Faults:

Oh man, where to begin?

I think almost every sensor. :) There's a lot!

Alternator bit the dust last year.

Tie rods.

Ate tires! Would have to replace every 6 or 7 months.

Drank oil and gas!

Water pump (twice...not cheap). :)

Wheel bearings (twice!).

Alarm system (would lock the fuel and wouldn't start). It still does it and you have to put the key in and let sit for a half-hour.

Driver's seat keep blowing the electric motor to rise and lower the seat. Then finally the whole drivers seat bit the dust. I fell through it!

A part for the hazards burned out.

Timing chain.

Water pump.

Drank brake fluid... Still don't know why.

Heater blower/motor keeps failing, replaced about 4 times.

Brake lines and hoses.

Steering wheel shakes at speeds higher than 30 MPH.

Low tire pressure stayed on for the rest of its life.

Motor mounts were starting to break.

Transmission was starting to go (original).

Check oil would come on too early, would get turned away from mechanic a few times.

Spun rod bearing and slammed rod through cam.

And some other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head.

I'm not hard on my cars since I don't have the money to be hard on them. It always was taken in to a mechanic for maintenance (oil, transmission, wear & tear).

General Comments:

I loved this car, even though it left me stranded more times to count and it saw my mechanic more than it did me. I used to call it my little whore.

I bought it in 2007 when I was senior in high-school. It was the nicest car I had owned at that point (my first was a 1990 Pontiac Grand Am), plus it has astro start on it. I recommend anyone living in Minnesota to get one of those bad boys!

I had great luck with it for about 2 years, then my nightmare began. It seemed like you would fix one thing and 3 would break.

Besides all the mechanics and issues, I still say it was a great car and handled extremely well in Minnesota winters. It never not started just because of the cold, and would cut through snow like a knife. The heater and A/C were and are still the best I've seen as far as the power behind it goes.

This car was peppy and fast for a 2.4, but just sucked gas. I would only get about 170 miles to a tank. I swear the tank only held five gallons of gas!

After putting 2 grand in it, it spun a rod bearing. Bye bye Alero or "Al" as I called it before the "Whore" thing. :)

Still starts and drives which shocked me. I drove it from Alexandria to Evansville, which is about 22 miles from each other. I drove at 60 and set the cruise (was told not to do that) but did it anyways since I was told it was a lost cause. The engine was toast according to my mechanic.

I've only had a few cars since I started driving in 2005, so I'm not going say that Alero or GM are bad cars. They are cars, and they are going to nickel and dime at one time or another, and I would get another Alero if they still made them. I also can't say much. When I bought it was already 8 years old, and I drove it for 4 more years.

I just recently bought another car, my first from a dealership, and I still really miss the Alero. I mean I REALLY miss the Alero! Besides from not having enough leg room (I have long legs and stand 6'0 tall), it just fits me like a glove.

General Comments:

Three days ago my four year old son and I were on our way to pick up my other son at school in my Alero. After driving about 10 miles, smoke starts filling the back seat (no, I'm not a smoker). I have a pretty bad cold and stuffy nose, so it took me a longer to notice the burnt smell. My son said "Mom, what's going on?" I rolled down the driver side window to see if the smell was coming from outside, and the wind blowing in the car pushed the smoke to the front seat, and that's when I realized my car was on fire. Immediately I pulled off to the side of the road and got my four year old out of there. I called 911 to come put out the fire, and I also called my husband to come pick us up quick, because my son was still waiting at school to be picked up. I was glad that I had decided to leave my 6 month old at home with my husband, otherwise my baby would have been in the back seat breathing in all that smoke, and it would have taken me longer to get him out of his car seat. Please beware of this car.