22nd Jan 2008, 18:36

Happy New Year!!! 2004 Alero Owner, bought off the lot brand new in 2005. Agree with previous comments about how poor the brakes are. At 12,000 miles, had to have the front rotors turned, at 20,000 miles had to have the rotors turned, at 30,000 miles, the rotors were replaced. thank God it was under warranty! The original front rotors were extremely pitted, a poor sourcing choice for GM. After the 36,000 mile warranty expired, the rear rotors (also pitted) had to be replaced - this one was on my nickel. Full brake job at 39,000 miles. Now at 40,000 miles, the front drivers side bearing is shot. Bought two replacements to cover the front set, will do the job myself rather than pay a GM dealer to fix their poor designs and poor choice for component source selection. There is a reason why most U.S. car manufactures warranties expire after 3 years or 36,000 miles, components are designed to have a 95% confidence level and reliability that they will make it to that milestone. For my 2004 Alero, far from making that goal. My wife's father is a retired GM executive, been a GM buyer for the past 23 years, this experience just may be the last straw to push me to buy a foreign car next, possibly a BMW or Acura.

23rd Jan 2008, 10:56

"SERVICE VEHICLE SOON, ABS, TRAC OFF" lights came on.

My car has been doing this more and more lately. My dealer told me it will take $300 to replace the the unit that reads the sensors when I took the car in for inspection.

I got a call from GM yesterday advising me there's an open recall and I should take the car to a dealer to reprogram the PCM (power control module). So I did it today and my dashboard has been dim (no red lights) since.

25th Feb 2008, 15:42

I have a 2002 Oldsmobile alero GLS. The problems I have had include replacing the brakes and rotors three times. Last year my blinkers stopped working. The place I took it too couldn't figure out why. Now they work, sometimes they don't, but for the most part they've been working. Today my service vehicle soon and Trac off lights came on. It sounds like I have to replace a wheel bearing. My driver side window broke twice and fell into the door. It's basically glued back together. My doors freeze on me and I can never get them open. They don't even feel like they shut all the way either.

27th Feb 2008, 21:15

I have a 99 Olds Alero, just bought it from a dealer for 5,500. It has 130,000 miles on it. Nada.com said that it was an appropriate price.

The Trac light comes on all the time, but I have the after market wheel bearings, and I just replaced the brakes. No other problems that I know of yet. But I love the car, it's quick, it's attractive, and it's comfortable.

All these negative comments are a little intimidating. but I've heard nothing but bad, bad things about my Ford Probe, and it was one of the best cars I ever owned. I think it's a positive that almost no one has drive train issues.

14th Mar 2008, 07:19

I too own a 2002 Alero and after reading all the reviews am scared witless. I've had the car for 4 years, but have not put many miles on it, and fortunately I've had no major problems yet.

Bought the car with 20 thousand miles on it and the rotors and brakes were just replaced. About 10 or 12 thousand more miles I put rotors and brakes in and can tell now (about 10000 miles later) I will need them soon again.

All my idiot lights have come on and off, and now the change oil light is the only one that is currently on, and is forever on. Just changed the plugs on it and a new battery, and the blinkers acted up a couple of times, so as I said nothing major yet but a lot of foreshadowing for things to come.

Also incidentally I seem to have to add fairly often engine coolant; does anyone else have that problem? I never had to add anywhere near that often on any other car.

18th Mar 2008, 09:46

I have a 2002 Alero I purchased new in June 2002. I loved it when I bought it. But, for the past year and a half, my list of complaints gets longer. The turn signals rarely work unless I have a piece of cardboard wedged in the flasher button or give the dash a good wack; heater-a/c blower only works on 2 highest settings; all radio buttons have paint flaked off; brakes make an annoying noise until speed is up to 20 mph then 'ding ding' ABS, check engine & TRAC off lights come on & stay on and the noise goes away; occasionally I will have cruise control set & 'ding ding' cruise shuts off and emergency brake light comes on; driver side window won't work; sometimes the radio is set to a different station then when I last drove the car; I refill the power steering fluid every 3 months; I refill the coolant more often than that since there is an obvious leak staining my garage floor. Are any of these problems worth fixing? I can't afford a trip to the mechanic.

24th Mar 2008, 10:16

I have a 2000 Alero GLS; it just turned 180,000 miles today.

My brake pads first needed to be replaced at 60,000 miles. The replacements were cheap ones and lasted 20,000 miles. Those replacements lasted 20,000 miles again.

Other problems were with the head gaskets @60,000 - for which there is a known service bulletin on the 3.6L engine. Out of warranty, but I complained loudly to the dealer and had the work done for about half what they should have charged me.

The other problem has been the front wheel bearings, which I've had to replace three times, at about 60,000 miles each time. These shouldn't be wearing out so often, but it's the only recurring problem I feel I shouldn't have.

Some have commented about the turn signals - there is also a service bulletin about this problem. You can fix this one very easily yourself by replacing the hazard switch (about $22).

All in all, my Alero hasn't been too much more troublesome than other cars I've owned. At 180,000 miles, the engine is still purring along and the handling is as tight as the day I bought it. If I had to replace this car, I'd buy it again, except of course they no longer make them!