13th Nov 2007, 20:30

I have a 1999 Intrigue (3.8L), bought brand new, now with over 160K. Problems so far:

Radiator cracked around radiator cap, had to replace radiator and cap.

Transmission went out around 150K.

Plastic intake/valve cover deformed and started leaking coolant. Blew head gasket because of that. Replaced head gasket.

Replaced battery 3 times, now going into 4th (under warranty). Lights don't flicker possibly due to after market battery.

A/C unit works sometimes, sometimes doesn't. I found that if you change the vents around it'll start blowing cold air again.

Leaking oil around valve covers and still losing coolant somewhere. Power is okay, and I've done a compression test so head gasket is fine.

Front turn signals blow out continually. Bulb housing is fine and fuses are fine.

Right now, I just don't care anymore. I'm just going to run it until the thing dies. It'll probably run more than 200k, but it didn't come cheap.

15th Nov 2007, 16:40

I have owned a 2000 Intrigue for 7 years since it was new. I had the turn signal failure earlier and got that solved with advice from an online chat line.

This summer one of the rear electric windows and the cruise control stopped working. Then the climate control module in the console went goofy and the defroster/heat/ac works intermittently. The heated seats stopped working.

It was in the shop for a month. They replaced the climate control module to the tune of $1200. Each heated seat was suppose to cost about $700 but they couldn't get the parts. The cruise control would have been another $600 or $700.

Since I got it back, the climate control still works intermittently. But occasionally the heated seats will work and they were supposedly dead.

I just can't believe that all those things failed at the same time. The car has only 49,000 miles. It seems like some kind of electrical problem to me, but I'm very leery about taking it back to the dealer. Does anyone have any ideas?

5th Dec 2007, 00:36

I bought my intrigue 2000 about two months ago from a dealer ship. After a while I noticed that the seat heaters would work some times and some times the would not. Also the rear defogger would not work. The AC blower was blowing very little air. I bought the car "as is" so I thought that I would not be able to have the dealer fix it. I also noticed that the cruise control was not working at all, so I called my sales rep and I told him about the cruise control. He said that the dealer ship has to make sure the cruise control is working before selling it, so that they would fix it for free. At first the change the cruise control switches on the dash board and steering wheel. It did not fix it, so they change the cruise control servo or module I cannot remember the exact name ($580.00 that the dealer had to pay for it). Guess what? It did not fix it. Finally After replacing many parts the found out that the ignition switch was not sending enough voltage to the cruise control module, so they changed it. After that, all the problems I had with the rear defogger, seat heaters and poor performance of the air conditioner were gone. Cruise control is working fine now.

9th Dec 2007, 12:39

I have a 1998 old Intrigue 3800 with 114k plus on it, and I've had all of the above problems in the six months that I've owned it, and now the engine has a loud knock in it, but it's not a rod or a lifter, and someone said that I could be the harmonic balancer. Any suggestions?

11th Dec 2007, 23:33

I bought a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue four years ago. I was just out of college and my parents were appalled at my willingness to buy an American car.

It's the best car I've ever had -- more reliable than my old Toyota and my parents' Maxima. It's ridiculously comfortable and easily holds my family and 2 dogs for a road trip. And it gets OK mpg for the size.

The stereo sounds great. It looks great. The interior gets dirty (kid and 2 dogs), but cleans very easily. People regularly get in my car and wonder if it's a rental.

It has lots of power and handles great in the Colorado snow.

In four years I've had to replace the tires and one light bulb. No flickering.

AC is almost too cold.

My husband uses synthetic oil and it doesn't burn any. I carefully maintain the car. I've never doubted that it would start.

So the sad part started about two weeks ago. The car was turning over kind of slowly when I started it. No problem -- a new battery. Who can fault a car with an 8 year old battery, right? I got it replaced and it's wonderful. Love affair with Intrigue continues.

Today I took my husband to work in the snow at 6 am. Works great. I love the car. I left for work at 9 am, but it wouldn't start. It didn't click, but the accessories worked for a split second before stopping. I got a jump(start), but the next time I turned off the car, it wouldn't start again. I had it towed to the shop this afternoon. I hope it's something small (a line fallen loose while driving through bumpy snow?), because I really love this car.

1st Feb 2008, 19:22

Had 2000 Olds Intrigue for four years. Have had flickering lights all that time, even after changing the alternator.

Have the oil gone after 3 hour drives.

Have the shuddering brakes.

Had the engine racing at high rpms. Was told to replace air input thingy for $400+. A mechanic friend told me to replace a gasket between the air intake and throttle body; worked perfectly to stop racing rpms in idle and reverse; total cost about $3 shows shops will take you to the bank.

Have hard starts where you have to pump gas while cranking for 10 seconds. Haven't figured that out yet.

Have the stuck windows and occasional engine failure with interior lights blinking like a Christmas tree.

Recently had a scraping noise on left turns. Have checked the brake/hubs.

15th Jun 2008, 10:38

I have a 2000 Intrigue with ~90000 miles. The front passenger floor was soaked and the climate control doesn't work at all.

23rd Jun 2008, 10:30

I posted a comment back on Nov. 15, 2007 about the climate control module and interior electronics failure in my 2000 Intrigue. After a very expensive trip to a car dealership which produced NO results, I really didn't know what to do next.

On Dec. 15, 2007 there was a posting with problems similar to mine. It mentioned changing the ignition switch had solved their issues.

I had that done to my car with great results. The climate control module works again as do the heated seats, the electric windows, and the cruise control. I had an independent mechanic do the work and the entire repair cost about $250.

Thanks for the tip. I'm delighted to have my car back in working order.