1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Coupe review from North America
"An example of reliability being sacrificed for performance.."
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Car started to randomly cut off for no apparent reason after the first 1,000 miles into ownership.
Engine also began to hesitate on acceleration.
Spark plugs and wires were replaced twice.
O2 sensor was replaced.
Electronic Control Module (brain) was replaced twice.
Front brake pads were replaced.
Ignition module was replaced two times.
The ignitions coils were replaced.
Power steering system had some work done on it.
Torque lock-up solenoid was replaced on transmission.
Front left fender and driver's door got bent in an accident.
Battery went dead in about 4,500 miles.
Coolant began to leak quite a bit after about six months.
Some cosmetics in the interior began to fall apart.
Belts started squealing a few months into ownership.
Catalytic converter was replaced because it got plugged.
Paint had already started peeling pretty badly.
General comments?
This 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was my second car to replace the previous car that I had wrecked. I gave about $1200 for the car, and the previous owner said that the engine and transmission were both rebuilt with low miles on the rebuilt engine and transmission. The previous owners got the car from an auction.
The performance in this car was great. This vehicle was pretty quick for the most part with the Quad 4 engine, and the handling was good as well. Grade: B +
However, this car was plagued by multiple reliability problems. The car was alright during the first thousand miles or so, but after that, it was consistently stalling when slowing down, stopping, just sitting there, or even when pushing the accelerator (as if it was an "OFF" button). It wouldn't start back up half of the time, so I had to walk some distances to telephones and call AAA. None of the mechanics we took the car to could figure out the problem. Most of these things mentioned above that were done to the car were an attempt to solve the problem, but they failed to do so. Also, the car hesitated a lot while driving. Overall, this car, or any other car with the Quad 4 motor for that matter, has a bad reputation when it comes to reliability. Grade: F
This car was pretty comfortable on long drives, though. It was pretty roomy, and I never felt sore after driving for a while. Grade: B
To fix the stalling problem, we only took the car to the dealership twice. They couldn't figure out the problem, either. They replaced some parts that they thought might have been causing it, but the problem still wasn't fixed. However, they didn't really try to clean our wallets, so the dealers were just pretty much average. Grade: C -
This Cutlass hurt us financially. My grandfather, my mother, and I spent over $2,100 trying to replace parts to fix the simple problem with the excessive stalling. This put us into a "car saga". We finally got rid of the car and junked it. Grade: F
Taken as a whole, this car was really bad and is one that I would definitely not suggest driving or owning. However, there were a few saving graces about it such as the performance, acceleration, and comfort, but those are not enough to save the car.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2001 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.3 Liter I-4 DOHC (Quad 4) Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8/10 |
| Reliability marks | 2/10 |
| Comfort marks | 7/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 5/10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 175000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 180000 miles |
| Previous car | Nissan Maxima |
| Date of Entry | 30th September, 2001 |

