2000 Oldsmobile Alero GX review from North America
"A good looking piece of junk"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
My power steering pump has been noisy since the day one. I am on my third pump and a set of hoses now and it's still noisy. Can't sell the car because of it. Last time I was at the dealer's I was informed that the noisy pump is a design flaw that can't be fixed. The pump is coupled directly on the cam shaft, it has no "give".
My hood rusted 2 years after purchasing the car. It started rusting from the seam. The body shop deemed it a manufacturer's defect, but GM refused to fix it under warranty because the car had over 60 000 Km. After many calls to the GM customer support, they decided to help me with sharing 50% of the cost. Soon after they called me to tell me that they changed their mind and rescinded the offer. I paid 800 dollars to paint the hood.
I complained about excessive shakes of the shift stick in the second gear only after 500 Km or so. Dealer didn't have a manual transmission expert on hand and could do nothing.
The plastic "curtain" under the front bumper is annoying. It is made of very brittle plastic and breaks on every contact with sidewalk curb when parking. Replacements moldings are very expensive.
Both front wheel bearings gone before 50 000 Km.
Heating fan resistor gone at 25000 Km.
Driver door misalignment caused applique to wear out at about 10000 Km. Dealer replaced applique, but refused to realign the door because: "once you start changing door alignment, you never get it right".
Rotors and pads every 20 000 Km.
Squeaking suspension in the rear, dealer never fixed it.
I purchased $1150 extended warranty and I paid about $2000 for repairs not covered by warranty so far. I've had the car for 2.5 years. The car is a piece of junk. I will never own a GM vehicle again.
General comments?
The car is very very comfortable. Very comfortable, and it looks elegant. The engine has a lot of power and it doesn't mind being revved. I go 165 Km/h in the fourth gear when passing with no problems. The double overhead cam really helps.
The speed limiter at 175 Km/h is very annoying too.
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|
| Nice car, many annoyances |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 2000 |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2003 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.4L Manual |
| Performance marks | 5 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 5 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 10 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 1 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 105000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Plymouth Duster |
| Date of Entry | 3rd March, 2003 |