Faults:

Wrong things? I would say the gas consumption, but I don't know if this is normal in this 4 cylinder vehicle.

General Comments:

This is a very nice sporty-looking car, thanks to its bulging wheel wells, sleek greenhouse, fluted side panels and large jewel-like taillights.

The seat are very comfortable and roomy.

The Alero is clearly Oldsmobile's best attempt to making a small car to compete with the benchmark cars from Japan. Sadly, they stopped making it in 2003.

Faults:

The left rear stereo speaker quit working; luckily a junk yard had one for 10 dollars.

The hazard switch was faulty, so I took it to a GM garage, who replaced it free of charge.

The throttle position sensor went out at 125,000.

The remote key fob didn't work, turns out it wasn't the correct transmitter. The dealership reprogrammed it for me, and didn't charge me a thing, which is great considering I didn't even buy the car from them.

General Comments:

Great acceleration from a reliable 3.4 engine.

The car is very appealing, even at almost 10 years old.

I wish it was easier to check the transmission fluid; they didn't engineer a dipstick on this transmission.

The radio is amazing, the high mounted tweeters really raise the sound stage for the driver and passenger.

The gas mileage could be better, but I do 95% city driving.

Cheap to insure!

Faults:

If your Alero won't start except after it has been towed -- stop paying for a tow. The dealers won't tell you, but there is a temporary fix. Turn the key to On until the dash lights blink. If the Security light stays on, that means your SureLock system is bad. Just leave the key turned until the light goes out -- about 10 minutes. When it flashes and then goes out, wait a few seconds and try to restart the car. It's worked for me several times.

Faults:

Car wouldn't start. Replaced the battery, all was good. 6 months or so later, the car won't start. All these weird lights come on on the dash. Car turns over, won't start. Got it towed to mechanic, they said it was brain dead. The "body control unit" crapped out. Estimate $1,200!! It sat for four months. Took it to a different mechanic, $850.

All the symptoms I've read here, radio won't work, lights work intermittently, no fuel pressure, et al. After they replaced the BCU everything was great.

It's been a year & here in south Fla, it's rainy season. So what you say? The brain died again. This time they found a leak in the firewall. The cowl actually. That's that strip of plastic that the wipers come through.

Cut to the chase. Got an answer, a fix. Simple really. The design of the assembly on the passengers side allows water to come through the cowl & into the blower housing. If you remove the glove box (6 screws) you can see it. That happens to be where this "brain" is located!

The fix - cover the hole!! Remove the push pins that hold the cowling. They're plastic too, so don't treat 'em rough. You can lift it maybe 4 inches, just enough, on the passengers side, to slip in an oblong shallow container to cover the hole. I bought a Rubbermaid #2 "takealong", just a disposable container, for $2.50 for 4. If I had had access to this info I could have saved $1,500 or more! All for what, 85 cents?!

I hope this saves someone some heartache, and green stamps!

General Comments:

This little coupe runs like a scalded dog, but the electronics are terrible.

You kinda get an idea of why GM has failed.