8th Mar 2005, 14:35

My mother's car did about the same. The ignition locked and you cannot get the key out unless you push the button under the steering wheel. The radiator when out, followed by the alternator, then the heating and air unit went out.

The ETS light stays on, and her brakes are shot. They jump when you try to stop and sometimes let go in the middle of stopping. After spending all this money to fix it, a gasket blew and antifreeze went all into the engine and cracked it.

It was purchased at under 30,000 miles. It's paid off so we're just going to try and get the ABS taken out and replaced with disc breaks. Have the engine rebuilt and the fuses replaced (They all blew at once)

Hopefully you have better luck with you car, mate.

28th Aug 2005, 16:28

I got a 1998 oldsmobile Achieva and I must say its got a lot of power with its 3.1L V6. I never had any trouble at all I got it new with 22000 on it and today its got 120,530 and the only stuff I did to it was change oil, tune ups, and its on the 2nd set of rubber. other than that Iv never put out more than $110.00 at one time for it other than the tiers ($330.00 A set of 4) I love my car. As cars got older thay are just like people, It require more TLC.

7th Jun 2009, 21:15

This is an alright car... you drove the crap out of it. Obviously, stuff like that happens at high mileage.

9th Jul 2009, 13:42

Well this review is and can be useful. It shows what you can expect once you hit those miles. I know it's frustrating to seem to have something go wrong every time you turn around but on high mileage cars, or average car over 100,000 age and miles start to show. Depending on the car depends on what is likely to need to be replaced. Large heavy V-8s and V-12s tend to need front end work, while other cars and engines might need head gasket, and some others might need egr valves, rotors, shocks, timing chain/belt, alt/battery, etc. Good review on maintenance of a higher mileage Achieva though and the cost. Don't see much of those as it seems many people let those things go to hell after warranty.