1997 Oldsmobile Aurora from North America - Comments

They probably should have named this car the Gremlin, except that name was already taken.

We have fought electrical problems with this car every since we bought it.. First the lights would come on and off when the car was turned off and run down the battery. We managed to clean the light switch with some contact cleaner to wash out all the extra grease and finally that problem is solved.

The other huge problem with this car is that everything you will most likley to have to work on is extremely inaccessible. The starter is under the intake manifold! The water-pump is on the back end (drivers side) of the engine along with the waterpump belt which is driven off of one of the camshafts. Its probably the poorest designed engine I have ever seen for ease of maintenance. There is no ease of maintenance. I have no clue what the engineers were trying to achieve here. No wonder Oldsmobile had to shut down.

I can't wait to get rid of this car. My conscience will bother me for a while after I sell it to some poor unsuspecting soul. Although a brand new car will probably serve as a consolation prize to make me feel better. I would sell this car to my worst enemy if I could get them to buy it! The Oldsmobile Aurora drives great, but gets the Lemon Award for lack of reliability. After owning a great totally reliable Park Avenue Ultra this car is a total let down. Sigh.

Unfortunately, you bought this Aurora as a used car. I am not at all surprised to read about its electrical problems... almost all used cars are junk.

As for the accessibility problems, be aware the the Cadillac Northstar V-8 has these also. Except for the cylinder bore, the Aurora & Northstar engines are identical.

"Almost all used cars are junk"!!???

That's a very ridiculous statement if there ever was one.

I've owned 10 new cars over the last 32 years, and over a dozen used (for both business & personal use, and I must say most of the used have been just as reliable (in some cases more reliable) than the new).

I would certainly rather purchase a 2-4 year-old Lexus, BMW,

Saab, or Mercedes, over a new Ford, Chevy or Chrysler as well as many imported makes.

Heck, I even owned a 13 year old VW that was at least as reliable as my brand new Jeep.

A lot of it comes down to how the car was cared for, and doing your homework before you buy.

Lemon award beware of water in the oil.

Come on now, all used cars are junk? And, I guess that the prior owner or owners could have done something that caused all the electrical problems, but, it is just as likely that the car is junk which, indeed it is. I say this from personal experience.

I purchased a used 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora, and within a month the car burst into flames while my son was driving it to work. This is by far the worst problem that I've ever encountered with an automobile.

In regard to the Aurora bursting into flames, that might have been a blessing in disguise. As a former sufferer from the nightmare that is the Aurora, these cars will nickle and dime you to death. What am I talking about? 100 dollar and 1000 dollar you to death. No wonder, GM is having problems.

I would strongly advise anyone contemplating buying an Aurora to go to Automotive Forums. Look at the number and severity of the complaints and problems from desperate owners. For those of you who own this car and you're having problems with it, earn some positive Karma. Drive or have it towed to the nearest junk yard and get this piece of junk off of the road.