1998 Oldsmobile Alero GLS from North America - Comments

AT 18,000 miles rattling noises from front end. Right front strut replaced. Did not solve problem. Covered by warranty.

At 19,000 miles battery goes bad. Internal battery failure. Covered by warranty.

At 19,000 miles car continues rattling noise from front end. Replaced both front struts (right side for 2nd time) and sway bar. Covered by warranty.

At 28,000 miles clunking noise from steering and losing power steering fluid. Steering gear had internal leak and was replaced. Covered by warranty.

At 28,000 miles front rotors were warped and were replaced. Covered by warranty.

At 35,000 miles tape player in radio went bad which I rarely used. Used CD player 95% of the time. Covered by extended warranty. New radio $399.50.

At 35,000 miles power steering makes rubbing sounds and had to be replaced. Covered by extended warranty.

At 37,000 miles alternator starts to overcharge and burns up the battery. Extended warranty covers alternator, but I had to pay for new battery. New battery $78.73.

At 39,000 miles more noises from front end of car and losing antifreeze. No outside leakage. Needs rack and pinion and lower intake gasket leaking. Extended warranty is not valid any longer because dealership closed their doors after 36 years. Ends up being that extended warranty is through the dealership and not the manufacturer. No luck with BBB of State Attorney General to have them honor the warranty.

I have to end up paying for/fixing it myself. Haven't driven the car since 12/2002.

It's too bad this car has this many problems considering the car has a nice shape and handles well.

Extended warranties should only be sold through the manufacturer and not through dealerships just in case they go out of business.

Buying any vehicle based on "good looks" and "handling" is going to get you into trouble sooner or later. My advice: buy what's good, not what neccessarily looks good.

Yes, I would agree with that advice: don't buy a car based on its looks. And in keeping with that, coupled with what the original car-owner/message poster said, I would stay clear of vehicles manufactured in the US, GM vehicles in particular.

Over the past 30 years I've consistently experienced many of the same problems (or similar ones) with U.S. manufactured vehicles. However, the foreign ones I've owned -- two Nissans, a Subaru, Mazda and VW -- have been considerably more reliable and presented considerably fewer problems. Especially the Japanese makes.

I have an relatively new Oldsmobile now (inherited) and I'm beginning to experience the good-old USA car problems once again. I also have a Dodge RAM that is falling apart everywhere save the engine, likely because the engine is a Mitsubishi make.

From here on out my vehicles will be foreign made -- likely Japanese.

There was never a 1998 Alero; it was introduced for 1999. Somethin' must be wrong.

1999 Alero was introduced from 1998.