2001 Oldsmobile Aurora Onstar V8 review from North America

It took a week or so for my spouse and I to find out that the right front door has a knob on it that will capture air conditioning and or heat for her... I can't believe that 2001 is the first year that feature was put on a GM Car... This Aurora is the first GM-Car I have ever owned and I have heard all of the horror stories about things happening... This car is apparently the exception...

The right rear door window stopped staying closed... got it fixed for a small price (don't remember) but the dealership left the automatic door-lock on that door non-functional. They know, and will fix it... I just haven't been in town long enough for them to do so. It is a great car. I feel fortunate in several ways to have become its owner... I have tried to treat it right, and I believe that the machine appreciates that...

The car rarely stalls at idle... changed fuel filters X2 $20.00 per event... each filter worked for 10,000 miles...? Bad GAS?..

I took a position in a city 150 miles from my home. The car I was driving was a "Chrysler LHS" with 85,000 miles on it. I remarked to my boss that I needed a car with less miles if I was going to continue to drive.. A dealer he knew had my Aurora sitting on his lot... the first owner bought it, and almost immediately had a stroke. MILES AT MY ACQUISITION: 1200.. (That is not a mis-print).Two years later he traded it to a Chrysler dealer for a van, so he could travel with his family. It's worst "wear and tear," was to sit there for that time, without being turned on and driven.

Rubber that is not used, deteriorates faster than if it is used... therefore the original equipment Michelin tires were replaced at 52,000 miles... no fault to anyone, but fate.

The car has On Star, and it has been a blessing. It stopped in the middle of my workplace town at 11:30 PM. I called On Star, and they did an electronic engine check, and said, "drive the car to your hotel, it won't hurt it. To Dealer in AM." Some small adjustment on the transmission, and it has not had that problem again...

On one other occasion I had a flat on the highway, 40 miles away from a town with access to the turnpike. On Star had some one there within 30 minutes to help me... for us older folks, who need help on a busy road (or off of such roads) that makes the day go faster, and you don't have to get hurt with a car falling off of a jack on a small hill, trying to install the little tire by yourself... with 18 wheelers whizzing by leaving eddy currents of air that could blow you off of the shoulder into the ditch if you happen to be standing up when the vehicle comes by... Professional drivers are not likely to hit you... it is the amateurs and teen-agers that will be talking to someone in the back seat, and run off of the road, and hit you and your disabled car, leaving you permanently unemployable... with no liability insurance on their vehicle... I have been lucky, because I didn't know about OnStar until I acquired this vehicle...

When the odometer approached 34,000 miles, I took it to a Cadillac dealership for a thorough once over... expensive, but I thought it was preventive maintenance... he put in one new wheel bearing, and couldn't find anything else... no other mechanical troubles, but of course, I got the front end of the life of the vehicle, and others with older ones have the high maintenance end of the car's life.

My car now has 126,000 long distance miles on it on Oklahoma Roads, at or a little below the 75 mph speed limit... to this date, there has been no trouble except my hypochondria... My main complaint at this moment, is that On-Star on 2001 vehicles (and earlier vehicles) is an analog system, and is being phased out to an all digital system. There is no upgrade for the systems in 2001 and before vehicles. As of now, my On-star will not work after January 2008, and there is no cure for that other than a new car... or a GPS and my cell phone, with a directory that has yellow pages...

Everyone that sees this vehicle says the same thing... "GM finally made a perfect car, and then they quit... Perhaps an Aurora 4.0 with a V-8 On-Star engine is meant to be driven long distances, and have its oil changed too frequently... plus transmission and other preventive maintenance when not "sick"... so far mine hasn't gotten sick, so I am keeping my fingers crossed about that... Most of my previous cars have been driven around a city, with a lot of stop and go driving... this one is a Road Car, and it does that job beautifully... I wish I could find another new one, because if it starts doing what I have read about from folks with older ones, I will get a new vehicle of some type with On Star... as that is a remarkably worth-while safety device for folks who are alone on the road, and need help... it works fine...

There is an old saying that a cowboy should never brag on his horse, or fall in love with his horse either, for that matter... he will certainly throw you off the next time you mount him, if you do... I have taken that risk... Pray for me.

So I have had 126,000 miles of pure driving pleasure from this vehicle... That is more than I ever got from any other car I ever owned... but this is the first time that I have done that much long distance driving consistently... and everyone will tell you (it is true) that long distance driving is not as hard on a car as stop and go driving around town...

Clarence Robison M.D.