1996 Oldsmobile Ciera SL 3.1 V6
Summary:
Solid vehicle
Faults:
Nothing has actually gone wrong with the car since I have owned it. It was given to me by my mother-in-law when my Jetta became too expensive to fix.
My only gripe is overdrive. It shifts into overdrive way too soon, and you almost need to stick the pedal to the floor to get it to downshift if you want to pass someone, or if you're heading up a hill.
Oh, one other thing is that the radio cuts out intermittently. It seems now it's not working more than it actually IS working. I haven't bothered trying to fix it yet.
General Comments:
Very comfortable.
Reasonably powerful.
Decent gas mileage.
Fairly reliable *knocks on wood*
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 5th August, 2006
28th Jul 2011, 08:33
Original poster here again.
Well unfortunately this car has bit the dust. The rust was just too much structurally. I hit a good sized pothole heading home a few days ago, and the entire driver's side strut tower broke off and nearly came through the hood. Limped it home and parked it. It had just passed an e-test the week before. One of the most comfortable and reliable cars I have ever owned. I took a few pictures and will post them when I get them off my phone.
Rest in peace purple Ciera. 317000km.
21st Sep 2010, 08:27
This is the original poster of this review. The car just rolled over 300000 km the other day. Since my last review, I have replaced the gas tank, alternator, and brakes. Now I notice metal shavings around the A/C compressor, but the A/C has never worked for me anyway so I'll probably just pick up an A/C delete pulley.
Still runs fine and is still the most comfortable car I own.