16th Oct 2006, 21:38

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with the Alero. I bought it's sister car (the 2001 Pontiac Grand Am) used in early 2003 with very low miles. As a mechanic, I am amazed that someone says it is "typical" to have to replace brake pads before about 80,000 miles. Unless you ride the brakes and tail-gate an awful lot, brake pads on these cars should easily go 80,000 miles or more. At 53,000 miles mine are barely half worn down (if that much). They are the factory pads that came on the car new. I have yet to encounter one single problem of ANY kind with my Grand Am. I have friends who have put 200,000+ miles on these cars with very little upkeep at all. One difference, however, is that mine is the old "quad 4", which is an incredibly rugged and trouble-free engine that delivers almost as much performance as the less reliable 3.4. Although the 3.4 gets almost the same fuel mileage as the 4's, it does seem to have more problems. My advice on buying any pre-2004 GM compact is to try to get the more reliable 4. You will hardly notice any difference in performance. I have raced a new V-6 powered G-6 (the Grand Am replacement) and left it in the dust (twice).