Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-50
1. My driver side window came off track and was stuck shut. It then fell down and would not roll up. This was covered under warranty.
2. My dome light assembly fell out, leaving my dome light just hanging in mid air. This was also covered under warranty.
3. I have had to replace my front brakes and rotors in February of 2004 and then again in September of 2004.
4. My turn signals decide when they want to work or not! (No longer under warranty)
5. My passenger side window is now broken and won't roll up. When my dad went to the dealership to ask for the little plastic parts he needed, they told him he could not buy just those parts and will need to buy the cable and the motor, which costs $269. (No longer under warranty)
6. I just replaced my driver side wheel barring. (No longer under warranty)
7. My car lighter has broken. (Not sure if that would even be covered under warranty)
8. My passenger side door handle is broken - you cannot get out from the inside unless you roll the window down and open the door from the outside; which is very difficult to do because my window is broken and my dad has fixed it to where it is stuck shut. (No longer under warranty)
9. There is a very loud noise coming from the right side of the car. (No longer under warranty)
10. My Trac Off, Anti-lock brake lights & Service Vehicle Soon lights have been on ever since my warranty ran out at 36,000 miles. Therefore I have no anti-lock brakes. I was told this would be very expensive to even look at, so I opted to just leave those lights on. I was also told there is some type of campaign for the computer configuration of this car that I am currently waiting to hear about.
11. My Low Tire Pressure light no longer works also. My passenger side rear tire was at 17 when it's supposed to be 35 and nothing came on at all. (No longer under warranty)
12. Last, but not least, my car was just in the repair shop for 2 weeks and 1 day because it wouldn't start. When I had it towed to my mechanic they told me the #4 cylinder was not getting enough pressure for my engine and that I would need a new engine! 2 years old and my car needs a new engine! So we had to towed to the actual dealership and they tore it apart and put it back together putting new gaskets on and my car starts fine and they say that there was nothing wrong with it to begin with!
We were also told that in 2000 there was some type of recall on the engines of these cars and they now have a different type of engine. I'm not so sure about that. (No longer under warranty)
My car only has 45,000 miles on it. I bought it used in February of 2003 when there were no problems with it! Suddenly, it's costing more for me to keep this car on the road than I paid for it. I feel that there should at least be some type of recall on the windows. My dad works with a couple people that have the same year car that I do and they have been experiencing the same problems.
I feel your pain, I bought my 2001 Alero 2 years ago. I had no problems with it until about six months ago. First it was the fuel pump, and close friend (mechanic) fixed that problem. Then the cam. sensor went out another $40.00 for that plus labor, just when I thought it couldn't get worse it did. my security system wouldn't allow my car to start, once again a tow and an easy fix plus $104.00 later. (I can tell all of you who have this problem how to fix it without going to the dealer or a mechanic. Turn the key to the on position and leave it on for ten min. it should start right up. What you're doing is telling the computer to relearn the security codes) Trac off light came on, service engine soon light came on, and the anti' lock light came on all at once. I had it in to the shop on Friday, my throttle sensor went out $120.00 to fix that, only to have to have it towed to the shop on Monday because it won't start, the mechanics said I'm not getting either spark or fuel. You know it's bad when a mechanic can't tell you whats wrong with your car. Is it me or are theses cars possessed. Once one thing goes wrong it all goes wrong.
I also have a 2001 lemon Alero. after one year of owning the car, I had to start adding oil two weeks after a oil change. I had to have new seals and gaskets. when I pick up the car from the dealership they tell me it didn't fix the problem. possibly now it could be the pistons or the rods. the car is only three years old. In addition I have had to have passenger and driver window motors replaced. Also 2000 miles after manufacturer warranty was up the dash started bubbling and cracking. They tell me that extended warranty wouldn't pay. The gear shifter button broke and I had to have that replaced. So I would not recommend this car to my worst enemy. What next?
LEMON LEMON LEMON! I bought my 2001 alero 1 year ago. I checked the rotors and brakes before I bought it because of the weird grinding noise they make. turns out they all make that noise. the brakes brand new and rotors were good. 3 months ago had to change brakes and rotors. 1 month ago the blower motor quit running on certain speeds. finally got that fixed. now the car starts, but then stalls immediately. power door locks don't work. courtesy lights don't work. radio don't work. trunk release don't work. fog lights don't work. all of this stuff quit working today. if anyone knows what could be wrong please tell me. I rebuilt an engine on an 89 cavalier and that was a lot easier than figuring out this piece of crap! too bad I still owe on it. I love GM vehicles (or atleast I did!) I will never NEVER buy another gm car again and I would never recommend one. I do love my 2003 Silverado though.
In response to the comment made on Oct 19th, 2004, thank you. In my Alero, the security system would not allow my car to start. I figured that the suggestion of turn the key to the on position and leave it on for ten min could not hurt since it did not cost me anything. This definitely worked. I am good friends with the dealer I bought my car from and I called to tell him the news and his service man said that this is a way to fix that problem, but that it is only temporary. It could go out again and while you could use the same method for getting it started again, that it may have to eventually be replaced due to loss of memory. This same thing happened to me in January and it cost me $500 to fix, so I am so thankful that this worked. So I wanted to share this information in case anyone has the same problem and is not sure what to do. My next problem to tackle is my driver side window. It does not work. I am not sure how much that will cost me, but I am hoping it will not be too unreasonable. I have just now had this car for a year and I definitely did not expect to have this many problems so fast.
I have a 2001 Olds Alero, I am overall happy with the car's performace; however, all the interior is starting to pop off for no reason. The side back panel above the rear door is hanging now, the cup holder to the left of the steering wheel popped off. Also I had to replace the shift knob because the button you push in to shift gears popped off.. STRANGE!
My daughter owns an 2001 alero.We had it in the shop because it kept going dead.They said they thought it was the fuel pump, but they weren't for sure.If we keep the gas level at high tank she doesn't have any problems. If it goes lower sometimes it goes dead.You can wait a little while and then it starts. It will go dead while driving strange!!!Anyone else have this problem?Trying to keep car to get through college help.
It is possible that your fuel pump is going bad and the reason that the car seems to work fine when the tank is full is because the pump is immersed in fuel and this prevents it from overheating. As the tank empties, the fuel pump is no longer immersed in fuel and can now overheat. This is why after the car sits for a while it will start again, the fuel pump has now sufficiently cooled off.
This is for the 23rd May comment.
My parents purchased me a 2001 alero (V6) for a college car. I went to college 3 hours away and was having the same problem as your daughter. It would go dead for anywhere between an hour to a couple of days. I had it in the shop many times for this. They could not tell me what was wrong with it for sure. I had all the fluids changed and some other stuff done. This happen for about two months and then the car worked pretty well for about a month. Until my transmission went out on the way back from spring break. I went to school in Kansas and was on my way back from Colorado with my fiance when it went out. We were 4 hours from school, a friend had to come get us, we had to have the car fixed there, we had to go pick it up when it was done, and it cost me and my parents about 1,800 to fix. Now that my fiance and I are married and graduated from college, this is our main car. We would like to get rid of it, but do not want to pawn it off on anyone else. No one deservers that! I guess we will drive untill it dies, but that may not be much longer!
My advice is to get the engine check before it cost a small fortune to fix.
Time for all of you to learn how to work a car. I have a 2001 Alero... no problems...why do you??? Hmmmmm...
Just about all the problems that are mentioned here I have with my 2000 Alero, especially that window clip, and that security system. I have replaced the fuel pump already, and I'm about to replace all of the rotors. Is there anyone having a problem with the vehicle running hot? Runs out of oil pretty fast, can anyone help me?
2001 Alero GLS 3.4L V6:
In reply to the person who said: "5th Aug 2006, 17:48 Time for all of you to learn how to work a car. I have a 2001 Alero... no problems... why do you??? Hmmmmm..."
Maybe you're the lucky one.
Front tires have a woomp woomp at low speeds. Front tires replaced (by recall) because of ridges on tires themselves, but back tires not replaced because they don't make noise (same ridges, hello?). Can't rotate tires or they'll make noise.
Radio stopped working, replaced. Blower motor quit running, replaced blower fan resistor. Defroster not working.
Service light comes on, ABS light on, and while still on, scanner at dealership says no problems.
Intake manifold replaced twice. Leaks coolant. Both exterior rear-view mirrors fell off at different times.
Trouble starting up.
Steering noise, Grinding noise, Rotors and brakes replaced 5 times, front strut replaced 1 time, wheel bearings replaced.
And other things that.
LEMON. I will never buy another gm car again.
With so many repeat incidents, this model should have been recalled.
I have a 2001 alero and bought it brand new. the warranty on the vehicle expired at 36,000 miles. well, right before the expiration date I purchased the extended warranty that expired at 75,000 miles. lucky for me. my alero had several problems that were covered and fixed. They are: both windows fell of track, (steering) rack and pinion replaced twice, fuel pump was leaking gas and was replaced, signals including hazards stopped working and were fixed, air blower wasn't working properly and was replaced, driver side mirror fell off and was replaced, cd player stopped playing cd's in extreme heat and was replaced. I now have 81,000 miles on the car and the car is running well although I've recently noticed that the car is making a slight noise when going into the drive position.
My suggestion to anyone buying a new car is to buy the extended warranty if you plan on keeping it. it really paid off in the long run for me.
Well My 2000 Alero is a piece of junk, lol I couldn't run it while in college for 6 months I had to bring it home and let it sit, I finally got it in the shop they replaced an axle and my anti freeze tank because it had a crack now I need a new front wheel barring all new rotors and it is in the shop today because the driver side window is broke, my dome light also falls out, all these problems are so ridiculous sometimes I just rather walk...lol.
I have had my 2001 Alero for about 7 months (it was under warranty for 6)... In the 5 month of ownership, I started noticing the Security light, but it didn't start not starting on me until the end of the sixth. I took it in twice, each time they said they "reset the codes" but I have had this problem of it not starting repeatedly. I finally took it in today (prepared to put up a fight if I have to pay for them to fix it right this time). They said they would have to"send it out" (to an Olds mechanic) for fixing. I can only imagine what they will say tomorrow. Thanks to all these posts though, I will know better than to just accept any old excuse or part they say I need. How can we all go about getting a recall started or something? This is crap...
2001 Alero problems...
So far windows windows windows... now steering issue,... also the intake gaskets went to crap, very costly to have replaced, car has 30,000 miles on it and at this rate will be lucky to get to 31,000...