10th Mar 2007, 12:28

I wouldn't bother with taking the car to a GM dealer. Service departments at GM are not the best. Try a small mechanic near your home for the best service. Avoid dealers and national chain stores. The 2.2L engines should get terrific mileage. The 2.4L engines however in the 99-01 Aleros were known for poor mileage. If you make a lot of short trips, you will get worse mileage for sure, no matter what you drive.

6th Mar 2009, 15:53

I have an 2002 Alero 2.2l, and typically the problem is the brakes dragging on the rotors which causes friction and heat.

After driving your car on the highway for 15 minutes, press on the brakes and see you feel thumping or pulsating.

The heat from the friction will wrap the rotors and give you poor mileage since the engine has to work harder then designed. If this is the case, replace the rotor and check to see if your brakes feel spongy the master cylinder may be worn. Also grease up the calipers since the cold can stiffen the grease and cause the brakes to stay too close to the rotors.

You should be getting 24/34 average around 28 MPG. Once I got 36.6 MPG. I now have 240,000 miles on my car. The only other thing about this car is the security light. As the car gets older two things can happen the key gets warn and the heating controls dryrot, causing the controls to say closed when the heat is on.

This will cause the blower to fail and also overheat the area around the key causing security light issues. If the security light comes on, it will shutdown the fuel pump, causing the car to not start.

Leave the key in the ON position for 15 minutes which will reset the error.