of the others Get Rid Of Them if you are that upset. You didn't even tell us the mileage or use they have had, either one a Taxi?

[sleepyzippy]

 No kidding Ovr50, my dad had a traded in of his '99 Alero and it was only worth 8 grands. When bought new, it was about 33k on the road.

Reliability was a big issue of the car. Days off the lot, it had to be brough back to the dealer since the winodw chrome was scrubbing the glass and left long scratches on it. Later on there was something wrong with the front rotor that made the car pulled. At first the dealer refused to address the issue. My dad asked the rep. to drive it. The rep. did and then he admitted that there was something wrong with the rotor, and it then was replaced.

Then the engine started to have a whining sound whenever the gas was depressed. And when I release the gas I heard some pulsation sound from the front. I guess it was the rotor again. Dealer said they could not found anything wrong. After four years the warranty ran out, and my dad decided to drop it once and for all. If either the engine, the rotor or the wheel hub failed, the repair cost would be too high to bear for what the vehicle worths.

Feature wise, it was a bang for the buck. However, for the size of the car, the interior space was small. And the seat did not fit me well. I am 5'7 and the back support was too high. Maybe an Accord would be a better choice for my dad.

[safristi]

 "and when I release the gas I heard some pulsation sound from the front!!!"  Jeez NOW they are blamin G.M fer THAT...must be the Genetically Modified beans...

[ovr50]

 Hey, Sleepy, now Barrie1 will tell you it was abused or used as a taxi. Barrie1 - you are dreaming, my friend, look at the facts, man. :>))

[barrie1]

 Yes it is possible to have a vehicle that does become a problem from the word go. Richardd still has not told us what the use of the vehicles has been or even the mileage on them. We also hear of newer Lexus 300 models with bad engines and other makes with serious problems. WHO makes a perfect car to-day. No matter where they are built there is always some bugbear part or problem. All builders have a long way to go to reach perfection

[bgclarke]

 I had a 2001 Malibu that was an absolute nightmare.

3 fuel pumps, new engine at 46,000 kms, blower motor resitor failure, instrument cluster failure, A/C & heater problems, strut mount problems, it ate brakes like I eat Doritos.

Dumped it 9 months before the lease ended, and got a 2003 Malibu...much better car.

[johngenx]

 Toyota engine problems are well known, and Toyota is dealing with it, although not with the swiftness that they should have.  The 2.2L four and 3.0L six have sludge build up problems that come about thanks to looooong oil change intervals.  Every maker is under the gun to reduce frequency of service in an effort to reduce ownership costs.  People don't want to have to change their oil anymore.

Mercedes-Benz lost a class-action suit in the US thanks to their moronic FSS system that has oil change intervals ranging from 15,000-22,500kms'.  Over 20K?  Not good, even with Mobil 1.  Those of us that were laughed at for changing our oil more frequently are grinning back just a little now.

No car is perfect.  Heck, the worst car we've owned was a total lemon Acura.  It happens.  It's not that it happens, but how often it happens that we're trying to get to the bottom of.  GM products just plain seem to have it happen more often.  That's the problem.  Even GM realized it finally!

I just can't find a valid reason to buy a GM product.  They are not a good corporate citizen.  They lay off people with regularity, outsource where they can, and are attempting to export as many jobs as possible.  The products are not exciting and when I see them I am underwhelmed by lack of quality materials and attention to detail.  The dealership experience is wanting at any Honda dealership, but better than any GM dealer I've been to.

I might have been pursuaded at one time when all Honda/Toyota production was outside Canada's borders, but that's not the case today.

Now, GM is on the right track sometimes.  The Corvette is not a particularly well made car, but it's an exciting car with style, performance, and its got the goods to go tow to toe with any other competitor in it's segment.  Then we head over to Cadillac and it just comes undone.  The Catera (sp?) was a "BMW fighter" that lacked any "BMW-ness" at all.  It suffered from terrible build quality and any new Caddy customers it found went away never to return.

I used to own an automotive electronics biz.  We bought a GMC Z71 4x4 pick up for the shop.  Every day we wished we'd bought a Tundra.  That truck was constantly broken.  And cheap, was it?  Not on your life.

So, what to do?  Can GM stop the tide of disgruntled owners that are fleeing to Honda/Toyota/Subaru, etc?  It's going to be a tough road.  They could rely on truck/SUV profits until then the day that evaporates under the crushing pressure that will be brought to bear by the "imports."

Look at the Buick Regal.  Good build quality, and very good reliability ratings.  But, it's a big 'ol boat that appeals to no one under the age of 102.  Why can't they build a $17,000 car with the same reliability?

[y2chuck]

 we've had nothing but good luck with our 3 GM's (All Saturns)  no problems whatsoever.
Can't say the same for my inlaws 2001 Accord.  Tranny blew up after only 80K.  Needed 6K worth of work done to it.  Thankfully they bought an extended warranty a couple months before the 3/60 expired.

[jonl]

 I don't believe all domestics are lemons and more than I believe all imports are trouble-free.  I do think anecdotal evidence like "I had one and it ran forever" or "my dad had one and it was a piece of crap" matters to the people involved, but is irrelevant to anyone else.

People who like cars (and hang out on forums) feel strongly about them, and tend to have an emotional investment in their past and present vehicle choices.  

Statistically significant data demonstrate which vehicles tend to be more reliable.  Y2chuck's good luck with 3 Saturns, while no doubt true, is no more meaningful statistically than his in-laws bad experience with their Honda.  

If one is in need of financing, or if one buys used, late-model cars, purchasing a domestic may be a sound financial decision.  It cannot be argued by anyone that Ford makes a better car than Toyota, but a Ford may be a better buy under some circumstances.

I always read Consumer Reports before making a significant purchase, because I know their samples are very large, hence their data are reliable.  That said, I frequently disagree with their conclusions.

And now, an anecdote - a coworker was lamenting that he cannot replace his 10-year-old Jeep Cherokee with a brand new one, as it has been discontinued.  He thinks the Liberty is for wussies.  He says his current Jeep is the best vehicle he has ever owned.  He and I park side-by-side every day, so I see the rusted away rocker panels and general poor condition of the vehicle first-hand.  One day he told me the work he has done on it, and it amounted to more repairs and maintenance than I have done on all the cars I have owned in my 28 years of car ownership.  But he is a loyal Chrysler customer, and wouldn't buy anything else.  He once saw me reading Consumer Reports' Auto edition and asked to borrow it.  Then he got pissed off when he saw their opinions of the vehicles he thinks highly of.  

The point is, our preferences are as much emotional as rational.  I try to remember this when disagreeing with opinions of others.

[y2chuck]

 Jonl, I somewhat agree about your view on statistical significance.  The only problem I have with CR or other "owner surveys" is that you are limited to what an owner perceives as a problem.  You may have someone who neglects their vehicle and gives it a bad rating for burning oil when they never check it and miss service intervals frequently.  That type of data doesn't show up, just a 1 outta 5 on the survey for "engine trouble".
There is really no way of precisely quantifying the data when a perceived severe engine problem may be nothing more than a loose cable that was jarred loose from a large pothole or something.
The worst case I've ever heard of was about Hummers being rated terrible by consumers due to gas mileage.  Well, what the hell do you expect???
Nobody wants to read or hear anything bad about their vehicles.  I always laugh when people get offended by unfavourable reviews of a car they own.  Why does it matter what some goof's opinion of the car is?  It's just his opinion.  Give the edmunds letters to the editor a read sometimes.  Absolutely hillarious some of the letters they get.

[barrie1]

 Yrchuck hit it on the head exactly,every owner is different and treats his vehicle differently to the rest of us. They all think in one way or another that they know the best for the vehicle and that all you have to do. Its easy right to be the knowalegable guy around but people in the trade see a lot of comics everyday. Luckey guys.

[Roadrunner]

Hi group, I'm a Newbie to this forum. I have to agree and disagree ( in all the appropriate places, of course) with you all. Just to let you know you have some GM company here Barrie1. I agree 100% about being emotional with and when buying a vehicle. It sometimes does cloud good judgement though.
As for the Hummer? I'll bet Schwartzeneger(sp?) sure as hell wasn't overly concerned about the lousy gas mileage in his! I feel pretty positive about one thing though. After reading this page, I don't think there's going to be any emotions running rampant as all of us seem to agree with each other. At least the mind set is pretty much the same. Now, if you see fit to straighten something I said out, feel free to do so.

[mike_c]

Welcome to the board, Roadrunner.  

Not all consumers are like once they were in the pre 80s era. Market share tells the story and the truth. Once the untouchable is now the fast food and be eaten if they don’t smart up quickly.

Even tho the company that made it no long exist, it is still a bada$$ car.




(Message edited by mike_c on February 20, 2004)

[barrie1]

Mike I assume that is an original Road Runner and hopefully not a clone. The originals go for very heavy money at the Barrett-Jackson sales. I remember a Judge fining a guy his car because of the speed limit he broke with it. He did 150 to 160 MPH on the 401 and they some how clocked him back then. ""NICE TOY"".

[Roadrunner]

Thanx Mike, inasmuch as I loved those muscle cars during my younger years, my handle didn't come from there. Oddly enough it came from a track and field trainer(school teacher) that coached me during my high school years. I was able to run fast enough that I outran everybody but the truant officer. God, that guy was tricky. The kids started calling me the 'Roadrunner' and I reckon the name sort of followed me around. For quite a few years, the name waned  until I started my last (pre-retired) job. After a year my boss started calling me 'Roadrunner'. When I asked him why, he said "because you work so fast".
I smiled and said " then you know what that makes you ". Damn good thing for me, he and I got along very well. He laughed after I said it.
That is the one thing I dislike about retirement, not being able (as often) to see the people I used to work with.