Faults:

Adhesive Strip/Adjusted Clips/Repaired Ground

LEFT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly

Inspection/Emission/Front End Alignment/Front Brake Pads/Resurfaced Rotors

Inspection/Emissions

RIGHT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly & Resurfaced Rotors

Replaced Coil Pack

Replaced Spark Plugs/Fuel Filter/ Oxygen Sensor

Replaced Catalytic Converter

Resurface Rotors

LEFT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly

Inspection/Emissions/Front-Back Brakes

Fix Brakes/Resurface Rotors

RIGHT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly

Replaced Fuel Pump/Fuel Filter

LEFT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly/Replaced Front Brake Pads/Resurfaced Rotors

Replaced Right Outer Tie-Rod End

RIGHT Front Hub/Bearing Assembly

7575 Battery

Recall 04098 Turn Signal/Hazard Switch

Resurface Rotors.

General Comments:

When I bought this car I had problems with it right away as you can see. The top is in order of what went wrong since I have owned the car. I have owned the car for 3.5 years and have put $4844.00 into the car including tires, oil changes, and repairs. The warranty work was free. I have almost 141,000 miles on this car as of December 2006 and am going to keep it until it dies. I blame some of the problems with this car on delivering pizza. The stop and go driving can ruin a car by wearing out brakes and rotors, tie rods, Hub/Bearing Assemblies, etc. I quit delivering pizza in May 2006 and have had to replace a fuel pump/fuel filter and a hub/bearing assembly. Hopefully, I can run this car until I graduate and then some.

Now, for the GOOD things.

This car is great. I like everything about it except for the reliability factor and trunk space. The car is only a 4-cylinder, but when passengers are in the car they think it is a 6-cylinder. I commute 120 miles a day to school at approximately 80 miles per hour and the car performs excellent. Gas mileage is alright. I get about 26 miles per gallon city and 28 miles per gallon highway. For the best gas mileage, it is best to set the cruise control to 65 on the highway. As soon as you hit 70, the RPM's jump past 3000 and your gas mileage declines dramatically. Overall, I think this is a good car with some major front end problems.

Faults:

My radio would not work when the rear window defogger was turned on.

My driver's side power window would go down upon starting the car.

My brakes "shimmy" even after putting on new brake pads all around.

My Passlock II security light would go on sporadically, and twice would not start until I did the 10-minute reset routine (at very inconvenient times!).

General Comments:

Until you step on the brakes, or go through the security routine, the car handles pretty well and is a smooth, comfy ride with decent gas mileage (2.2 L - 4-Cyl. version).

The radio/rear defogger issue was resolved when someone threw a rock and shattered my rear window. $325 dollars later, the replacement window corrected this problem (bad luck, good luck).

The dealer did a warranty replacement of the driver's side power window switch assembly to correct the problem.

Eventually, I plan to replace the aluminum brake calipers, brake rotors, and based on other reviews, the wheel bearings and hub assemblies.

To solve the Passlock II security dilemma, see the instructions here:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_disable_the_alarm_system_on_an_2001_Oldsmobile_Alero

Faults:

Driver and passenger window stopped working, one 10 months after the other. Had to get new breaks and rear rotors turned. Turn signal would intermittently stop working, but this was covered under a GM "special policy."

General Comments:

I have had this car for well over a year now, and have had very few problems with it. The windows stopped working (drivers side 10 months before the passenger side, the back 2 windows still work fine). I had to get the rotors turned, but that may have been my fault because I let the brakes go too long. The only other issue was the turn signal would stop working once in a while until if fiddled with the hazard light or hit the dash with my palm. *** This is covered under a GM "special policy" so call GM and tell them about your turn signal not working!!! *** I called GM and they even setup an appointment with my local Chevy dealer to get this fixed!!!