2002 Oldsmobile Alero GLS from North America - Comments

I got the car at the end of October, 2002. By the end of December of the same year, the dashboard had wrinkled. Luckily, it was covered under warranty.

In June 2003, the motor of the driver's side window no longer worked. I had to have it replaced. This also was covered by warranty.

The knob on my radio broke and I had to have it replaced. This was not covered under warranty.

January 2004, my car began to have problems starting. The engine would sound like it wants to turnover, however, it doesn't until the third try. I took it down to the dealership's service department, and they couldn't find the solution to the problem. This has continued to occur and now it is August. I have taken it to the dealership numerous of times. I have replaced the battery and the fuel pump by suggestion of the mechanic. None of these suggestions have solved my problems.

I honestly think that the car needs to be recalled. The mechanics only true solution to my problem is to wait until whatever is causing the problem to break all the way down where the car does not work, so that they can find the problem. This is an inconvenience to me because I like to travel, however, my car is not reliable enough for me to venture out of state. It's barely reliable enough to get me to and from work. This is my first time using Oldsmobile and I promise it will be my last.

I aslo have just purchased an Alero... so far my only complain is that I too have problems starting the car, it sounds like it wants to turn over, but it takes awhile.. this worries me... as far as the interior it is OK, but my factory stereo buttons are flaking off... I have become very skeptical of this car and am very worried... I think it might be a lemon.

The starter is okay. I asked the GM dealer about that on my Alero and the immobilizer takes a few seconds to register that it's the correct key. What I do is turn it to the ON position for about 5 seconds or when the chime goes off, then start it and it starts up without a problem. This seems to be common on a few cars, like my friend's Honda Civic. Try that and see what happens. Power Window motors seem to be a problem on the Alero's, but yours frankly isn't really a lemon, there are other cars with way worse stuff than that.

Bought the 2001 alero in 2002, had a lot of problems with the ABS, trac off,service engine soon dash lights,at present we have replace 9 wheel bearings all of which were on the front, the first wheel bearing went with about 70,000kilometers on the car not very happy with the quality of this vehicle.

A crappy car? Maybe... But Life threatening? I don't think so.

When I bought my 2002 Alero I had trouble starting it too. Took it to the shop and they couldn't fix it either. So I did some looking myself. I found the problem to be a faulty fuel relay under the hood. Check that. Have had no problems since, but I carry a spare fuel relay. Love my Alero now. G.B. in Alberta Canada.

The problems you have described hardly would qualify as a lemon. I've owned my 2002 Alero since new (so about 7 years now), and it is a fantastic car. Sure there are a few quirks to it, such as the passenger side window working when it wants, and the paint flaking off the radio buttons. But the problems you've had are ones everyone has had, and as long as the car still runs fine, then why are you complaining?

The window motor can be annoying, and the radio.. to be honest it probably would've been cheaper for you to just go to Best Buy and buy a new deck.