25th Jul 2004, 23:03
I loved my 2000 Alero for two years--then I moved to Las Vegas and it has been one (expensive) problem after another. First, the fuel pump. It went out on a trip and I got stranded in the middle of the night after the car died on me--had it towed to a repair place and they couldn't find anything wrong because it started up and ran fine. ($100 for the tow) ; five months later it died again--this time in town. Car repair place said it was fuel pump ($800); got it back, two days later the battery went out ($60); then, the real aggravation--Las Vegas' 100 degree plus days, the car starts overheating. Water pump ($400, then hoses etc. ($100). Runs fine for four days, then overheats again. Cannot drive it more than four miles without it almost in the red. I cannot afford to spend anymore money, can't afford a new car--and cannot afford to miss work while car is in the shop. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know anyone here in town so I have to rely on what I find in the yellow pages and the dealership. I'm really ticked off. Until now, I have had no problems except for the vinyl peeling back off the dash, and of course, that's getting worse because of the heat. Other than these problems, it has been a good car, but I cannot afford this and the car repair place hasn't been able to find the real problem, so it just continues.
6th Jan 2004, 05:54
To anyone who has an Alero and the coolant is running low and don't know why. Get the car into the shop immediately. I've seen this comment numerous times on these sites. I had the same problem and eventually got feed up with it. Had the dealership check it out thinking this was no big problem. $1,000 later I was wrong. The intake manifold gasket had to be replaced.