Oldsmobile Alero

heng

the reset button is in the access panel on the drivers side of the dashboard. The driver's door has to be open to see the panel. There is a reset button inside. Follow the instructions in your owners manual.

assman97

Hello everyone,
I was just reading the messages posted by ribew and redly_one, and I too have experienced such a problem. It is exactly how ribew described it. I own a '97 Olds with the 3100 V6 engine (the older version of the 3400 3.4 V6 available in the Alero). I have read in some GM Diagnostic documents that the crankshaft position sensor is the most probable cause, but it is not the only cause. Other causes could be the Ignition Control Module, and even the Oxygen Sensor. So for redly_one, you should get your ICM checked since your crank sensor was replaced already. But, I'm not sure if there are other causes as well.

Keep me posted if you or anyone else hears anything. I hate that starting problem!!!

wuchifeng

I read in Auto World that Oldsmobile is going to extend the warranties for all 2000 and 2001 Oldsmobiles. Thus, most of us would have a 5yr/60,000mi warranty... but the question is, if there are no Oldsmobile dealers in 18mths, what good is the warranty? I read previously (somewhere on this board) that it was a GM warranty. So does that mean it's good at any GM dealer?

etharmon

The warranty is a Major Gaurd 60 month 60,000 mile warranty. It is backed by GM so any GM dealer should honor it. It is bumper to bumper and has no deductible.

ribew

Hello all -

I took my Alero in to get the starting problem checked out. I waited for over 1 1/2 hours and the tech. came and told me nothng was found. They could not duplicate the problem I was describing to them They supposedly checked everything over with the computer and it turned up nothing. They said to "monitor" it and let them know if the siuation gets worse.

Well, the car still isn't starting right. I made a copy of the above post from 'assman97' and I'll give the dealer a call and see what they say. My guess is that they won't do anything unless they can be witness to the problem also.

98monte_ls

Does anyone know if they'd give a free ext. warranty to a car purchased 9/28/00 (a 2001 Model) considering that they just implemented the free warranties in December?

rkw2

I have a 2000 Alero I purchased on August 31. I sent an email to Olds asking if the new free extended warrantee is retroactive. I have not yet received a response (i wrote them about 1 week ago). I suspect not as it is an incentive to buy a new car like the rebate or cheap financing.

I don't know if its my imagination or not, but I've seen more ads for Olds in teh last few weeks than I've seen in all of last year. Seem a bit strange for a company ready to b e closed down. Or maybe if sales improve, they will change their minds. Who knows

tina24

I was having a really hard time finding a 5-speed Alero. I didn't want the GX. I wanted a GL2. I ended up ordering a special edition GL2 with 5-speed transmission, midnight blue sedan loaded - everything but leather. I love it! I would recommend custom ordering the GL2 if you want a 5 speed and you can pick your own options. Amazingly I only waited 5 weeks for the car, I got the increased rebate of 2,000 and had GM dollars to boot!

etharmon

Congratulations on the Alero, you chose an excellent color.

rkw2, I too have seen more Olds ads lately. Funny, they are now running ads AFTER the decision to drop Olds was made. And my local dealer told me that they are selling pretty well right now.

aardvarkaz

Here's some info about my purchase of an Alero GL2 5-speed sedan.
The only "option" I got was the 5-speed manual transmission which reduced the price.

Color: Silver
Car: $17,867 (gms + 4%)
Paint Protector Polymer Sealant: $69 ($299 retail)
Discounts: $2000 GM Rebate, plus lots of GM Card points.

I think it's kind of a rip-off that they put that sealant on all their cars and force buyers to pay up to $299. Luckily, since I was buying under the supplier program, they charged me the sealant at cost.

Experience:
Average. The salesman tried hard to convince me NOT to get the 5-speed. As far as I know, there were only 2 GL2 5-speed sedans in the city. I recommend www.gmbuypower.com to check the inventory of your local dealers.
He also tried to push the 0-0-0 deal. I'd rather get my 2K bucks and pay the thing off fast.
Test drove a plain automatic GL1 with little options as well as the GL2.

Problems:
Power steering died at 50 miles! I still can't believe this one. Dealer supplied me with an Alero off the lot with all the options to drive while my car was being fixed.

Overall, I like the vehicle. It looks sporty with the 16" wheels and spoiler and it is a great value.

Now as long as I don't have any more problems, I won't be researching the lemon laws.

rat284

I finally got my Alero last week. A sterling GL2 coupe with the V-6. So far, I love it! Well, there is one problem. The power seat height adjuster mysteriously quit working. I'll have to take it into the dealer sometime this week. And I'm hoping that as some people said, the fuel economy will improve over time. It seems to be improving already, though. Other than that, I'm completely satisfied.

After I first got it, I was almost regretting not getting the sedan, but ever since I've been on the lookout for other Aleros on the road, I've seen tons of sedans and only a handful of coupes, which is a good thing, since I like to have something unique. And since coupes, like Oldsmobile, are slowly dying, I'm glad I got one.

Now I just have to deal with obsessing over tracking dirty snow and slush into the car, and constantly washing it!

tina24

I can relate to the dirty snow and slush on the car. I live in Mass. and I have only had the car for 3 days and it's filthy. As far as gas mileage is concerned, mine is guzzling gas quickly. But I did notice that the traction control switch defaults to on. When I turned it off (everytime I start the car), it seemed to be getting better mileage. Any comments?

ljlluvsalero

I took my alero in this morning because the service engine soon light still had not gone out after 2 weeks and numerous restarts (I later found out 40, to be exact). Turned out it that the computer just needed to recalibrated...no parts and about a half hour of my time waiting. No big deal.

Now if only I could get my license plates...

skibry1

Hey aardvarkaz and tina24 do you two have these
babies broke in yet? I was told by the service
tech and salesman to vary speed and (since we can)
RPMS for the first 1000 miles. Are these your first
vehicles with a clutch? I had started my search for
a GX back in 0ct'99 but no one could get me it. My
14yr old MT5 failed 4mnths later and I replaced it
with a doubleought Mazda626.

tina24

I only have 500 miles on my car, but I go about 500 miles a week, so I should be broken in by next week. I have been driving 5-speeds for about 10 years now and prefer them any day over automatics. It just seems that American automakers have this idea that we all want automatic transmissions. I always have to search for a 5-speed, where foreign automakers have all sorts of choices. I had to custom order my Alero, it was a "special edition" and they are only making so many of them (this is what they told me).

dindak

Unfortunately for people who like 5 speeds, the choices are limited because 80-90% of people want automatics. Even at the local Honda shop, most of the Accords and Civics are automatic. Glad you like your car though.

I have been driving my mom's 99 Alero GL for the past 3 weeks as they have been away on a trip. My impressions are as follows:

V6 : Excellent power, but not quite as smooth as the 3.5L in my Intrigue
Handling : Very good, quite nimble.
Build Quality : Very good, aside from one little rattle in the dash. Must have it looked at.
Comfort : I feel very good behind the wheel of this car.
OVERALL : give it 4/5 stars. It's not perfect, but it is a very nice car and I would recommend it to other's interested in a smaller mid-size category. Definitely a good value.

My mom has had the car for over a year and a half and it has had no mechanical problems. I hope they give this car to Chevy when Oldsmobile dies because I like it a lot better than the Malibu.

skibry1

Ah,but go to Europe and 1 of every 8 domestic or
import cars sold is a clutch.State side its just
the oppisite.A four cylinder automatic is a pooch,
I feel we get better performance out of our
cylinder-challenged motors by being able to pick
the needed RPMs.

dindak

The thing in Europe is.. any engine that is bigger than 1.9L is subject to additional tax. That is why you see so many European cars with 1.9L engines. Further, gas costs more than twice what it does here so people need that 5-speed efficiency. I'm glad I live on this side of the pond.

etharmon

Amen dindak!! And not to start a political debate, but there are some folks here in the US that would like to see engine size and gasoline taxed like it is in Europe. Taxes are one of the reasons gas is so much more expensive in Europe.

dindak

Well, living in Canada I already face slightly higher prices that you do. Depending on many factors, gas is usually 10-30% more than in the U.S. Then again, we have almost no toll highways here either.

infinia1

well i just rolled past 4000 miles and still everything is going great! what a car! it absolutely amazes me that gm is now doing for olds what it should've long ago to show car shoppers that they believe in these cars, such as warranty, actual tv ads, etc. i love the tv ads that show the the olds rocket (new emblem) going around the circle then blasting off diagonally thru the middle. you guys know what i mean. i'm getting the windows tinted with tax refund soon and have been thinking about upsizing the rims to 16's. has anyone been able to find a bug deflector for this car? i could only find 1 and they wanted $80! so i will keep looking. one thing tho-has anyone noticed that when the emergency brake is on and the little cup holder is flipped open they seem to interfere when disengaging the brake? the cup holder doesn't like to close with brake on. and i don't want to push too hard and break it. so does anyone have high miles yet? just wondering how thing are holding up (great i'm sure).

rpm9

A read in a recent poll in one of the motor magazines that 72 out of 109 people polled preferred the design of the new Grand Am over the Alero. Out of the same 109 people, 67 preferred the design of the new Accord over the Camry. And again, out of the same 109 people, 106 of them believed that even though Oldsmobile is building the best cars they've ever built in history, that it's a good idea that the company is dismantling simply because the name Oldsmobile is an unattractive name for a car.

ryanroseberry

Hi all, I'm a new Alero owner, just traded in a 98 Honda civic and hoping I haven't made a mistake. We bought an Alero GLS loaded, only 232 miles and all ready problems. It takes our car forever to start in the morning or after it sits for a while. We've taken the Car to an Oldsmobile dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong after running the tests. Further more the Oldsmobile Techs stated that any starting time 17 seconds or under is normal! I prefer my car to start when I turn the key the first time. Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution. thanks.

dindak

Bring that car to another dealer and have them look at it. This is not normal. My mom's 99 still starts right away after 2 years. Probably a faulty starter or some bad plugs.

fulldraw

I recently bought a GLS loaded from a dealer which is my home town 250 miles away. I used to work at that dealer many years ago. When I got my new Aero home here in Virginia the very next morning the engine sounded really bad at startup. Sounded like valves or something! I took it to the local dealer that evening since they said I would have to leave it over night so they would look at it the next morning but that next evening that service manager said they just did not have time and they did not know when they could get to it! My dealership back in Tennessee even tried to talk with them since I only had about 300 miles and he had no luck either and so the Tennessee dealer sent someone all the way up to get the car and take it back to look at it. It turned out to be a 5 minute fix, just a cover under the engine rattling! I ended up with 500 more miles and a empty tank of fuel because the dealer here was just pissed I did not buy from them! Kind of glad I did not now but OLD'S is supposed to be giving me a certificate for lifetime oil changes free for my problems but its been 2 months since this all happened with no paper yet! Other than this the car is super but the cup holders are useless and the car does not get the gas mileage it is rated for yet. Getting about 26 to work and back but should be about 30 and for all highway at least 32. The car handles super but gets kind of squirrel when accelerating for some weird reason, probably due to front wheel drive. All in all I like it.

Bjor

Read somewhere that the Alero may survive, but will go to Buick. Anyone else read this? If I find the link again I'll post it. Reading through the posts here people are saying the Alero should go to Chevy. I don't know where it would fit in the Chevy line. They have too many cars competing for the same customer as it is....

yurakm

Looks very plausible.

Alero would be too close to Malibu in the Chevy line-up. Olds dropped for the reason the 97-98 Cutlass (rebadged Malibu) when Alero was introduced.

On the other hand, the smallest Buick currently is Century / Regal. Alero would complement very well the Buick line-up "from below". It also would attract younger buyers into the Buick dealerships - and they really need it.

etharmon

You made the right move, Civcs are one of the most boring cars on the road. The Alero is not only much better looking, but should be much more enjoyable to drive. As for the starting problem, something is not right. 17 seconds is too long for any modern cars to start unless it's 10 below zero or something. My brother has a 99 Alero GL V6 and it starts extermely fast. In fact, I've noticed that of all the cars I've driven, his Alero probably has the shortest starting time. 2 seconds if that and its running. My Intrigue and my father's Aurora both take a second or two longer to start when cold. You possibly could have a fuel pump relay that nots working properly or something that is keeping the fuel from getting to the engine quickly. Take it back or try another dealer as there has to be something wrong if it is taking 17 seconds to start. My old car which was an 89 Olds Toronado developed a problem like this at about 80K and it was the fuel pump relay. When the car was cold or after it had been parked for hours, it would take 10 seconds or longer of cranking to start. Sometimes I would have to stop and crank it again. Next time you start it, turn the radio and heater fan off and open a window. Listen to see if you hear a slight "buzz" or "hiss" from beneath the car as you turn the ignition to the "on" position. You should hear this for a few seconds as this is the fuel pump. Good luck and enjoy the car.

etharmon

I put absolutely no faith in polls. They can be manipulated any way the pollster wants them too. Just look at all the polls done before last November's elections. Some said the race was dead even, others were giving Bush a 5-7 point lead while others were giving Gore the lead. Where did you see this poll anyway?

dindak

Hummm.. I think I could live with that. It does make more sense than moving it to Chev. Buick needs an entry level car if it wants to attract younger people. Now if they would just get rid of the Century.

vocus

For some reason, the leg room feels a little tight to me in the Alero sedan, but not in the Grand Am. My leg is right against the center console in the Alero, but not in the Grand Am. Since they are the same car essentially, it doesn't really make sense to me. I don't get it.

I think I would rather have the Alero, now that the big deals are happening with the warranty, rebates, and all. But also noticed the seats are not as comfy as Grand Am's either. What do you all think about the overall comfort?

j_coleman

Leg against the center console is one of the reasons I bought an Intrigue instead of an Alero. I also didn't like how the center A/C vent for the passenger is angled to where it doesn't blow on the passenger.

vocus

I sat in one of those the other night as well. The lumbar bulge in the lower seatback is too prominent for me, and therefore not comfortable. That's why I didn't get it. Maybe the leather seats would be more comfortable for me. I have to check one with leather.

j_coleman

I have leather in the Intrigue. Yes, they are very firm and supportive. Probably too much lumbar support for some! The dealership also had some GX models with leather. The Intrigue GX does not come with leather from the factory, but my dealer was having aftermarket leather seats put in some of them. They were very high quality and felt softer. Not quite as firm.

rkw2

When the announcement of Oldsmobiles demise was announced a few months ago, i remember reading somepalce that the Alero might become an "entry level Cadillac". They also mentioned that it would also be available as a convertible. But who knows. This makes sense. I've noticed that many Olds/Cadillacs are under the same dealership here in NJ.

3904

I considering the purchase of a 2001 Ruby Red Alero GL2...as a matter of fact, the dealer is bringing it to my home tomorrow for my wife's inspection. It seems like a good deal but I can't help but wonder what will happen to its resale value when Oldsmobile is no more!!! Anyone know if another GM company will continue to offer it or might I be stuck with a orphan that's worth $0??

Bjor

I heard Buick or Chevy may get the Alero, but from the story I read below I'm not sure now.

http://www.auto.com/reuters1.htm

dindak

RE Oldsmobile : The article I read a couple of weeks back said that Bravada and Aurora will be re-badged as they are both very new models. Alero was up in the air, but two divisions had expressed interest.

3904 : Alero is VERY similar to the Grand Am mechanically. Don't worry about the "orphan" factor too much.

oren3

Ok I need help from someone with a 2001 Alero, apparently the rear view mirror lights are different on 2001. Anyways my most urgent problem is how to get the rear dome assembly back into the roof. The dome connects to a black piece which is all supposed to be up in the ceiling but for the life of me I can't get it back up there. Anyways the whole thing fell out when i slid the rocker so then i decided to switch light bulbs to red. The tube light i was able to change but the other two have some sort of blue thing connector on them which I cant get off. So 1. I need to know how to put the dome assembly back in the ceiling, and 2. Can these blue connectors be attached to other lights?

Now concerning the rear view, I've removed it but is there any way to open the casing so I can swap the map lights? I took off the plastic things on the bottom covering the maps but I'm scared I wont be able to see how to put the bulb in if I do pull the stock bulbs out.. anyway to get better access?

Thanks

etharmon

The only Oldsmobile models that have a remote chance of becoming Cadillacs are the Aurora and new Bravada and that doesn't seem all that likely. As good as the Alero is, there is no way it is a Cadillac and Cadillac learned their lesson years ago about trying to pass off cheaper cars as luxury cars(i.e. Cimmarron). In some way, they are still trying to overcome that image problem today. Buick or Chevy would make a decent home for the Alero though. Buick could use a sporty compact coupe and sedan to compliment the Regal.

Vocus, the Intrigue certainly does have frim seats. Personally, the lumbar "bulge" fits my back perfectly, but some people have complained that it's too stiff. You might want to try reclining the seat a notch or two to see if that helps.

yurakm

http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/02/06/home_auto/q_mateja_gm/index.htm

vocus

Is there any difference in front leg room in the 4-door Aleros with and without the power driver's seat? I sat in one with the power seat and it felt roomier, while the one without feels a bit tight. Any insight?

merrymac

Noticed that #427 complained about gas silage. I found my dealership was inflating my tires to 28 pounds & my gas silage was only 25-27mph. I insisted they inflate the tires to at least 32 pounds & started getting right at 30mpg.

merrymac

Noticed that #427 complained about gas milage. I found my dealership was inflating my tires to 28 pounds & my gas milage was only 25-27mph. I insisted they inflate the tires to at least 32 pounds & started getting right at 30mpg.

tim1my

Hello all. If you take a moment to look at the incentives section here at Edmunds, it reflects a $2,000 customer rebate thru Apil. However, it also lists a $2,000 dealer incentive good thru February 28th. Does anyone know whether these are indeed what they appear to be.....that is, cumulative incentives that add up to $4,000 if you play it right? Thanx in advance.

tim1my

Woops! Took a second look and see that the dealer incentives are for 2000 models. Would have been nice tho!

fatjuan

Been reading several messages, let me know if anyone else had this experience.
Wanting to trade in my 2000 Alero GLS w/leather, 16,000 miles, etc.....Dealerships have been telling me since Olds is going out of business that we're taking $3000 + hits on the resale value.
A local Olds dealer offered me the lowest trade in value at $11,000, a couple dealers didn't want to take it for trade because supposedly they wouldn't be able to sell it, that dealers are buying 2000 Aleros at auctions for $10,000. Anyone else upset by this?????

egkelly

I am in the market for a used ALERO. Please email me with details-where are you located?
gkelly@microsemi.com

j_coleman

fat juan: I think you will be better off keeping the car for another 8 years or so.

fatjuan

Thanks for the offer, but I am most likely going to keep it. I am in the Omaha area and I have seen used Aleros like mine for $12-14,000. I have not had any mechanical problems like leaking or rotors yet...j coleman is right (so is my wife, my dad, my mom, my friend.....)