1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Reviews - Page 3 of 4

The power antenna quit working in the halfway position.

Rear main seal leaks a little.

The old lady that used to own it had to replace the transmission.

The carburetor needs replaced.

I had to replace the struts.

Having the Braugham package makes this car the most comfortable car I have ever had.

Having a V-6 makes the car a bit of a sled to start, but it kicks in fast.

This car has the smoothest ride of anything that I have ever driven, and I have driven a lot of cars.

Replaced carburator twice. Replaced transmission twice. Replaced water pump and engine mounts twice. Replaced whole starter system.

This car had the smoothest ride ever! The gas mileage wash great. I'm looking for another one just like it!

It had 3 transmissions in 20 months.

The air conditioning never worked right.

It used a quart of oil a week, but the dealer said this was normal for that engine.

It got about 12 mpg on the highway.

It had several rust spots in less than 2 years.

This was the worst piece of junk I have ever owned. I traded my reliable Escort that got 45 mpg for this lemon. Our Pinto with 150,000 miles was more reliable than this GM junk.

The cutlass at 168,000 miles is just now starting to give me a little trouble. The only trouble I have had is the external parts of the motor. The motor itself is all original and doesn't smoke. It does use a quart of oil about ever 2500 miles. External parts that have died most recently as of 11/25/02, belts (all), alternator, ignition module and points in the distributor. Overall, not too bad.

Since I have bought it I have done several things to it.

First, all new interior... very nice.

Second, I rebuilt the transmission with a shift kit, It runs much better now. It never gave out, I just wanted better response.

Third, I'm gathering everything I need to do a paint job, I'm gonna see if I can't bring a little life back to her.

The car was originally equipped with the 3.8 liter Buick V6 which was running when I pulled it at 200,000 miles. It is currently equipped with a Chevrolet 350 V8.The worst thing that happened with the original drive train was that it went through TH200 3 speed transmissions with surprising regularity. In fact, it went through 3 of them. The original starter and alternator lasted for 140,000 miles and both failed within a week of each other. When I changed engines, I also changed transmissions (required since they use 2 different bolt patterns). The transmission I used was a TH200-4R automatic overdrive. It also failed within 10,000 miles of installation (not surprising since it was used). I also wound up going through a rear universal joint. All these problems I consider acceptable since the car was used primarily as a pizza delivery vehicle. Perhaps the most difficult thing to repair on one of these cars (and it is sadly quite common) is that the roof has a nasty tendency to rust right above the doors. Mine did, and required extensive cutting and welding in order to properly repair it (I have had to fix 5 rust holes in the roof).

In stock condition, it has to be the slowest vehicle I've ever driven. The handling is also quite poor (although it no longer is due to some suspension modifications). The brakes are also inadequate for anything other than normal driving. That being said, the car also has some very good points. The interior is very comfortable, and wears quite well-so long as the windows are tinted to avoid sun fading. These cars are also extremely easy to upgrade using aftermarket and factory parts. Thanks to GM's standardization of components across many product lines, parts are easily obtained also.