2001 Oldsmobile Alero GL 2.4L Twin cam from North America

Summary:

Best domestic small car out there!

Faults:

I had to replace the right front hub assembly at about 54,000 miles, it is very well engineered, it only took about 2 hours for me to replace it.

Now, at 63,000 miles, the left front hub needs to be replaced. I think the quality of the bearings is questionable.

Other than normal maintenance items (brake pads, tires, spark plugs, fluids and filters), the front wheel bearings are the only problem I've had with the car.

General Comments:

I do all of my own repairs and maintenance, and the Alero is one of the easiest and best engineered cars to work on out there. Parts costs are cheap to reasonable, and parts are easy to find.

My Alero is used for pizza delivery (wide open throttle most of the time), and it runs better than most v6's I've driven (forget ricers, I dust them off on a regular basis), is stone reliable, and handles incredibly well.

It has a very ergonomic cockpit layout, and inspires confidence when traveling rapidly down twisty roads.

This is coming from someone with 27 years automotive tech experience (mostly import), and previous owner of over 60 cars, and current owner of two high end German marques. My Alero is more fun to drive than the Beemer OR the Benz!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th April, 2005

19th Apr 2005, 07:25

Having owned an Alero GL V6 myself, my cousin having owned one too, I must say that you are either very lucky with your Alero, or... very very unlucky with your german cars! Come on man, how could an Alero outperform a BMW or a Benz :)

15th Nov 2006, 16:52

I have a 2002 Alero and I wish I never bought the thing! So far I replaced both front hub bearing assemblies. Both of my power window regulators broke before 100,000. I replaced the window regulators and they broke again. My cd player has broken. I had to replace all the rotors and change the pads every 12.000 or so. I just bought another set of hub bearings for the front (this is the 2nd time)! This car looks cool, but is made very poorly.

2001 Oldsmobile Alero from North America

Summary:

This car is a HUGE piece of junk

Faults:

Sunfoof popped out shattering on road, ABS malfunction, Brakes/Brakes/Brakes, I've been thru 5 fuel pumps in 6 months. Now they are telling me that the gas tank must have shrunk, and they tell me I need a new gastank. I think it's a crock of crap!

General Comments:

This car is not worth the money.

It is garaged more than it runs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 3rd April, 2005

2001 Oldsmobile Alero GL 3.4 V6 from North America

Summary:

This car looks and drives great.

Faults:

Not too much has gone wrong with the car.

General Comments:

For being a bigger sized car it handles well and has more than enough power.

I get great gas mileage (30mpg).

I wish there were a little bit more leg room, but I am six foot four.

I wish general motors would not have stopped producing the Oldsmobile line.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th February, 2005

2001 Oldsmobile Alero GX L4 4 cylinder from North America

Summary:

Normal problems for a modern car

Faults:

Flasher at 15000 miles.

Wheel bearing at 20000 miles.

Windshield leaks at 24000 miles.

Emergency brake handle broken at 34000 miles.

General Comments:

We haven't had a lot of problems. Dealer fixed everything under warranty except they could never get a handle on the windshield water leak. I finally fixed it myself by removing the driver side fender and sealing the areas specified in the service bulleten.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th February, 2005

2001 Oldsmobile Alero from North America

Summary:

Don't judge a book by it's cover!

Faults:

Two days after buying this car the check engine light came on and the fuel injector had to be replaced. Two days after injector was replaced the car would stall while driving and had to be returned to have injector replaced a second time.

Brakes and rotars have had to be replaced twice so far.

Driver's side window will not go down-- until I take it to be repaired and it works fine.

Heater control knob has broken twice.

Radio volume knob has broken.

Intake manifold gasket replaced after low engine coolant light repeatedly came on.

CD player won't accept CD's at times, or CD's get stuck in player.

Loud clunking noise when turning or hitting bumps?shocks?

Fog lights and tail lights blow out.

Windshield has been replaced twice-- rock magnet! Since windshield replaced dash has a squeaky rattling sound.

General Comments:

This car cleans up very nicely. It is very stylish and sporty--that is what drew me to the car.

There is a lot of leg room and trunk space.

I was lucky to get the extended warranty with all of the problems that have had to be fixed.

The biggest disappointment I have had is that I bought this car new thinking I would have a safe reliable vehicle, when in reality my old car was more dependable.

My warranty is almost up and I am seriously thinking of trading off this car before I end up spending the amount of another new car in repair costs.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 30th December, 2004