Faults:

I purchased the car from a used car dealership with warranty. The car had been abused before I bought it and dealer agreed to fix any faults:

Traction control computer replaced.

General Comments:

I am pleased and surprised about this car! I got it for more elbow room for my kids, yet the sporty look, and power for me. We all got what we wanted! I have put some miles on it in the past year and the handling actually makes the road trips enjoyable! This car cuts through rain, snow and traffic and has no problem getting out of it's own way. The comfort is OK, but I wish the seat backs were a little more soft. The car is well worth the price I paid for it and more! Besides routine maintenance, the only thing I have to fix right now, is an oil leak by the crank case cover.

Faults:

Service engine light came on at 100 miles and came on repeatedly, especially during hot weather, for the next two years. It had to take it to the shop repeatedly for this. Most emission components were eventually replaced. The problem eventually faded on its own.

Power window button died in its second year.

One window stopped working the first year. I now have three windows that only work when they want to and never work at the same time. Dealer claims three motors are bad and wants to replace for $300 each! I said no, thanks.

Air bag light came on last year and was repaired free via technical service bulletin.

Both headlamp covers have come off. The one I couldn't find cost me over $100 to replace. I caught the other one before it totally fell off. I am trying to find out what is the best kind of glue to use on it.

Now my Dex-Cool has turned to sludge.

Just got through thoroughly flushing and replacing D-C. No problems with heating and cooling so far, but I expect them. That seems to be the pattern once a vehicle gets "sludged."

General Comments:

Writing this up has really made me focus on what a pain this car has been, given the few miles on it. However, it is a testimony to my love of its looks, performance, and sedan practicality that I keep talking myself out of trading. I've never kept a car this long in my life! I have even considered trading for another one. To me, it is the perfect combination of everything I want in a car.

Faults:

I just had the transmission rebuilt. It cost $2228. Yeah I think I got ripped off there! Of course warranty only covered $1000 of it, I had to pay $1200!

Just took it in today to have my squeeky brakes looked at, only to find out I'm leaking engine coolant like crazy! Apparently I need a new Rad now! Isn't that great!!!

Got a blown passenger fog light. Condensation like crazy in the front headlights (headlight covers, cover that up real good!)

Only had this car for a month and a couple days and I'm ready to put it up for sale! What a piece of junk!

General Comments:

Rides smooth (now), nice interior! Heads up display is a nice touch.

As for under the hood, REALLY CHEAPLY BUILT!!

Faults:

I bought this car on 2/7/03 and have had many problems with it. It started off with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve going out at 73,040 miles. This part cost over $200, as stated by the dealer.

Next came a coolant sensor. What happened with this is that it reads the coolant temperature and it was messed up saying one second that the coolant temperature was -34 degrees and then the next second it said that it was 165 degrees. This caused the computer to send tons of gas to the motor, causing it to flood out and die. Dealer also covered this.

Next on the list is the rear passenger power window motor and switch. I have heard of this going bad on many General Motors vehicles, but I guess that it is still a problem that I have had. It was cleaned first, then brought in again and had switch replaced, then had a bunch of new parts put on. Now it doesn't work again. But I can put fault to the dealer on this one cause they are trying to fix the problem and not put in a complete new motor. Dealer covered all parts and labor.

This brings me to now. Recently after a party, I went out to start the car and it reved up past 2,000 RPMs and down to 200 RPM multiple times until it stalled. I then started back up and same thing happened. I tried it today to see if it happened again and it did. I put in Isopropyl and still had same outcome.

Also today out on the cruise to see if the idle thing would stop happening, the rear passenger brake caliper locked up in the compressed position. This caused the brake to make all sorts of noises and such. I will bring into dealer tomorrow to get window, brakes, and idle thing checked out.

General Comments:

If it weren't for the dealership, I would have lost my mind. They covered everything and were always nice and courteous to my problems and reassured me that they would take care of any problems. I don't know information about the prior owner about if they had any other problems with the car. I understand that not all cars are perfect and that this one just may be one of them, perhaps a lemon?

This car handles and accelerates very well. I love the interior comfort. By this I mean that the leather seating is comfortable, the heads up display and steering wheel buttons are very nice, and it rides pretty good. The shocks are a bit stiff, but that's OK I guess. I was hoping to get a little better gas mileage since my past car (1987 Mercury Cougar) got almost 30 miles per gallon with a 302 motor and 178,000 miles. This car gets in between 20 and 23 miles per gallon, depending upon lengths of trips and such.