2002 Oldsmobile Alero review from North America

8/6/02: Mileage – 4396. Shifter handle release button falls out and has to be replaced.

11/16/04: Mileage – 31782. Rattling coming from passenger side-wheel area. Cause: Poor machining. Right front strut mount not sitting properly in spring seat. Strut mount and spring seat replaced and alignment checked.

Driver’s side door speaker doesn’t work. Cause: Terminal backed out. Bad connector in wiring to left front speaker. Wiring terminal repaired.

12/28/04: Mileage – 33588. Car broke down while travelling home from New Orleans Christmas morning and had to be towed to a hotel. Couldn’t begin the process of getting the car fixed until the next day. Car towed to dealer on 12/27/04 and repairs completed on 12/28/04. Stranded out of town for four days until car repairs completed. Catalytic converter not working and engine missing on 2 cylinders almost resulting in the vehicle catching on fire. Catalytic converter replaced and fouled cylinders cleared.

30K mile service completed at this time as well.

11/25/05: Mileage – 44464. Stranded when car unexpectedly wouldn’t start. Had to call roadside assistance and have car towed to the dealer. Battery had bad cell and needed to be replaced.

2/23/06: Mileage – 46493. Vehicle wouldn’t start and stranded on the side of the road. Had to call roadside assistance and have car towed to the dealer. Cause: Ignition lock cylinder shorted. Ignition lock cylinder and pass lock sensor replaced. System reprogrammed.

11/14/06: Mileage – 53475. Vehicle disabled and wouldn’t start. Stranded and had to call roadside assistance and have car towed to the dealer. Battery dead and wouldn’t take charge. Battery replaced and safety inspection completed.

3/29/07: Mileage – 59180. 60K mile service completed.

12/19/07: Mileage – 69823. Engine quit running while travelling 70 MPH on a crowded Interstate highway resulting in loss of power steering and a life-threatening situation for myself and other motorists. Stranded and had to be towed to the nearest city 35 miles away over 125 miles away from my home. The timing chain had snapped causing damage to the cylinder head. Repairs required a new timing chain kit and cylinder head. The car was no longer under warranty and the repair cost $2640.14 on top of the towing charge and having to rent a car for 8 days.

This car is unsafe to drive and needed to be recalled.

Note: This engine is advertised as having a maintenance free timing chain. The defective part was the timing chain tensioner, which was redesigned in 2004 to prevent this type of extensive engine damage and life threatening situation. GM could have either issued a recall to correct this problem or this defective part could have been replaced when the vehicle was getting its 60000-mile maintenance on 3/29/07 while it was still under warranty.