Great car to drive
Replaced Water pump.
Replaced Alternator.
Power Antenna stopped working.
This car is one of the nicest riding cars I have owned.
It rides great and gets good gas mileage.
No oil leaks even with the high mileage.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th June, 2007
An extremely dependable fun to drive vehicle
Panel on the left rear door keeps popping out.
Rear right turn signal sometimes stops due to a loose connection.
Rear left window sometimes refuses to go down.
Carpeting under the rear seats comes loose and sometimes out from under them altogether.
I was very excited when I first bought this car due to the failures and disappointments of my previous one. I did not know what to expect from it though. What I quickly realized though is that this car is not at all disappointing.
The 205 horsepower on the engine moves this car along and gives it appreciable speed. It would be a lot quicker were it not for the very wide first gear. Despite this it is still quick enough to be far from slow by any means.
The car is extremely dependable. I've sometimes abused it by accidentally underestimating its capabilities, but it still runs just like it did when I bought it and hasn't had any engine malfunctions yet.
The gas economy on the car is great considering what it is. I average 22 miles per gallon with city driving. I don't drive it very conservatively either.
The only annoying thing about this car is the fact that the wiring is sub-par (window and turn signal problems) and the carpeting is coming loose in multiple places. But other than these cosmetic shortcomings the car itself is great. The things that would make this car perfect would be better wiring, better carpeting, a little more horsepower, and a less wide first gear.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 2nd November, 2003
Worth the money
Around 75,000 miles I needed new wires, spark plugs, brakes, and rotors - $550.
A few interior features keep falling off, such as the plastic around the locks on the doors.
The check engine light keeps coming on and off, has been since 70,000 or so miles.
It's decent on gas.
Very quick, 205 HP and 230 ft/lbs of torque can move this car right along.
The leather seats are very comfortable.
The speakers are great, and with a new CD deck installed, it sounds fantastic!
The air conditioning works very well, especially on hot summer days.
It rides great, and isn't as boaty as my 1989 Park Avenue was.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th March, 2003
You should have the car checked if the engine light is coming on and off. We inherited a 1997 LS 88 from my Grand-Father-In-Law's estate and it had only 73,000 miles on it when it suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure, quite probably due to a blown head gasket.
Upon review, we found that he had taken it in for service at a "GM Authorized Dealer" in Bellevue, WA. They replaced a faulty Water pump and faulty Intake manifold, but claim that they could not in good conscious replace the head gaskets at the same time.
Anyway, within 2200 miles of that service the engine failed. GM has been no help (never buy a GM product), the dealership claims that since it went for another 2200 miles they did nothing wrong (never shop at Bellevue Oldsmobile/Cadillac).
Overall - this has been a totally disturbing and frustrating issue.
WOW... What a fantastic sedan
The front brakes required replacing at 70000 miles. Was quite expensive for a young man. The brakes had only been replaced 1,500 miles previous according to dealership.
The radio's CD player decided to quit on me after about two months of ownership also very expensive.
Shifts somewhat rough after fast driving.
The car is the fastest autombile I have ever driven.
The handling makes me grin because I have never had a car handle quite like it. It's a whole different ballgame being front drive, sports suspension, supercharged.
The interior is tops because everything is very legible, the leather seats are comfortable and easier to keep clean than cloth. The sound system is #1.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 28th January, 2003
Six passenger sleeper that will romp all minivans
Transmission replaced @ 54,000 miles.
A/C condenser and evaporator replaced.
Power seat motor on drivers side replaced.
Water pump replaced.
This vehicle handles sluggishly with the suspension tuned for comfort, and the steering is very vague. The power seats are not supportive. The air distribution from the front dash is very poor, the vents are too low in the dash panel to provide good air ditribution. Front brakes have a problem with premature warping (averaging about 15.,000 miles.
The good news is the engine is really strong. I have challenged and beat many vehicles on freway on-ramps. It has a great passing gear and will stomp any minivan and most SUV's.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 14th May, 2002
3rd Aug 2007, 18:32
Unfortunately this car proved to be much less reliable than it was when I first reviewed it. Several problems with the car's engineering lead it to eventually throw a rod. The first of which was a loose bolt at the junction block which caused the power on the car to sporadically and completely die.
I mismanaged the situation and when the power did cut on I accidentally neutral dropped the car which ruined the transmission. However, this would not have happened if the bolts were installed properly to begin with.
What lead to the car's demise was the fact that the 3800 series engine uses PLASTIC intake manifolds. This was a terrible corner to be cut on Oldsmobile's part for the intake manifold developed a hole and engine coolant leaked into the cylinders. I paid a hefty price to get the car repaired, however it died a week afterward because the oil in it was contaminated.
The car lived for 120,000 miles, which I suppose isn't TOO bad, however with today's competition from overseas, 120k is unacceptable. Japanese cars hit 250,000 miles on a regular basis.
Were Oldsmobile not so cheap in the design of this car, it may have survived even longer...