2001 Oldsmobile Bravada from North America - Comments

I have only had this car for two months. Ten days after purchase from a small used car lot, the vehicle would no longer go into reverse and shifted hard between first and second gear. Cost nearly $3,000 for a rebuilt, warrantied transmission.

This vehicle is both beautiful and comfortable, handles well and gets decent gas mileage. But something is definitely up with the Smart-Track transmission. I live in snow country with a 1/2 mile driveway and must have four wheel drive. GM needs to work the bugs out of this transmission better.

I have been looking at Bravadas that have been put up for sale and reading peoples reviews on them. I already know of one guy trying to sell his Bravada and he apparently has the same problem with the transmission not going into reverse. A lot of reviews so far are talking about tranny problems on these cars.

I have a 2001 Bravada with 83000 miles that I bought new Feb 2001. I've had to replace both front wheel bearings, fuel pump twice, and now reverse has gone out. Getting it fixed and trading it for a BMW.

LOL you think you're Bravada had problems, just wait till you see the bill for the oil change on the BMW. Not to mention the reliability stats are in the toilet.

Only the transmission... I should be so lucky. I have a 2001 that at 43,000 miles had the front pinion bearing replaced and rear seal replaced. Now at 118,000 miles, I now have a new transmission (no reverse, imagine that), a repaired manifold leak, and front pinion bearing repair again. And guess what, they just told me my rear differential needs repaired. I can't figure out what happened to real GM quality, but as they got newer, they broke more often. I had a 1997 Bravada that I put brakes on and ran until it had close to 170,000 miles, sometimes I wish I had it back. Good luck to anyone buying a Bravada period.

I know how everyone feels, I have a 2001 Bravada smart trac, and I've never seen so many problems, so far here's a time line:

Day 2 of owning: Would not start due to battery cables.

Day 8: My drive shaft just decided to fall off.

Day 41: Reverse begins to go.

Never buy a Bravada, I just purchased a 2003 Impala, that's where it's at.