1995 Oldsmobile Ciera SL from North America - Comments

The car cost $2300 and we knew there would be repairs needed.

The gas tank was replaced by some previous owner, it's either 12 or 14 gallons.

The fuel pump was also replaced by a previous owner. The new fuel pump hums extremely loud and had to be tuned up a bit. It isn't broken and hasn't broken in the several thousand miles I've put on the car, it's just loud.

There is a bit of rust on the doors and some on the under body.

The radio and speakers are bad, but not terrible considering how old the car is.

4 new tires, tuning up the AC, fixing the under body rust, tuning up the fuel pump, and replacing the wipers cost $600 total.

The car reeks of smoke and has an unusual amount of ashtrays.

In general, all repairs have all been extremely cheap.

Truly the AK-47 of cars. Cheap, rough, powerful -- a great buy! There were millions of these cars made. I live in Boston and must see at least 5 every day on my 13 mile commute. It's interesting how many variations there are: four door, two door, wagon, international series (complete with a fake convertible roof), various S, C, and SL levels of trim, and a huge array of colors (with funny names like: Medium Adriatic Blue Metallic, Light Antelope Metallic, Light Driftwood Metallic, Medium Mushroom Metallic, etc). All of the cars I see tend to be in good shape, but almost all have some rust.

They are extremely reliable cars and whatever repairs are needed will be cheap. But their low cost does not mean low performance. A friend of mine got a '95 Saab 900 for $2500 and had to put $3000 into it to keep it running. My car has required little work and is still faster than his. It has beat this Saab several times in flat out drag races. The Oldsmobile can pass cars on the highway with ease and has great acceleration after a red light (I've beaten Mercedes in a little drag race).

For being 10 years old, this car still runs fine. The problems are all minor. The seatbelts are attached to the door which is quite dated. The powerlocks are extremely annoying and confuse every passenger. The front speakers are completely blown out. There is no trunk release, you have to use the keys and even then the trunk lock can be touchy. The car has a poor turning radius for its size and you have break a good deal (down to about 30mph) before getting off the highway -- the suspension is quite loose (which makes for good highway driving, but bad turning).

Almost all of Ciera's made in the 90's have airbags (my only has a driver airbag though).

However, this car also has many great hidden features. The trunk is MASSIVE. It has a front bench seat (so it can legally fit 5 passengers). The car has wide array of idiot lights including one that tells you if you're slipping on ice/snow. And the heater is extremely powerful and heats up unusually quickly.

The gas mileage is between 20-25 mpg and the fuel gauge goes up when you accelerate and down when you break (considerably).

I'd say this is a pretty ideal car for anyone looking for a first car.

I agree about them being a good car. I have abused mine and all I get back is love. Of course there is a ding in the car; if you have that it's probably the rear shock absorbers, and how many cars can ramp into a soybean field going about 70 and drive off?

And if you don't believe me we can talk about it if you give me your e-mail address >_>

My parents bought this International series new in '90. They had no problems with it at all. I inherited it in '96 with 65000 km's. Car was parked in my garage for several years as I didn't really need it. When fuel costs began to spiral up, I parked my gas hog pick-up and put the Olds on the road. I will never figure out why I waited so long to do that. What a delight to drive! As the car sat for so long, I had to replace the alternator, and I think I did the brakes about a year later. The car has had no repairs (outside of oil and filter changes, and 1 change of spark plugs) from 65000 km's to 170000 km's. I have recently replaced the serpentine belt, 2 ignition coils, thermostat and rad hoses. Parts are quite inexpensive and readily available. Power windows on passenger side had started acting up, but this was easily solved without going to a shop. Just went on a long trip through mountains of B. C and prairies of Alberta and into Saskatchewan and back, averaged 37.6 miles per gallon. I love this car, too bad I was just in an accident and it is now finished. Although the clear-coat was peeling, there was absolutely no other body or paint issues, not so much as a speck of rust anywhere, even though this car was parked outside for about 15 of its 18 years. I am now looking for a similar model to replace it with, and am keeping my fingers crossed I can find one.