Faults:

Seat belt switch went, something wrong with starter, and btw, the low pressure light came on in my car too. You can reset these lights by holding in the reset button in the fuse panal on the left side of dash (have to open the door to see).

General Comments:

Generally a very nice car however, I owned a Pontiac Grand Am which is built the same as the Alero and I liked it better. I miss my V6, has more power. Alero seems kinda gutless when it comes to needing some speed.

Faults:

Nothing.

There is no history of any warranty work on my particular one.

General Comments:

Awesome car. If they still made these cars my next one would probably be an Alero. Reading through this web-site I'm not sure exactly why others are having so many problems. My family also owns a 1999 Alero which we purchased in 2000. Last year we had to replace the battery. That is the only repair we've had.

Faults:

Dash board came un-glued and wrinkled. Was probably repaired once then failed again.

Power steering pump went up, $400.

Ignition module went up, was replaced as well as the spark plugs, catalytic converter, resonator, and tail-pipe back to the muffler. $900.

Driver side window fails intermittently for no apparent reason.

Automatic transmission leaks at gasket on bottom. Gasket and transmission fluid replaced. $300.

Lots of creaks and rattles from all of the cheap plastic construction.

General Comments:

I had read some bad reviews on the car before I bought it, but some good ones too. I figured it was a few out of many who had encountered problems typical of American cars. So I bought it anyway.

I'm paying for that decision now, literally.

Can't get rid of it though, its worth nothing and I still owe too much on the loan.

You get what you pay for. I'll never buy another American car again.

Faults:

I lease a 2002 Alero, in the last year of my lease, which expires in April 2006, my car has had several defects.

1. Radio had to be replaced

2. Front passenger seat has broken

3. Drive side window has broken

4. Driver side mirror adjuster knob broke

5. Brakes had to be replaced after 2 years

6. Cigarette lighter does not work

7. Kilometer gauge, RPM gauge, temperature gauge, and gas level gauge have broken

8. Key gets jammed in the ignition

9. Signal lights stopped working

10. Loud grinding sound when turning

I am leery of driving this vehicle on a busy road during rush hour, and not knowing if/when it will break down completely.

Faults:

Problems encountered since new:

Coolant gauge stuck at overheated mark - dealer fixed before purchase.

CD Player had to be replaced after previous song button failed in first month.

Low Tire Pressure Light comes on when varied road conditions and flat tires are encountered and takes owners manual and a few minutes to properly reset each time through fuse panel.

Low profile tires are toast when driven flat for 30m at very very low speed. Might as well fill them now with the tire sealant ahead of time since they will be ruined so quickly when they fail.

Control buttons on stereo and steering wheel are losing their finish.

Starts like an old car (engine rolls over, but is slow to fire) Dealer unable to fix. Discovered through a Grand Am owner that a computer starts the car and key should be flicked quickly and allowed to spring back to let the computer take over firing the engine for you. This has helped, but not completely solved problem.

Rotors have needed turning once since purchase and new pads installed (at around 40,000km) I'm lucky here!

Service Engine Soon light comes on on a more regular basis now with Trac Off light lit too. Dealer has found service bulletins that say transmission ground wire may be the problem and fixed it. It has quickly reoccurred.

Plastic moulding around win-shield started falling out around 55,000km.

Turn Signals now not always functioning (have found related '99-'01 recall info stating hazard switch is the problem)

Plastic button on seat belt to stop it from retracting completely partially broke off and sharp spikes tore hole in door panel as belt was put on.

General Comments:

At 3 years old and 64,000km the 4 door V6 Alero looks awesome, drives and handles well with the sport suspension and traction control. It has lots of room and neat features.

While so far to date it has cost around $100 CAN a month to maintain I still love driving it and SO FAR it has never let me down completely. The electrical gremlin hiding in the dash is tormenting me some days though.