1987 Oldsmobile Ciera GT review from North America

The seals on the power steering rack are bad, which causes the steering to be stiff, as if the steering wheel is locked in place. This only is a problem when the seals are cold, however. They do not cause any problem in summer weather, and if you allow the car to warm up for about 10 minutes before driving it in the winter, as you probably should with an older car anyway, then the seals heat up, expand, and there is no problem with the steering.

The water pump went on the car at 140,000 miles. This was a pretty routine repair, not very expensive.

The car needed front brakes when I first purchased it at 110,000 miles, and needs them again at 145,000 miles, which is good life out of the pads.

The front windshield is cracked all the way across, and has been since I bought it. It's not in my line of vision, so I haven't bothered to have it replaced. This is mostly due to the fact that the almost perfectly straight design of the windshield tends to make it prone to stress cracks, and replacing it might end up meaning having the new windshield crack in a similar way.

The engine idles a little high when first turned on and in park, but a high-idle seems to be pretty common on that engine, and once you shift into drive, it is perfect. Not really a problem, just something that might seem like a problem to some people.

I bought this car 2 years ago with 110,000 miles on it, and am the third owner of the car. I bought it to have something to drive in the winter months, but it has been so comfortable and reliable that I use it to commute to work year-round, a 100-mile round-trip every day.

This is one of the oldest and highest-mileage cars I've ever owned, but nonetheless is probably the best and most-reliable car I've ever owned.

The 3.8L V6 is pretty rare in these cars, but it was standard in the GT (later known as the International Series). It's a big V6 for a car it's size, and it has really good power and acceleration. The GT also came with the FE3 handling package, which stiffens the ride up a little and sends it through corners well.

The car has leather-and-vinyl front bucket seats, and everyone who has ever ridden in the car (all of whom own brand new cars and laugh at my Cutlass Ciera at first) say that they are the most comfortable car seats they have ever sat in. The car is very comfortable and roomy.

With the exception of the power antenna, all of the power options on this car still work fine - including the power windows, power door locks, cassette deck, rear window defroster, cruise control, and power driver's seat.

The transmission lugs a little in fourth gear sometimes, but I've known other people who own GM cars from the 1980s, and they seem to do the same. The transmission shifts through the gears fine and seems to have no real problems.

The body is just starting to show some signs of rust, mostly around the front and rear wheel wells, which isn't bad for a 15-year-old car that, at least for the last two years, has been driven every day during the winter months. The paint is also fading on the roof, hood, and deck lid.