Oldsmobile Alero

hpulley4

The main reason that ABS doesn't prevent many accidents is that NO BRAKES AT ALL are applied in many accidents. Why? As others have said, following too close to react, driver inattention, hoping that other drivers see you and stop in time when you make an impatient turn into fast-moving traffic, etc.

ABS loses out on gravel and snow, but not just because it can plow down to the better surface below. At the front edge of the tire the lose impediments get pushed up into a ramp, which has a mechanical advantage over the still-spinning wheel given by ABS.

The ABS steering advantage is a bit overrated. If the road has a low enough coefficient of friction that ABS needs to stop wheels from locking up early on, then steering will also be hampered as tires need to grip the road to change the direction. It will help in this case but what works better is a full anti-skid/vehicle stability program (or a skilled rally race driver) which uses both brakes and engine power to correct the problem.

jpelder

I just got the call today...my new alero arrived. I am going to pick it up this afternoon to take advantage of the additional $500 rebate.

I'll let you know about the experience! I can't wait to drive it!

rkw2

I have a 2000 6cyl GL with about 20,000 miles. A few weeks ago the Low Tire Pressure Warning light would go on. I checked the tires then reset it by following the directions in the manual and the light went off. The tires were all properly inflated. This happened a few times. On Saturday, it went on again. The tires are properly inflated. But now I can't reset it to get rid of the warning light (I've followed the directions in the manual but the warning light stays on).

Does anyone know what is causing it or of an easy fix. If i bring it back to a dealer will it be covered by my warranty? The dealers near here that used to sell Olds have stopped selling and servicing them. Will a Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealer know how to correct it.

Thanks for your help.

I really like the car a lot but these little things make me crazy. By the way, a friend of mine who bought a Saturn LS3 fully equipped was in my car on New Years Eve. He told me that he likes the Alero ride better than his Saturn and in hindsight he wishes he had gotten the ALero and not his Saturn. He paid more than $5,000 more than I did.

tomcat630

Does anyone have an 2002 Alero with the new EcoTec engine? How is it?

dtownfb

I would take it to your nearest GM dealer to get it fixed. It should be covered under warranty esp. since it is potentially a safety issue. It's a shame the dealer you bought it from has stopped servicing them. that's not suppose to happen according to GM.

Where do you happen to live? If you are in the Northern part of the country, we've been experienig some very very cold weather the past two weeks. that may have something ot do with it. Or you could just have a faulty sensor.

Good luck

mlm4

From your description I assume that the light is always on now, whenever the car is running. It could be any number of things, including a faulty wheel speed sensor or instrument panel module. Take it to a dealer and have them run a diagnostic on it; that's the best way to handle this. As for where to take it, any GM dealer is supposed to service your Oldsmobile if there are no Olds dealers near you (they are authorized to do so at least), but your best bet is a Pontiac dealer if there is one because the Alero is basically the same car as the Grand Am, so they should be familiar with it. This certainly would be a warranty item unless you did something to the car to cause this problem. Good luck, and let us know what happens!

dindak

Took an Ecotec Alero out for a drive about 3 weeks ago. BIG improvement over the 2.4 Quad4 and really the best 4 banger GM makes. I was really impressed.

jpelder

Just picked up my alero tonight...drove it 75 miles. It has the 2.2 Ecotech and is VERY smooth, but still has guts. I have the 5 speed manual...this is the most perfectly geared car I have ever driven (manual tranny).

By the way, check out the oil filter. Very easy to change.

So far I am in love! Got a good deal too...$100 over invoice, and got the $500 bonus cash by picking it up today. The 3200 GM card bucks also helped nicely.

dindak

Finally!! Congrats on the new Alero. Keep us up to date on the car.

Did you get a RDS stereo in it? I think those are really cool.

jpelder

Thanks Dindak. Yes, it has the RDS. I loved RDS on my Impala Rentals. I will play with it today around here to see how well in works in a non-metro area.

The buying experience was great...hope the car is as well. I will keep you posted.

regfootball

go drive on a snowy/icy road in bad weather with a bunch of other drivers out there (idiots not paying attention) and when you need to make a panic stop or short stop at speed and stay on the road.....no fricking way anyone can maintain better control of a vehicle and keep it on the road by pumping brakes themselves. ABS will be better every time and your chances of staying in a straight line are exponentially better.

jpelder

This may be premature excitement, but I was reading through my alero manual and it says the 2.2 ecotech holds 6 quarts of oil. That's alot of oil for a 4 cylinder. Heck, even my 8 cylinder vehicles only took 5 quarts.

In my book, that's a good sign that this engine is designed to perform for a long time.

hpulley4

The snow and gravel comments about ABS vs. no ABS are with regards to stopping distances with NO PUMPING, just jamming on the brakes and locking up the wheels. The stopping distance of a locked wheel on a loose surface is shorter than a rolling wheel on the threshold of locking. I didn't say which way the car would be pointing or if it would still be on the road, just that the stopping distance would be shorter...

burdawg

Other posters on this forum have stated that it's a misprint, the 2.2 actually holds 5 qts. I don't have any first hand knowledge of it, just passing it on.

jpelder

Was that posting in the alero forum? Let me know and I will check it out. 5 quarts is still pretty good for a 4 cyl, but that is one heck of a misprint if it is true.

Thanks for the heads up!

matt05

This is my first time using this, I am 17 and have narrowed down that I would like to make an oldsmobile alero my first car purchase. If anyone can give me help, please.

I've been researching aleros for a little bit, and i like this one car, but want to make sure this is the right choice. It is a used 2000 Alero GL, silver, coupe, auto, V4, with 20k mi, for about $10,900. Its options: spoiler, tilt, cd, Power everything including seats, driver/passenger airbags, ABS, keyless entry, security system, theft deterant system, and alum. wheels.
Is believe this is a good deal, but any opinions?

Also a few questions for olds alero owners:
Does the security system really hold up? Because I have had theft problems in the past.
How much of a difference is the V4 and V6, is the V4 fast enough?
I have been looking at 2000 olds alero warranties and i dont see anything about there being a powertrain warranty, is there such a thing?
Or would you recommend me buying new?

If anyone can please give me ANY help I would be very thankful.
matt

coonhound

Matt: Go for it. I own a 2000 GL with the 4. The four cyl. takes a bashing on this site, but in fact I really like the four. The city fuel mileage is better on the four Cyl. but Highway fuel mileage is better with the six Cyl. I'm sure you know that the Alero and the Grand Am are the same animal in different clothing. However there are a few more whistles and bells included on the Alero as standard equipment. The HP rating is only 15 HP more with the six, but the torque is much higher. The new 2002s have an eco tech 2.2 liter aluminum Saturn engine. It has less HP and less torque than the old 2.4 liter. Most people's opinions on this site are all for the new engine, but I am not that crazy about an all aluminum engine. Having said that, my wife's driver is a 2000 intrigue with the all aluminum 3.5 litre engine. The old 36,000 mile or three years was bumper to bumper warranty. I guess the warranty on new models is now 60,000 miles or six years. The dealer will try and sell you an extended warranty. These prices for extended warranty are very flexible, i.e. negotiable. Extended warranty is the final thing brought up in the administrators office. Just say no. They will start at around $1400.00. maybe more. I have purchased the extended warranty one time, but did not use it. It is just insurance and how much risk can you handle. Sorry for rambling, the host will delete my post.

pat

No need to delete your post - topical discussions wander from time to time, no problem, as long as the Membership Agreement is adhered to.

Don't worry, we're glad to "hear" your thoughts! :-)

Pat
Host
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jpelder

Well, I've finally had some time to look the car over. Fit and finish are excellent. RDS doesn't work in my area...but I live in the sticks.

One weird thing though. When I closed the hood yesterday (I've been checking out the engine alot)I noticed it seemed loose. All panel gaps were consistent, as was the sheet metal surface (hood to fender). It turned out the Rubber adjustment fittings had not been set. I gave them the turns they needed, and all was perfect.

Is this something that's supposed to be done at the factory or the dealership? Perhaps the dealership is at fault because I rushed them to pick it up...didn't give them much dealer prep time. However, it's a good sign that the hood and fenders were all flush even without the adjustment.

Anyway, I use a fine toothed comb, and this car is well done.

dindak

Dealer is suppose to look the car over for loose items ect., but like you said, maybe you rushed them. Did you get charged for a "dealer inspection"?

jpelder

No, I did not get charged. I did notice a small form in the car from the salesperson to the maint. dept. It said to have the car ready for 3PM pickup, and was filled out about noon.

Considering that they only knew at about 11:30 that I was coming in that day, plus that I asked them to add mud flaps and keyless entry, I guess it is to be expected.

For the most part, my dealership experience was great.

One thing though...the aftermarket keyless entry does not have a trunk button, but has an AUX. I later asked the rep. if the aux. button would open the trunk, he pushed the button and nothing happened, then said no.

I asked why, and he gave me some BS about the trunk not having a solenoid. I knew he was full of it, (how else does the button on the door open the trunk...a pull chain?) but didn't make an issue of it. Yesterday, my 2 year old was playing with the remote opener for awhile until I got tired of hearing the horn beep. After grabbing the keys, I looked into the driveway and noticed my trunk was open!

I found out that the AUX button does work, but that you have to hold it for 2 seconds before it opens the trunk. You learn something everyday from a 2 year old! Now I'm gonna go punch that rep in the mouth.

regfootball

no reason to be wary of aluminum engines. Aluminum construction has been common in many Japanese makes for almost two decades now and have proven trouble free. Euro makes then Americans last got into all aluminum or alloy engines.

Many bad connotations of aluminum come from cars like the Vega in the 70's. That situation has nothing at all to do with todays engines. Today, even if the block and heads are aluminum, the liners are always something like iron.

Aluminum engines are lighter, transfer heat better. For this and many other reasons is why its superior for block and head design to cast iron. Engineers have had decades of experience in aluminum design and so for a long time now its widely accepted that aluminum engines are superior to just about anything else.

burdawg

Sorry, I can't find the posting about the oil capacity misprint in the Alero manual. I thought it was in the Maintenance and Repair area under the GM 2.2 engine heading, but now I can't find it. I guess a sure fire way to tell is to change the oil, and keep track of the quantity required to refill.

jpelder

Thanks for trying. It may be awhile until I change oil since this is kind of a spare, around town car for us. I am going to contact the dealer and have him check for me in the meantime.

I'll let you know if I learn anything.

mfletou

Hello all...
I'd thought I'd pop in with a report on my 2001 Alero GL2 V6. The car is just over a year old and now has 14600 miles. It's midnight blue with the sun and sound package.
Overall, I'm extremly pleased with the car. It's had one major problem, which was a rattle caused by the rear window not fitting tightly. It took the dealers a while to figure out the cause, and a new window was ordered and eventually replaced. I drive primarily in the DC area although I bought the car in MA, and I was less than impressed with the northern VA dealer that did the work. However, the problem was fixed and has not occurred again.
Right now, I'm experiencing a bit of a rattle in the right front door speaker system. Anyone else seen this? It isn't bad enough to make a special trip in for, but eventually I'll have them fix it. Other than those two, there have been no problems.
I just took a trip from Boston to Washington with 2 other people and about 400 pounds of luggage and still got 33 miles per gallon at about 75 mph for the trip. That's excellent. In city driving it drops quite a bit to about 20, and overall averages about 24.5 because I do mostly city driving. That being said, the 3.4L V-6 is an excellent engine. The torque is most impressive and I find the engine barely has to work in most situations---it rarely even sees 3000 rpm for more than a few seconds. GM has always done transmissions well and the automatic is also excellent.
For those than have the extra cash, the sun and sound package is great. The sunroof has been a lot of fun and looks great. The 150 watt RDS 8-speaker stero packs quite a bit of punch and I enjoy going for rides with some of my friends who payed more for their Camry/Maxima/Accords and don't have that kind of system.
There is a lot of talk about 'refinement,' in the mainstream press, and Consumer Reports was critical of the Alero for lacking the refinement of the Camry. It may be true that the Alero is a bit louder and has a little more vibration, but there is no question in my mind that it is a hell of a lot more fun to drive and look at. My car looks great, and the midnight blue really accentuates the lines. Considering that I paid $17200 for it and a Camry with the same options would have been $23000+, I just laugh when I see one. For those prospective buyers out there, give it a chance. It's a very well designed car, and with features like the Traction Control System you just can't lose.

jpelder

If I remember correctly, the CR review mentioned vibration in relation to the 2.4L engine. I am inclined to agree in that area, but this has been totally changed with the new 2.2 ecotech.

My 2002 (2.2)is definitely smooth. I agree about the 3.4L performance. It seems to hardly work at all. I look forward to seeing what kind of durability the 3.4 will have.

2 questions about the door speaker rattle:

1. Did the rattle recently develop?
2. Is it a buzz or rattle, and is it make the noise due to the speaker sound?

ctalerico

I'm considering putting a sunroof in my 2000 GLS. It came with everything but the sunroof. Has anyone else put one in their Alero? Would I be better off not putting one in (considering it would be aftermarket)? I don't need any more problems with the car. Thanks in advance for any input!

burdawg

I don't care for aftermarket sunroofs-they generally look cheap and tacky, and after a while they always seem to leak. Remember that a factory sunroof isn't designed to be 100% waterproof, but has drainage channels built into the car body to conduct moisture away instead of it leaking on your head (my wife calls it "water on the brain" since the factory sunroof in her Mercedes will sometimes leak a couple drops during a hard rain).
An aftermarket one won't have these, plus you really increase the chance of body rust by cutting into the top.

jpelder

Good question. I just picked up a 2002 GX, and the dealer offered to install one. I am leary about aftermarket versions, but the rep. assured me that "you can't tell the difference".

Are you considering a sunroof from the dealer, or somewhere else? Is it a moonroof type, or does it just pop up? I will consider one if it is very similar to the factory roof. One question I have is about the privacy panel...is it available with the factory roof fabric on an aftermarket? Is it available at all?

I will let you know what my dealer says.

dtownfb

Contrary to the past two statements, Aftermarket sunroofs have come a long way since the 80's. Many times the aftermarket sunroofs are better quality then the OEM. Plus for me being 6'4" tall the aftermarket sunroofs don't take away front headroom space like the OEM. We have had aftermarket sunroofs on 2 of last 3 vehicles (1994 Accord and 1996 Explorer) and hve not experienced any problems. Acutally the one inthe Explorer is niceer then the stock sunroof.

you can get any type of sunroof: pop-up, pop-up and slide, etc. Not unless you have a friend in the business, i would recommend asking the dealer who installs their sunroofs. Make sure you read the warranty. ASC is a good company.