Well, I come from a Pontiac family, and I looked at the GTP and it appealed to me somewhat, but they are rough riding cars and the pontiac didn't have the climate control if I remember, and yes, the interior was OK. Better than the Chevy in my opinion. Did not have the PCS system option either. It is a quick car, however I realized that with my turbo car I'm not holding the throttle to the floor very often these days and it will get worse, being 38 wiht preg wife, and this was really a car more for my wife than I although we'll share it. I'm planning on getting a extended cab truck wiht v8 / manual and hopping that up for grins. Paying for prem gas when we could be happy with the 3.5 seemed overkill for us. Maybe if we had some hills or altititude, where we needed more power, but for here the sub 8 sec 0-60 of the intrigue (7.8) seemed plenty fast, as it dusted the accord and (by some tests) the auto maxima.
I sat in a regal it was nice, but the loose cusion interior and design didn't appeal to my wife who favors the import school of design, hence the appeal of the Intrigue. That is a Q-ship for sure. While I like being different (shopping the accord took some stomach), the GTP would be more my style than the buick.
I saw that many maxima owners are not getting very good milage - 22-25 mixed driving. I would have thought that would be higher. Might the lead foot syndrome......
The olds is a quirky choice, not for everyone, that's for sure. And yes, you'd have to drive it into the ground to get your money out of it, but try finding a used GLS, owners aren't tradeing them in very often, and not many were sold in the first place. Lots of rental GX's if that's your style or budget. I've looked here, and the discount for a used 2000 is not worth it. Personally, I'm willing to pay for goodies and enjoy them a long time.
It is a 2000, purchased brand new about 11 months ago (Feb 2000). Engine/Trans/Electrical have been pretty reliable but unfortunately these cars do have known serious defects in the front end. These cars are the first attempt by GM to incorporate the use of aluminum for the supporting engine cradle. Many owners are having a ton of problems with ticking noises, suspension and steering noises galore (Such as myself). Gm doesn't have a fix, TSB or Recall campaign in place so it is pretty much left to the dealers to perform guess work on your car.
I am giving GM and the dealer one last shot to fix the car (very doubtful)as I am following strict procedure outlined by Florida Lemon Law. FL law considers these problems to be serious enough to warrant replacement/buyback by the manufacturer....only 1 repair attempt and you are out!.
In looking at buying a GM product soon, the info on these last streams about Impala front end problems and Intrigue resale is not encouraging, since these were my primary choices.
Why is it that the GP doesn't come with a fold down seat, anyway?
Slope - you're deciding between Maxima and Intrigue and have family considerations like many of us - safety being an obviously crucial concern
Teo - I think I saw you post somewhere recently that Maxima does not stand up well to crashes (sorry buddy - I've seen your posts in so many forums I can't keep up with you!!)
What's the issue with Maxima body integrity that would be so different than W body? Aren't both considered to be unibody construction? Neither is on a frame that I'm aware of. Is Maxima different than Camry/Accord in this regard?
On the recent offset crash tests, the Maxima/I30 sedan scored considerably lower than both Ford and GM sedans. The Chrysler LH sedans did pretty lousy as well.
teo : That is a shame cause the Impala seems like a decent car. Let us know what happens.
ickes: As I've said before, I think the Intrigue re-sale problems are over blown. As for the Grand Prix, one of the main reasons I didn't get another Grand Prix when my 98 was totalled was the lack of a split folding seat option. That made me look at the Intrigue and I couldn't be happier.
I disagree that the Intrigue's resale values are overblown, especially if you only want the car for 48 months.
The simple fact is that the car depreciates more rapidly than almost any other car in the segment. I did a similar cross comparision at Carpoint on the resale as someone else did on Intellichoice and got similar results. You don't have to look much farther than the classifieds to bear this out.
Really, any car is a bad deal if you dump and run after a short period. Almost better off leasing and increasing the mileage. GM must eat it in the shorts on these returns...
Ok ya.. the resale on Intrigue is not the best. I thought you were speculating that it will be much worse because of the demise of Oldsmobile. I don't agree with that, though I'm sure Oldsmobile's death does not help.
If you are holing cars for 36-48 months, you should definitely lease With the new warranty, even a 48 month lease would be totally covered under warranty.
I've owned 2 new LE's, 3 yrs ea w/a 92 & 95. Both were problem-free, but the 95 felt more like a Corolla by comparison. The '98 didn't impress me a bit so I moved to a Taurus. That developed a clunk on accelerating. Discovered a tranny mounting bolt missing. Just got rid of that in favor of a '00 Intrigue. Seems to be a lot more car for the money than perhaps the 92 Camry, but it has developed a significant oil leak @ 1400 miles that dealer thinks is from a defective valve cover/gasket. Kinda wish I'd bought a Regal from some of the comments I'm reading.
limadelta - my alternator was replaced with one of the supposedly good ones. The dealer had to wait for it to come directly from the manufacturer. I talked to dealer today and they said that there have been a couple of cases where the replacement unit was also bad and they suppose that's the case here. Am waiting for another one to arrive and try it again.
Even though plymouth was discontinued i don't think its resale values are that much lower than dodge's. ie. plymouth voyager vs. dodge caravan and plymouth neon vs. dodge neon.
The olds resale is lower because of the fact that no one knows about the car, lots of rentals in the resale market and problems that have not been corrected. These problems are more of an annoyance than safety related, but they don't appear too be fixable and GM has not been aggressive in its efforts to fix these cars.
Before he left the frozen north, 1415 said he was ordering an aurora for his wife. I and probably everyone on this board has his fingers crossed, in the hopes that he gets a perfect aurora. Because if it ain't, GM will be buying that car back too!!LOL!!
According to a recent Automotive News article (see "http://www.autonews.com/html/main/stories/economy115.htm" ) the "Big 3" are going to - among other things - try to cut the big expensive incentives to become more profitable. I feel it would be hard for Olds to do this, given the current state of affairs. The Olds incentives are high right now ($2000 for 2001 Intrigue + $1500 loyalty) and due to expire April 2. My question is: Do you think the Olds incentives will go up, down or stay the same after April 2? I want to get a 2001 Intrigue but want to get the best deal and can afford to wait a little while.
Slopedirk, excellent color choice for the Intrigue!! If I get another one, Midnight Blue is my first choice. I saw one today, GLS with spolier and the gold trim package. SHARP!!
Okay guys, here is Oldsmobile's problem. All the sudden today, I'm seeing Oldsmobile ads on tv. Earlier this evening, during the period of an hour or so, I saw the same commercial four times! It is a new commercial and is rather cute and it clearly mentions the 5 year 60,000 mile warranty. It shows all 5 models. Now, why the hell did GM not run ads that like BEFORE dropping Olds? Heaven knows, they might have attracted some more potential buyers. Anyhow, at the end of the ad you see the Oldsmobile logo against a black screen and the GM logo appears right under it. I think this is their attempt to be sure that customers know Olds is part of GM so they won't be concerned about long term service after Olds is gone. Anyone else seen the ad? It must have broke today as this was the first time I have seen it or any Olds ad on tv recently.
2000 and 2001 GL or GLS owners, are the rearview mirrors heated? Guy from work was asking as his are not or at least they are not heating up. The manual states that "if equipped" they come on with the rear defogger. But the manual also shows a power release button for the fuel door, something which was dropped midyear. I looked in the brochure I had for the 2000 and it does not mention that the mirrors are heated, just that they are body color. In the 99 brochure, it does mention both body color and heated. He was just wondering before asking the dealer.
With the economy showing signs of slowing as well as sales of domestic cars down, the big 3(and particularly Olds) are going to have a hard time selling cars without the discounts and rebates. They may reduce production which will help some, but in general most domestic cars(not trucks or SUVs) are in a slump. It seems we are in a "buy import" trend again with the European marques posting the biggest gains this time. Honda and Toyota are doing well, but other Japanese brands are not. Mitsubishi is running 0.9 and 0-0-0 finance deals just like Olds, Nissan is deep in debt and running low finance rates on some of their cars, and Mazda isn't really doing anything impressive. As for Olds and incentives, I'd guess they will only get better. My lease is up in August so I'm kind of waiting to see if some better deals are available then. The kicker will be if they run the 0.9% financing for 60 months again. If they decide to skimp on the deals, I'll take advantage of their depreciation and buy a 98 or 99 Aurora.
I just purchased a '99 GLS w/13K miles on it. It looks and runs great. I love the ride and the features, but I've noticed something odd that Edmunds wrote about in their long-term road test and I'm wondering if anyone here can share and information they may have about the issue.
Edmunds wrote: When heater is running, A/C and radio controls get super hot. A dealer said, "They all do that." This cropped up again and again the entire time we had the vehicle.
If anyone can shed any light on a solution to this matter, I'd appreciate it. It can't be normal, and it couldn't possibly not have some long-term effect on those units.
etharmon: I think Olds did away with the heated mirrors in 2000 when they also got rid of the remote fuel door. Too bad since these are two nice-to-have options on my '99.
teo: Give the Impala a chance before getting rid of it! No car is perfect. It's like my home builder's manual states - "The 100% perfect house cannot be built by any builder. If it could, no family could afford to buy it." I think this goes for cars too. GM's W body cars are a pretty good value for the money. For GM to build a "flawless" Impala, it would probably cost you three times as much.
jkkinnova1: You may have the dashboard lights turned all the way up. Turn them down a little and they shouldn't get too hot. The heater has nothing to do with how hot the controls get.
Yep, just look at how many people have unfixable 740i BMWs. Thats a $70,000 car. j $70,000 on a car that can't be fixed and that BMW won't buy back. I hear about it all the time.
I know that doesn't make teo feel any better but its a gamble anytime you buy a car.
Sometimes when i first start my car, put in reverse and turn the wheel the car shudders. It will also groan or shudder when the car is already running. Has anybody had this before? I'm thinking power steering pump, what do you guys think?
Very interesting article in today's Toronto Star about the future of Oldsmobile's current models. According to this article Intrigue is dead in 2 years as GM killed Oldsmobile just weeks before the new model was to get approval. Aurora will likely be rebadged. The Silhouette and Bravada are likely candidates for Saturn re-badge as they lack trucks/ vans. Finally they said Alero's future is still up in the air. The article said that confirmation was impossible due to the delicate nature of negotiations with Olds dealers but they had talked with people close to the decision making. Sad to see Intrigue die as I was hoping the next generation would move to Saturn.
I have seen the new Oldsmobile ads many times now. Almost seems like a fire sale ad rather than an ad showing how great Oldsmobile cars are. Sign of the times I guess. :-(
Well, old Billy boy is no more!! We now have a new prez!! And I am delighted. While we all may not agree with George W. Bush, I think we can all agree he has a nice set of wheels. The new presidential limo is sharp! I'm glad they used a Cadillac rather than a Lincoln. Also, did anybody notice the limo had the new Cadillac wreath and crest. Oh, and when the motorcade left the capital to go back to the White house, there was a white sedan about 6 or 7 cars back and I'm almost sure it was an Intrigue. It was foggy and the camera didn't zoom in on it, but the taillights and shape of the car sure looked like one. Come to think of it, a black Intrigue wouldn't be a bad car for the secret service to ride in.
Dindak, the ads do some a little like fire sale ads, but at least Olds is running ads. My question to them is why didn't they try running more ads(and maybe the extended warranty) before giving the brand the ax? And the ads they did run were lame. Like the Intrigue ad for the PCS system that says "Yaw rate sensors.. an intrument to measure how many times a Swede says yes or part of the Intrigue's PCS system." Give me a break. And the ad didn't even mention the wonderful DOHC V6.
This isn't the place to discuss it, but I thought the new limo was quite ugly, especially when compared to both of the previous 2 that were in the motorcade also. Looks like Darth Vader -- with a hunchback.
I don't know why there was no advertising. When sales are slowing, advertising gets them moving along. GM instead slapped more rebates on Oldsmobiles. I' sure the axe was coming for a while on one division and slowing sales a little more made it obvious that killing Oldsmobile was the choice over Buick.
I really hope the article I mentioned was right about keeping Aurora and Bravada alive. They are both models I would consider in the future even if they are Saturns or Buicks. I would also consider another Intrigue down the road, but the model will be long gone by then.
Swung down to Baltimore to check out the Auto Show. They had the red OSV there and BOY WAS IT SWEET!!!! Up to this point I had only seen it in photos but in person... too much for words. One thing I had never noticed were the Olds logos over the rear wheel wells. They were subtle; they looked like the were being projected onto the car from the ceiling lights. Very nice. Even people who weren't familiar with Olds were impressed.
Someone at Oldsmobile has enough sense to have put the car on display. That car drew so much attention to the Olds booth that I wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore/DC Intrigue sales increase as a result.
Anyway, that OSV looked so good I could have driven it right out of the show. I also noticed that Olds finally got the colors for the car right. Midnight Blue instead of that powder puff color, Sterling instead of that Silver Mist (steel gray in my opinion. But I still like my "steel gray" Intrigue) Ruby in place of that bright red, and Ivory White replacing that bright white. Too bad they waited so long to get things right. If they have the OSV at all the shows and push the 5/60 warranty, they might actually sell some cars.
BTW, for those looking at replacement tires, the OSV had Michelin Pilot XGTs (Z rated). Apparently they think the Pilots are good for the car as those of us who already put them on our Intrigues already know.
I'm watching an NBA triple header on NBC and what do I see expect an Oldsmobile commercial. And they even pushed the 5/60 hard. It was the first thing they mentioned and used great big letters. And it wasn't a boring hypnotic ad like the ones they used in '98-00. I seriously believe that sales will increase. If they do, then Wagoner and his executioners should (they won't) re-evaluate why Olds was doing so poorly. But because they intend to reduce production Olds will still go down in history.
As far as other divisions that should have been axed, at the car show NOBODY was at the Buick display. They had an attractive lady explaining the Regal but a total of 4 people were listing. None of the other cars Buick sells had more than one person looking at it. Olds, on the other hand, had gobbs of people (by comparison) and got lots of attention from the OSV with no beautiful woman talking about it.
Watching it too, Raps managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat today despite Ivy's 51.
Will be interesting to see the the post-phaseout sales numbers for Olds models. Would be poetic justice if all of the sudden Olds started outselling Pontiac (not going to happen but that would be funny).
If it is possible to get out of a lease if you buy another olds? I am talking about with no penalty or adding the remaining lease payments to the new purchase payments. I would think if they were getting another sale they may let you out. Wishful thinking on my part? Anybody tried to do this with any luck?
I read a review on Edmonds here, the famous "8th place" review where the guys have a total ax to grind on GM. One thing they say is that the rear seat is tilted and only comfortable for about 10 minutes. I sat there and it is tipped back pretty far. Headroom for me (6' but long torso) was terrible, my head hit a bit on the ceiling.
Q: Is this back seat comfortable for long trips for people? Get any complaints?
I live in Texas and anything is a 1 hour drive, so I'd like a car that costs this much to have headroom in the back so I can load some buddies and head to Austin or New Orleans in style.
If you can let me know on this board soon, I'd appreciate it. The rest of the car has me sold pretty much, its quiet, smooth and powerful. Dunno what crack the guys on edmonds were smoking saying the trans wouldn't downshift, but the transmission on my long test drive last night kicked down 2 gears at 50mph instantly and the car was at 80-90 in no time, its a freakin' rocket on the road! I don't have hills in Houston, so maybe its a hill thing?
Slope
ps. the dealer that had blue one I saw Thursday a closing sold it by saturday night, the other dealer sold the green GLS and the red one I had looked at a week ago, only a green GLS was left. I'm amazed at the interest in these cars. I hope the green one is low milage and still there, I may just get it.
I have no personal experience, but someone on these boards said they did that and GM dropped the remaining payments left (wasn't very many in his case). Doesn't hurt to ask.
Thanks for the tip on the interior lights. Adjusting the dimmer switch down decreased the heat that the controls were giving off.
It still seems wrong to have to do that, though. Does anyone know of a fix for this rather than the dimmer adjustment workaround? I would prefer to have the interior lights a little brighter (or at least have the option of jacking them up).
Also, how can you get the A/C to come on in the winter. The owner's manual makes reference to the compressor not coming on when outside temp < 40 degress, but a couple of times it has when I've pressed the A/C button and others it just flashes a few times at me, then turns off. What's the secret here?
As long as you don't have them on the complete "ON" position, or the position where you are about to turn them on, switchgear shouldn't be hot. I light mine up pretty high and buttons don't seem hot.
Have you tried putting the vent selection to the defrost position? This should make the A/C compressor go on.
Did the car that you sat in have the sunroof? That will take about an inch off both front and rear headroom. I am 6'8" and have tremendous headroom in front and enough in the back. Of course legroom is insufficient for self behind self. I would think that without the sunroof a six footer could sit back there with no problem. Provided the people in the front don't have their seats all the way back.
I've wondered that about the lease myself. Although I'll probably wait until this summer before I buy a new car and by then I'll be down to only 2 or so payments left. If I'm not mistaken, Limadelta or someone got out of a lease early to purchase a new one and financed it through GMAC.
Slopedirk, I've sat in the back seat of my Intrigue only a couple of times(obviously since I'm the driver) and none were for very long. The position seemed pretty comfortable and my only complaint was there is no head support as the seatback is too low for that, but that is common on alot of cars. However, friends who have been in the backseat on long drives have said it is pretty comfortable. Keep in mind these were college age friends and cars like the Intrigue, Maxima, and Accord are like Caddies to them. Seriously though, I would not even take the time to read that Edmunds review. Actually, if you want to see just how inconsistant Edmunds is, look for the 1998 midsize sedan review. They tested a Mercury Sable, Buick Regal GS, Toyota Camry V6, Olds Intrigue, and Honda Accord and that is how they ranked them. In that review, they praised nearly everything about the Intrigue, except the old 3800 V6 engine. Funny how 2 years later the Intrugie comes up last and the Sable's twin(the Taurus) is way up front. And we all know the later build Intrigues are better than the early ones.
yea, that guy writing that review seemed more impressed with whch car could carve canyon turns the best and they seemed too concerned with panel alignment of things like 1/16" tolerances. Yes, the 98 review like everything about the intrigue and execpt for a minor glitch would have wiped up. They disliked many things about Honda and then at end handed to accord. Strange.
The GLS I'm considering has the sunroof, unfortunately.
Thanks for input on head room. 6'8"!! That's tall! I can't see how you fit in the back of a 2001 with the "stadium" seating, but maybe it has more room than I'm givng it credit for and you must have long legs - I'm 6' and have a long torso. Oh well, if we ride with long legged folks, I can put the tallest in the front.
I have e-mailed Edmunds a couple of times for their reviews. I don't think they care what their staff writes at all, even if reviews are inconsistent, poorly written or even malicious. Edmunds makes CR look good. It's too bad because they have a good web site here.
I have very long legs. The intrigue has more front seat legroom than just about any car i have sat in. Others that were good, are the passat, older mercedes without the knee bolster and BMW 3 series. The passat has no rear headroom due to the slope of the roof. If a car has 37" inches of headroom i can fit in it. The intrigue has over 39" and i like the openess of the greenhouse in the car (nonsunroof). My other car is a camaro if that gives you any idea of what i can fit in to.
I remember somebody doing it, but he was unclear on exactly what had transpired. I think we finally determined that the dealership made up for the difference either in the price or the payments. In effect, the remaining lease payments were rolled into the new cars cost and he ended up paying for it. My understanding is that it is pretty hard to get out of a lease without paying a penalty of some sorts. I drove up to a dealership 20 miles from my house last night and the salesman said that they don't let people out of leases just because they buy another car. He said i should continue to pursue arbitration.
I did get GM to cancel the lease without any penalty. I had 5 months left on it and the .9% interest on the '00 was too good to pass up so I talked to me Olds dealer about getting me into a new one.
They called GMAC and I turned the car in without getting burned for the rest of the payments. My dealer was very helpful in this and I got the car at invoice. Not a killer deal, but one that I felt was fair to the dealer and me.
I like the Aleros alot, but they are a little small for my figure (6'3 and 260 lbs.) so I was thinking about an Intrigue. I know they are having great deals on them now, because they are not exactly one of the top sellers in their class and the new warranty (5/60K) is appealing as well. My question is about fuel economy and long term reliability. How is the fuel economy and does the car's 3.5 engine require premium gas? Also, how reliable has everyone's Intrigues been? Thanks in advance for your help!
I've just past the 2 year mark on my 99 Intrigue with a 3.8:
2 Recalls done, Parasitic Fog Lamp Switch and Latch to Stop Rear Seat Belts From Twisting (Neither of which caused an actual problem before the recall was performed)
Non Warranty Work - Had the Reveal Molding replaced, Intermediate Steering Shaft, New rear pads to stop a brake groan.
All these issues were addressed during an oil change visit. At 18 months I had the brake fluid replaced and while there had the Molding and Steering Shaft Replaced. That one took 2.5 hours. All other trips were less than one hour.
I've really enjoyed the car so far. None of these issues were annoying. They were fixed correctly on the first try.
Gas mileage in predominately city driving:
1st year 22.4 2nd year 21.3
Best Mileage 30.6 in 90 degrees with the AC on driving to Toronto.
Takes regular (though I find it runs better and gets better fuel economy on mid). I average about 25mpg though most of my driving is highway. The 3.4L in the Alero isn't much different fuel economy wise.
My car, a 99 with 62,000KM has been reliable. No dealer visits except for regular oil changes, a broken cigarette lighter door and a creaky driver's window when opened. I've noticed a few rattles coming from dash/centre console lately on really cold days, may take that apart and take a look myself.
I have replaced the ignition switch and a PCM and still the car starts and stalls and sometimes it takes 3-4 cranks before starting. The dealer said he thought it might be a short somewhere. In the mean time I am out $500 and still have the same problem. Help.
Had my 2000 Intrigue for almost a year. Trouble and rattle free aside from a trunk latch problem which was fixed in 10 minutes. Car seems bulletproof in terms of the drive train and solid feel. Very happy in general and would buy another. Unfortunately with the demise of Oldsmobile, this will likely be my last Intrigue.
Comments
I sat in a regal it was nice, but the loose cusion interior and design didn't appeal to my wife who favors the import school of design, hence the appeal of the Intrigue. That is a Q-ship for sure. While I like being different (shopping the accord took some stomach), the GTP would be more my style than the buick.
I saw that many maxima owners are not getting very good milage - 22-25 mixed driving. I would have thought that would be higher. Might the lead foot syndrome......
The olds is a quirky choice, not for everyone, that's for sure. And yes, you'd have to drive it into the ground to get your money out of it, but try finding a used GLS, owners aren't tradeing them in very often, and not many were sold in the first place. Lots of rental GX's if that's your style or budget. I've looked here, and the discount for a used 2000 is not worth it. Personally, I'm willing to pay for goodies and enjoy them a long time.
Slope
I am giving GM and the dealer one last shot to fix the car (very doubtful)as I am following strict procedure outlined by Florida Lemon Law. FL law considers these problems to be serious enough to warrant replacement/buyback by the manufacturer....only 1 repair attempt and you are out!.
Very dissapointed to say the very, very least.
Why is it that the GP doesn't come with a fold down seat, anyway?
Teo - I think I saw you post somewhere recently that Maxima does not stand up well to crashes (sorry buddy - I've seen your posts in so many forums I can't keep up with you!!)
What's the issue with Maxima body integrity that would be so different than W body? Aren't both considered to be unibody construction? Neither is on a frame that I'm aware of. Is Maxima different than Camry/Accord in this regard?
Ken
Its all here:
http://www.highwaysafety.org/
ickes: As I've said before, I think the Intrigue re-sale problems are over blown. As for the Grand Prix, one of the main reasons I didn't get another Grand Prix when my 98 was totalled was the lack of a split folding seat option. That made me look at the Intrigue and I couldn't be happier.
The simple fact is that the car depreciates more rapidly than almost any other car in the segment. I did a similar cross comparision at Carpoint on the resale as someone else did on Intellichoice and got similar results. You don't have to look much farther than the classifieds to bear this out.
Really, any car is a bad deal if you dump and run after a short period. Almost better off leasing and increasing the mileage. GM must eat it in the shorts on these returns...
If you are holing cars for 36-48 months, you should definitely lease With the new warranty, even a 48 month lease would be totally covered under warranty.
The olds resale is lower because of the fact that no one knows about the car, lots of rentals in the resale market and problems that have not been corrected. These problems are more of an annoyance than safety related, but they don't appear too be fixable and GM has not been aggressive in its efforts to fix these cars.
I and probably everyone on this board has his fingers crossed, in the hopes that he gets a perfect aurora.
Because if it ain't, GM will be buying that car back too!!LOL!!
Okay guys, here is Oldsmobile's problem. All the sudden today, I'm seeing Oldsmobile ads on tv. Earlier this evening, during the period of an hour or so, I saw the same commercial four times! It is a new commercial and is rather cute and it clearly mentions the 5 year 60,000 mile warranty. It shows all 5 models. Now, why the hell did GM not run ads that like BEFORE dropping Olds? Heaven knows, they might have attracted some more potential buyers. Anyhow, at the end of the ad you see the Oldsmobile logo against a black screen and the GM logo appears right under it. I think this is their attempt to be sure that customers know Olds is part of GM so they won't be concerned about long term service after Olds is gone. Anyone else seen the ad? It must have broke today as this was the first time I have seen it or any Olds ad on tv recently.
2000 and 2001 GL or GLS owners, are the rearview mirrors heated? Guy from work was asking as his are not or at least they are not heating up. The manual states that "if equipped" they come on with the rear defogger. But the manual also shows a power release button for the fuel door, something which was dropped midyear. I looked in the brochure I had for the 2000 and it does not mention that the mirrors are heated, just that they are body color. In the 99 brochure, it does mention both body color and heated. He was just wondering before asking the dealer.
Edmunds wrote:
When heater is running, A/C and radio controls get super hot. A dealer said, "They all do that." This cropped up again and again the entire time we had the vehicle.
If anyone can shed any light on a solution to this matter, I'd appreciate it. It can't be normal, and it couldn't possibly not have some long-term effect on those units.
Thanks a lot!
teo: Give the Impala a chance before getting rid of it! No car is perfect. It's like my home builder's manual states - "The 100% perfect house cannot be built by any builder. If it could, no family could afford to buy it." I think this goes for cars too. GM's W body cars are a pretty good value for the money. For GM to build a "flawless" Impala, it would probably cost you three times as much.
jkkinnova1: You may have the dashboard lights turned all the way up. Turn them down a little and they shouldn't get too hot. The heater has nothing to do with how hot the controls get.
740i BMWs. Thats a $70,000 car. j $70,000 on a car that can't be fixed and that BMW won't buy back. I hear about it all the time.
I know that doesn't make teo feel any better but
its a gamble anytime you buy a car.
It will also groan or shudder when the car is already running.
Has anybody had this before?
I'm thinking power steering pump, what do you guys think?
http://automotive-review.com/intrigue.htm
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Dindak, the ads do some a little like fire sale ads, but at least Olds is running ads. My question to them is why didn't they try running more ads(and maybe the extended warranty) before giving the brand the ax? And the ads they did run were lame. Like the Intrigue ad for the PCS system that says "Yaw rate sensors.. an intrument to measure how many times a Swede says yes or part of the Intrigue's PCS system." Give me a break. And the ad didn't even mention the wonderful DOHC V6.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I really hope the article I mentioned was right about keeping Aurora and Bravada alive. They are both models I would consider in the future even if they are Saturns or Buicks. I would also consider another Intrigue down the road, but the model will be long gone by then.
Someone at Oldsmobile has enough sense to have put the car on display. That car drew so much attention to the Olds booth that I wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore/DC Intrigue sales increase as a result.
Anyway, that OSV looked so good I could have driven it right out of the show. I also noticed that Olds finally got the colors for the car right. Midnight Blue instead of that powder puff color, Sterling instead of that Silver Mist (steel gray in my opinion. But I still like my "steel gray" Intrigue) Ruby in place of that bright red, and Ivory White replacing that bright white. Too bad they waited so long to get things right. If they have the OSV at all the shows and push the 5/60 warranty, they might actually sell some cars.
BTW, for those looking at replacement tires, the OSV had Michelin Pilot XGTs (Z rated). Apparently they think the Pilots are good for the car as those of us who already put them on our Intrigues already know.
As far as other divisions that should have been axed, at the car show NOBODY was at the Buick display. They had an attractive lady explaining the Regal but a total of 4 people were listing. None of the other cars Buick sells had more than one person looking at it. Olds, on the other hand, had gobbs of people (by comparison) and got lots of attention from the OSV with no beautiful woman talking about it.
Will be interesting to see the the post-phaseout sales numbers for Olds models. Would be poetic justice if all of the sudden Olds started outselling Pontiac (not going to happen but that would be funny).
I would think if they were getting another sale they may let you out.
Wishful thinking on my part?
Anybody tried to do this with any luck?
Q: Is this back seat comfortable for long trips for people? Get any complaints?
I live in Texas and anything is a 1 hour drive, so I'd like a car that costs this much to have headroom in the back so I can load some buddies and head to Austin or New Orleans in style.
If you can let me know on this board soon, I'd appreciate it. The rest of the car has me sold pretty much, its quiet, smooth and powerful. Dunno what crack the guys on edmonds were smoking saying the trans wouldn't downshift, but the transmission on my long test drive last night kicked down 2 gears at 50mph instantly and the car was at 80-90 in no time, its a freakin' rocket on the road! I don't have hills in Houston, so maybe its a hill thing?
Slope
ps. the dealer that had blue one I saw Thursday a closing sold it by saturday night, the other dealer sold the green GLS and the red one I had looked at a week ago, only a green GLS was left. I'm amazed at the interest in these cars. I hope the green one is low milage and still there, I may just get it.
S
It still seems wrong to have to do that, though. Does anyone know of a fix for this rather than the dimmer adjustment workaround? I would prefer to have the interior lights a little brighter (or at least have the option of jacking them up).
Also, how can you get the A/C to come on in the winter. The owner's manual makes reference to the compressor not coming on when outside temp < 40 degress, but a couple of times it has when I've pressed the A/C button and others it just flashes a few times at me, then turns off. What's the secret here?
Thanks!
Have you tried putting the vent selection to the defrost position? This should make the A/C compressor go on.
Slopedirk, I've sat in the back seat of my Intrigue only a couple of times(obviously since I'm the driver) and none were for very long. The position seemed pretty comfortable and my only complaint was there is no head support as the seatback is too low for that, but that is common on alot of cars. However, friends who have been in the backseat on long drives have said it is pretty comfortable. Keep in mind these were college age friends and cars like the Intrigue, Maxima, and Accord are like Caddies to them. Seriously though, I would not even take the time to read that Edmunds review. Actually, if you want to see just how inconsistant Edmunds is, look for the 1998 midsize sedan review. They tested a Mercury Sable, Buick Regal GS, Toyota Camry V6, Olds Intrigue, and Honda Accord and that is how they ranked them. In that review, they praised nearly everything about the Intrigue, except the old 3800 V6 engine. Funny how 2 years later the Intrugie comes up last and the Sable's twin(the Taurus) is way up front. And we all know the later build Intrigues are better than the early ones.
The GLS I'm considering has the sunroof, unfortunately.
Thanks for input on head room. 6'8"!! That's tall! I can't see how you fit in the back of a 2001 with the "stadium" seating, but maybe it has more room than I'm givng it credit for and you must have long legs - I'm 6' and have a long torso. Oh well, if we ride with long legged folks, I can put the tallest in the front.
S
If a car has 37" inches of headroom i can fit in it. The intrigue has over 39" and i like the openess of the greenhouse in the car (nonsunroof).
My other car is a camaro if that gives you any idea of what i can fit in to.
In effect, the remaining lease payments were rolled into the new cars cost and he ended up paying for it.
My understanding is that it is pretty hard to get out of a lease without paying a penalty of some sorts.
I drove up to a dealership 20 miles from my house last night and the salesman said that they don't let people out of leases just because they buy another car.
He said i should continue to pursue arbitration.
They called GMAC and I turned the car in without getting burned for the rest of the payments. My dealer was very helpful in this and I got the car at invoice. Not a killer deal, but one that I felt was fair to the dealer and me.
Hope this helps.
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=17554418&ID=cnniw&scategory=Auto%3ADomestic
2 Recalls done, Parasitic Fog Lamp Switch and Latch to Stop Rear Seat Belts From Twisting
(Neither of which caused an actual problem before the recall was performed)
Non Warranty Work - Had the Reveal Molding replaced, Intermediate Steering Shaft, New rear pads to stop a brake groan.
All these issues were addressed during an oil change visit. At 18 months I had the brake fluid replaced and while there had the Molding and Steering Shaft Replaced. That one took 2.5 hours. All other trips were less than one hour.
I've really enjoyed the car so far. None of these issues were annoying. They were fixed correctly on the first try.
Gas mileage in predominately city driving:
1st year 22.4
2nd year 21.3
Best Mileage 30.6 in 90 degrees with the AC on driving to Toronto.
Would I buy another Intrigue?
Absolutely.
My car, a 99 with 62,000KM has been reliable. No dealer visits except for regular oil changes, a broken cigarette lighter door and a creaky driver's window when opened. I've noticed a few rattles coming from dash/centre console lately on really cold days, may take that apart and take a look myself.