1987 Oldsmobile Calais 3.0 from North America

Summary:

Great car

Faults:

Did have some minor problems with the car, but the GM dealers were a lost cause. WOW good trained techs "for a shoe maker".

General Comments:

One fantastic car. 3.0 litre engine. Great on fuel on the HWY @ 38 m.p.g. when run at 64mph, and went like jack the bear. The body did start to rust in the latter part of 5 years, but it was a very good car to me.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 14th November, 2010

1987 Oldsmobile Calais 2.5L from North America

Summary:

Very dependable, and surprisingly quick

Faults:

Starter went out as soon as I bought the car.

Headliner is just starting to sag.

Leaks a small amount of oil (nothing major).

General Comments:

This was a sweet deal. I am very impressed with this car. I only paid 200 dollars for it, and the starter was the only thing wrong with it.

Since then, I replaced the O2 sensor just to get the service engine soon light to stop going off and on. I put plugs and wires in, and the car runs like a champ. No complaints at all, except sometimes it accelerates slightly when I let off the gas, then goes right away.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th September, 2010

19th Apr 2011, 15:08

UPDATE, my car is still running great with over 203,500 miles now! These are great cars!!!

1987 Oldsmobile Calais 2.5L from North America

Summary:

It's a piece

Faults:

About 100 miles after I got the the alternator belt broke and every 500 miles after.

Crank shaft sensor went out.

Control module went out.

Ignition coils went out.

Alternator locked up.

Water pump locked up.

At 197,493 miles the head gasket blew.

Steering wheel shakes wildly.

Bottoms out on every singly bump.

Rattling when pressing the gas.

Takes 5-30 minutes to get in to drive.

Takes 20 minutes to start after all new ignition parts were installed.

Sometimes doesn't want to shift up.

High pitch squealing from the engine.

Replaced both rotors.

Replaced both front brake calibers.

Replaced front brakes twice in one month.

Replaced thermostat housing cap.

Replaced O2 sensor.

Replaced coolant sensor.

Car shakes like an earthquake.

Two motor mounts went out by putting it in to drive.

General Comments:

When the piece (the cars name) is behaving it out runs a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage with no problem.

It gets very good gas mileage.

It's fast enough that only one car has beaten it and that was a 1965 Ford Mustang.

It's a little rough on right turns, but on left turns you can hit them doing 50 and not worry about a thing.

Sounds like a truck.

Indianapolis 500 qualifier.

It's 4 wheel drive.

Has a 12 inch lift kit.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 1st January, 2005

5th Jan 2005, 08:56

This review is a piece.

A four-wheel drive Calais?

4th Mar 2005, 20:20

The Quad 4 option was first offered in '88, the Calais mentioned here is an '87.

25th Mar 2006, 11:48

A “friend” of mine had an ‘86 (2.5L) with over 120,000 on it when he got it. He repeatedly drove it around with no oil (the valve cover leaked like a sieve).

Once, I was with him, and he drove over 20 miles with the oil light on, finally he bought some oil (wal-mart), and it took 3 1/2 quarts to bring it up to the line. A car that size only holds 4 with a filter change!

He never changed the filter, the oil itself leaked out so fast that it got changed every 100 miles or so.

He used to beat the car, and I mean BEAT the car, low on oil or not.

Doing things like shifting to neutral (while going down the highway at 25), revving the engine to 4000+ (rpm),then jamming it in drive (to peel out). Jack-rabbit (peddle to the carpet) starts every single time he stopped. Driving well over 80 (mph) much of the time (how the little four banger did it, I don‘t know).

He’d do that kind of b.s. low on oil or not.

Finally after two years and 25,000 miles of that treatment he decided to get a different car (jealously over my recently gotten jeep).

He sold the poor little Calais to his step dad (my cousin) for 50$ and a six-pack.

My cousin’s kind of a putse, usually only looking for A-B transpo. He changed the valve cover gasket, and drove it back and forth to work (60-70+ miles a day) 6-7 days a week, for a year (that’s almost 25K) before trading it in on a 98 Alero (he had just gotten a new girl-friend and was looking to impress).

My cousin works the night shift so he has to drive in all weather conditions (whether the snow is plowed or not), and the little Calais, always seemed to make it, balled tires and all.

My cousin doesn’t jack-rabbit, but he is kind of a lead foot, so the Calais routinely saw the 75-80 MPH mark. I don’t know if he changed the oil or not (probably not).

The car still ran and drove when he traded it off.

I don’t know about anyone else’s, but based on this car I would buy one of these, or any car with that engine (the Iron Duke, 151C.I., or 2.5L), as I saw this one withstand the worst driver I know.

This is the only car my “friend” has ever had that lasted more than six months, and lived to tell about it.

My cousin nor his step-son ever had any trouble with this car belts, starters, alternators, nothing.

31st Jul 2006, 01:08

A blown head gasket at 195000 miles sounds like a good run. And all that other stuff you complained about are parts that wear out. What car out there can go 200000 miles on the factory shocks and springs? Not to mention on all the parts listed as replaced - I would think maybe it was not all required.

5th Sep 2010, 18:53

I have an 87 Calais and it runs great. It's very dependable so far and it's got over 200,000.

26th Mar 2011, 21:43

My 87 Calais 2.5 L Tech 4 runs great, and has 205,000 miles now. These are die hard cars, I wrote a review on mine here just because I am so impressed with the reliability.

In reply to 4th Mar 2005, 20:20

8th Jul 2015, 20:58

The quad 4 is 2.3 Litre 4 cylinder 16 valve MPFI DOHC engine option over the 2.5L TBI OHV Iron Duke motor. There were no other drive options besides FWD.