Faults:

This is actually my Grandmother's car, but here it goes:

There have been problems with almost every system in the car.

Air conditioner broke.

Car started to prematurely rust.

Front passenger power window motor wore out.

Needed a new intake manifold gasket and a radiator cap.

Needed a new alternator.

Needed various lights and trip pieces repaired and i'll be my grandmother's age by the time I finish listing the problems.

General Comments:

It all started when my grandmother's employer wanted to buy her a car. My grandma wanted a Buick, but her employer decided to go the cheapest way she could and get and Oldsmobile Ciera. My grandma didn't even want an Olds. This is a South Florida, garaged, and well maintained car. This is absolutely ridiculous. As far as I'm concerned, the 3100 series V6 in her car ranks up there in the garbage engine hall of fame with Cadillac's HT4100 V8. WOW! The build quality is horrendous. You can pick off trim pieces with your pinky. The hydraulic lifters in the engine are very loud. This was the last year of the Ciera and I thought after fourteen years of production, Oldsmobile could work out the kinks. This car is definitely a lemon if I ever saw one. My grandmother has no income and must support two other people. She cannot keep pouring money into that sorry excuse for a GM product. I am trying to convince her to sell the Ciera to someone and buy a used Cadillac Deville or Buick Century, or LeSabre. My grandma has only owned GM cars. I love GM a lot and I can honestly say that I am very disappointed.

Faults:

Brakes shoes wear out about every 40,000 miles.

I had to replace an oxygen sensor once about 50,000.

Like most GM cars, the interior pieces started to squeak after about 60,000.

A little bit of rust resulted from a bubble under the paint on one rear fender after about 75,000 miles. It was about $350 to get it repaired at a dealership.

The worst expense I had was when I had to get the spark plugs replaced around 60,000. The engine has to be rocked off of the engine mounts to get to the three plugs underneath the motor. This is quite labor intensive for changing a plug.

General Comments:

A great car for the money. It is comfortable and has enough power for just about any situation that might come up. It handles very nicely and has a smooth ride for the money. If you can get past the fact that the car is so plain looking, you will find the vehicle an excellent buy. When I wear out this one, I plan to find another one just like it.

Two engineers that I work with also have pretty much the same car. One is a 1994 model and the other is a 1991 model. Each has high miles on it (one over 200,000). Both say that the car is the best car as far as reliability that they have ever owned.

Faults:

I really haven't had any problems with this car. I replaced the battery at 90,000 miles. The brakes are just starting to "get soft" at 91,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car has been one of the most dependable vehicles that I have owned. It is an extremely comfortable car to take on trips. It gets great gas mileage considering it's size and engine performance. It always has plenty of power and is quite responsive. The only drawback that this car has, is it's cornering abilities at high speeds.