1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 3.1L V6 Gas

Summary:

Great, cheap, and dependable car

Faults:

Two things: the automatic likes to shift hard, especially if you floor it when you're already going fast. The original stereo began to fade in and out at random, fixed with a new stereo.

General Comments:

Most reliable car I've ever had. I haven't had to change a thing beside oil yet. Dashboard is nice and bright (and the digital speedometer is cool), smooth ride, lots of room for both passengers and cargo. It's probably not the fastest off the line, but it'll move you through traffic quick enough, and it still has decent fuel economy. The retractable under hood light is an especially nice touch.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd September, 2005

1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass SL 3.1 liter

Summary:

It is nice to drive, but fixing the problems is a hassle

Faults:

After the battery is disconnected or replaced, the engine stalls when it idles or is shifted into gear.

The left rear brake makes a "clicking" noise when it is used, and mechanics can't find anything wrong with it.

Sometimes when the gas is applied, the car jumps forward, and it sounds like the transmission is skipping, but it doesn't do it when we take it to the mechanic.

General Comments:

The car is very smooth, and is pretty quiet.

The car gets pretty affordable gas mileage.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 22nd May, 2005

23rd May 2005, 18:22

"After the battery is disconnected or replaced, the engine stalls when it idles or is shifted into gear"

Quite common actually. That's the ECU attempting to relearn the functions of the sensor. It can sometimes take upwards of 90 days (!) for the ECU to fully relearn all functions, including the 100+ positions of the IAC. You can take it to a dealer or competent garage and they can retrain the computer, but doing that would cost some cash. Just ride it out if you can, and when the car stumbles, don't tap the gas.

1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 3.1

Summary:

=)

Faults:

Well, there the biggest problem was when one of the camshafts was blown at around 100,000 miles. I replaces the engine and it has been running beautifully since then.

There is was a coolant leak.

The low coolant sensor goes on although the coolant is no longer leaking or low.

The little arrow that points to whether you are in drive or reverse etc. has popped off and disappeared. How strange is that.

General Comments:

This is pretty much the coolest car in the entire world. It has been my first and only car since I was 16.

My friends and I have named it the Oldsmobile F16 because it has always been quick. I've had it up to 114mph and the engine didn't even seem stressed out. During regular driving I don't even need to put my foot half way to the floor.

I have always taken care of this car, inside and out, so there is no rust and the interior looks new.

I drive mostly in Pittsburgh, however, during occasional road trips to Penn State, 3 hours away, I have not had any problems meaning this care is great in city or highway driving.

The is excellent room for passengers both front and rear to lay down and spread out. Just ask my girlfriend.

I seem to have had a bad battery at one point because I needed a jump a few times though nothing was running on it while the car was off. But, one the battery was replaced, I have had no trouble starting my car all winter long outside.

Its gonna be hard to give this car up, especially knowing I would get next to nothing for it, so I plan on my F16 and I living happily ever after together.

I would recommend this car to the pope.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 23rd February, 2005

1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL 3.1L V6

Summary:

This is a great car!!

Faults:

Digital dash functions intermittently.

Retro-fitted Air Conditioning the year after I bought car.

Replaced Exhaust Gas Recirculating valve June 2004.

Replaced power steering pump/housing Feb 2005.

Repaired broken drivers door linkage.

Replaced AM FM Tape player.

The car had the transmission rebuilt and the brakes redone by the previous owner just before I bought it.

It has four wheel anti-lock disc brakes. He had all four calipers and rotors replaced, with the pads. I know that he did not even get his money back on the transmission rebuild alone, let alone the brake job, in the selling price of the car.

General Comments:

I am the third owner of this car. I bought it for a reasonable price (I think) $1800. I knew that the Air Conditioner did not work and that the power steering leaked when I bought it. The car had no rust at all and still does not. It has been driven mostly highway from new. The paint is in reasonable shape, a little faded and numerous rock chips on the front half of the hood.

I had the A/C retro-fitted the following year of purchase. I cost about $1000 and still has to be looked at as it just does not keep the interior cool on hot days. The dealer says they fixed all leaks, but they may have missed something.

The climate control unit had to be replaced at the time of A/C repair as it was causing the heater motor control door to stay open and was unbearably hot, even in winter. That was about $100 and was included in the $1000 dollar cost.

The broken drivers door linkage was a $2 fix and an hour of my time.

I tried to repair the digital dash, but minimal success. By securing a small piece of plastic between the casing and the circuit board I managed to stop the flickering, but it still goes blank from time to time. The parts person at the dealer says that a rebuilt one is about $500 and I am hoping to find a lower price.

I just had the power steering unit changed. It cost$200 for the part and one and a half hours labor charges. It had a cracked fluid housing and leaked badly.

The EGR valve failed on a road trip and melted the vacuum lines that controlled the cruise control. The EGR cost $300 and I installed it myself. It was easy to do. Then replaced the cruise control vacuum lines and no troubles since.

A tape jammed in the deck and I had to remove the unit and take it apart to get it out. After I reinstalled the deck it did it again so I replaced the unit with another one from the wrecker for $75.

The car has lots of power. It accelerates smoothly and quickly. I can pull out and pass a B-train semi on highway with no trouble at all. It will climb from 90 kph to 130 kph to do so in very little time. It corners well for a large car and is very, very comfortable on long trips.

The car burns no oil. On a 3500 km road trip last summer it was only down half a liter of oil at the end of the trip.

The car always starts and has never left us stranded in two and a half years. Other than the above mentioned costs I have only done the usual things like new plugs and wires as well as a new set of tires. The car is very good on fuel. On one road trip with four passengers and a trunk full of luggage we averaged about 35 MPG and got as high as 37 MPG. Not too bad for a large car.

No one complained about comfort and the trip was about 1000 km. Even with this load the car would accelerate up the long Rocky Mountain highways easily.

I would definitely recommend this a s a good second car or even a first car for anyone who is ready to take care of things like the digital dash and radio problems.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th February, 2005

17th Mar 2005, 16:25

I had the same problem after 1 year, then again 10 years later. I went to a local junk yard and got a new one for $100 US. Later on I found out that there is an internal dc to dc voltage converter that fails and causes the dash to work intermittently.