Oldsmobile Aurora

L8_Apex

Welcome to the continuation of the Oldsmobile
Aurora 2 topic. Those of you joining us from that
topic are welcome to continue your discussion.

If you're new to this topic, you may want to
follow the above link for additional archived
posts.

Thanks,

L8_Apex
Sedans Host

dslay2

my 95 starts up fine in the morning, however the next time I try to start it up, it takes about 15 seconds or more to start, sounds like its not getting fuel. has anyone experienced this problem.

redskin24

Consider me a missionary, supporting our cause among enemy ranks.... here are two of my posts from the Infiniti I30 board:

As for switching to the I30
from the Aurora, at the time he was in the market
for a car, the V8 Aurora wasnt available yet, which
was what he wanted. So next was the TL. Beautiful
car, and just as fast, if not faster, but more
expensive than the I30. I am trying to convince him
to sell the lease on his I30 and get the Aurora
again. Not because the I30 is a bad car, but
because the Aurora was much more fun to drive. the
I30 doesnt have the quality that the folks on the
Aurora board ike to call aROARa, i.e. the beautiful
sound of a V8. im trying to think of a catchy
phrase like that for my summer car... can anyone
think of one for Monte Carlo? anyways...

post 2:

he is also having trouble finding tires for the
car. $160 Michelins are the only ones so far... we
were told the Toyo's were only available at the
dealer. i gave my dad my two ideas: 1) Buy the 17
inch rims... they are probably easier to find tires
for, therefore cheaper in the long run. 2) Sell
the lease, get a black on black Aurora... no more
tire problem.

decisionmaker1

Considering buying a '99 Aurora with 22,500 miles on it for the wife. She wants a Toyota Solara. I'm out of arguments. Her main issue is trips back to the dealer, which her Toyota friends tell her are non-existent. She uses it for work and puts on lots of miles. Any responses would be appreciated!

etharmon

Is the Solara a V6 or four? If it is a four, forget it, the Aurora has TWICE as many cylinders. Have her test drive both and show her what all the Aurora offers over the Toyota. If she says trips to the Toyota dealer are non-existent, ask her why they have a service department that is full of vehicles, just like every other car dealer does. Also, if she often has more than 1 other passenger in the car, the four door Aurora will be alot easier to get in and out of than the two door Solara.

marcy42

I must be lucky! I have three Oldsmobiles: 96 Cutlass Supreme Coupe, 98 Intrigue, and 01 Aurora.
I haven't had anything go wrong with any of them! And they are getting better.
They are comfortable, trouble-free automobiles which I enjoy driving. In my opinion, they are good cars. Not perfect, but good. But good is not enough these days. From looking at the Olds sales figures ( Olds is having its worst sales year since 1952) and many of the chat comments, Oldsmobile isn't long for this world.
What a shame, what a shame.

Henry

Zinc1 - thanks for the congrats. After your post about the number of people visiting your site, you understand why I like seeing this board grow.

RedSkin24 - as far as the post on a name for the Monte, it would be hard to come up with one without driving the car. aROARa came to me because I love the sound of the engine under full acceleration. I always wished that the back tail section of the car would light up like the "Millenium Falcon" from Star Wars whenever you hit the gas like that. That would be an AS-KICKING special effect! (However, it would also tip off the cops to what you were doing.)

DECISIONMAKER1 - The 99 "Classis Aurora" would be a good choice, at the right price. The Classic is basically a cold car as far as the general public is concerned, so the discount should be pretty steep. That being said, it all depends on how your wife drives. If she is not the type of person that takes advantage of the power of the car to pass and cruise, the Solara may be the best choice. I have found that my car rides best at about 90mph, which is well above the speed limit. (However, I have the Cadillac performance chip in my car that probably causes the "sweet spot" to be this high.)

As a V8, the aROARa will defintely burn more premium gas than the Toy car. If your wife is going to be doing a lot of stop and go driving, the Classic she will know where every gas station is on her route to work. However, the heavier weight of the car will probably give it better traction in the snow. I can say that the traction control system in the car is nothing short of excellent.

Trips to the dealer do not appear to be as much of an issue with the 99 as it was with other years. In Classic (no pun intended) GM style, they stop making a car once they get it right. Am I right about this 99 owners?

I have not driven the Toy car so I can not compare the two from personal experience. What would be the price difference between the 2 cars, and is it worth it? With a 4 year 50K on the Classic, the warranties are pretty much the same (given the fact that the Aurora costs less).

Finally, on a personal note, I am starting my own business, so wish me luck my fellow Aurorians/Aurorites. Did we ever decide on a name?

redskin024

its an 87 Monte SS... dual exhaust(which needs to be replaced). the car rumbles, so it when i step on it it probably sounds like a race car... maybe this helps in thinking of a nick name... My favorite nick names for a car were attached to my brothers old 87 Thunderbird... one was Thunderturd and the other was Thunderchicken.

hardesty

I added up the numbers from www.autosite.com for YTD sales through October, and for the models still in production, Olds sales are not down at all. The Aurora, Bravada, and Alero are making up for the drop in Intrigue, and Silhouette sales are flat. The missing models account for all of the drop in sales vs. 1999. The reduced line-up puts Olds in line with Saturn (in terms of number of models offered) and its sales are similar.

etharmon

Marcy42- Don't count Olds out of the game yet. They have an excellent line of cars and when the 2002 Bravada goes on sale next sring, I'd say Bravada sales will double. How do you like the 2001 Aurora compared with the Intrigue? Is is the 3.5 or 4.0 model? I have a 98 Intrigue and have enjoyed it alot over the past 2 years. Prior to that I had an 89 Olds Toronado. My father has a 95 Aurora which won him back over the GM after he had a terrible experience with a Pontiac 6000 back in the 1980s.

Zinc 1- When your wife starts that Camry garbage again, just ask her which car is more fun to drive, more enjoyable to look at, and which one do you do you least mind making payments on each month? And ask her why Toyota dealer have service departments. The fact is their cars break down too. Actually, maybe you better not ask her that if you don't want to end up sleeping in the car:)

redskin024- What do you think of the new Monte Carlos? Can you imagine an Aurora V8 stuffed under the hood of one.

gisom

A guy told me that the damper actuator motor under the dash that control the air could be the problem. I am off work today and will give it a looksie. Will let you know.

Henry

My mechanic had guessed the same thing. Wierd that the only the driver's side would be effected on both cars. I wonder if this is not another "ghost in the machine" like the radio gremlins.

vwbus1979

Zinc is right. I've had my Aurora for 2 years now
and I STILL get excited when I drive it. I just
came back from a two week vacation. As I was
snowboarding down the slopes in Michigan, I
thought about driving my Aurora when I get back.
It gave me a tingle in my stomach to think about
it. Why? I don't ask why. I just drive it! Like
Zinc said: What's the point of having an ordinary
car? My wife also groans when I tell her "It's
time for new struts...It's time to change the
tranny fluid...It's time for a new a/c pump"
But guess what? I still have the car! She KNOWS
she can't take it away from me. She has her
mini-van (*sigh*) and that's that.

So this morning, I was driving on the 134West
here in Glendale, CA when I heard this gutter
hum...I looked to my left and I saw a 2k1 Aurora
WASTING some little rice-rocket who got in his
way. I just HAD to catch up to him to see what
he was up to. He was a distinguished gentleman
who obviously loves his car. He he...I gave him
the ol "Nice" head nod and took off. My point
is that even though the 2k1 doesn't LOOK the
same as our classics, it still invokes that
tingle in my stomach! And it ROOOOAAAARRREEEDD!!

As for sleeping in the car...he he...Never slept
in it. Ummm...Backseat is nice though...;)

etharmon

I am a very light sleeper and the only time I ever slept in car(other than when I was a little kid) was several years ago when I went on vacation with my parents and they rented a Lincoln Town Car for the trip(this was pre-Aurora days). Typically, I can't sleep in a car, especially if it is in motion. And if it's an Aurora, I want to be behind the wheel:) Several years ago when I was in college, some buddies and I went on a spring break trip to Daytona Beach and my father let me take his Aurora. I noticed that at one point on I-95, all three of them were asleep. So I had to do the next best thing, pop an AC/DC cd in the player and crank it up:)

tpken

I don't know of any modern day car that ever surpassed the front and rear legroom built into my father's old 1970 Cadillac Sixty Special - the rear seat was more like a hotel room than car interior! (And no - never used as one!)

Ken

coyboy

I have a 95 Classic and noticed little orange dots all over the roof and trunk lid. After a little investigation, I traced it to the windshield washer fluid container. It was FULL of rusty water. As the car was a recent purchase, I assumed the previous owner had cheaped out and just used H2O rather than the proper solution. So, I cleaned it out, reinstalled the container, filled it with washer solution, and forgot about it. This weekend, while changing the oil and doing regular maintenance I noticed the container going to rust again! This time I inspected more closely, and found that some GM engineer (spelled I-D-I-O-T) had designed a metal bushing to prevent collapse of the outlet port by overpressure of the hose clamp. Well, the idea was O.K. but then it was manufactured using some CHEAP galvanized pot metal which is now decomposing!

Anybody else ever have this happen? What did you do other than just replace the container? The O.D. of the bushing is 13/16", what would happen if I replaced it with copper tubing or some other metal? Any ideas?

redskin024

etharnon>>>> new Monte's are butt ugly... dont get me started on how GM butchered another classic, just like they did to the Nova and LeMans. The rear end looks like something with a load in its pants... ugh....

coyboy>>>> my dad had this happen when he had the 95. it was a black one, so we new it when it happened. but we cleaned it out once and i dont believe it returned again....

marcy42

Etharmon - I have the Aurora 4.0 It is a great car! Love the V8. I prefer it to the Intrigue just because. In day to day rat race driving, however, the Intrigue is a fantastic automobile, and probably a better value. Value is everything, it it?

etharmon

I don't necessarily think the Intrigue is a better value than the Aurora as they are two different types of cars. I will say that both the Aurora and the Intrigue are a great value when compared to other similarly priced cars in their class.

Henry

There have been at least two postings since I have said something so . . . . .

SOMETHING.

Henry

The New Monte's look like a 2 door Impala (as did the prior genration look like a two door Lumina).

The REAL MONTE CARLOS had style. Afterall, it is the SHAFT CAR (Yes the black private DIC that's a sex machine to all the chicks). I noticed that in the remake of the movie, that was the car that new SHAFT drove.

I could not help thinking while watching the chase scence in the Lincoln Town car . . . "If only they had an aROARa."

b4z

MT says the aurora V8 lacks torque. A five speed trans would help that dip between first and second.

dcchristopher

I just read the "first drive" article about the AV8 and I didn't see anything bad mentioned. By the way, here's the link to what I read, please post yours if different: http://www.motortrend.com/april00/oldsaurora/oldsaurora_f.html
Even if they did say something bad, this is coming from the same people who named the PT Cruiser CAR OF THE YEAR ??? Low expectation mo-fo's!
I do have to admit though that the engine _can_ be tuned for a more "performance type" of shifting. When playing games with others at traffic lights it almost seems like one will leave you behind until you hit the 30's. At that point it is an unpleasant surprise for them: Vzoom! Hmm, I guess it adds a little bit of suspense and disappointment for them ... I think I like that Perhaps the Aurora engineers did that on purpose ... not!

dindak

Have to admit the new 2001 spoiler is softening me. I am really starting to like the loos of the new generation Monte Carlos a lot. Still prefer and Intrigue or and Aurora though.

gisom

Ahh the warmth of good ol heat blowing at you when it is 18 degrees in chi-town. Henry, the air mix door was stuck. I did have to go to the dealer to get it fix tho. Got charged for one hours' work. Heat is blowing everywhere now.

Henry

It's Like a Heatwave, burning in my heart. (Thank you Motown)

I took mine to the dealer and was told that the motor that swings the vents open/close was burnedout. Price $259.00, but it was covered by my extended waranty. Let's hear it for Waranty Gold!

Gisom, you want to bet how long it will be before someone else posts the same problem we just had? I say within the next 50 postings. Things have a way of happening in threes.

"Keep it HOT HOT HOT!"

Henry

I parked in front of a Monte today. Actually, it did not look too bad. The 2000's are not bad to look at. However, the only chevy I would buy is the Corvette. I still admit to wanting a Trans Am and Eldoraado/Toronando convertible, as far as GM products go. No Ford product that I want comes to mind. Viper is it for the Chrysler crew.

redskin024

the Motor trend article b4z is quoting is the 21 car car of the year test.that quote came directly from Motor Trends editor. it doesnt do articles on each car in the test, just a summary of the 10 tests they performed. and who would have thought that a chrysler would beat out a few lexuses, a couple Benz's and i think they threw in a Beamer, plus the Aurora and a Volvo or two.

touringsedan

I am a new Aroara owner. I have been driving a 1989 Olds Touring Sedan since 1992. It has 255K miles on it. Still running, but decided I wanted another car. The only car that satisfied me was the AroarA. I have had the car for two months now and starting to become disappointed with it. A miss developed after I purchased it. New plug wires solved that. Then the water pump started leaking that is now fixed, the TPS went out, fixed. And now the rear window defogger has stopped working and the rear drivers side window is not working. The car has 73K miles on it. Black on Black, great runner, great gas mileage, but I drive 120 miles a day. I need a car I can depend on. Someone please tell me that I will be ok and not nickeled and dimed to death on this car.

vwbus1979

Henry...Same thing DID happen to me, but it was
my AC. Same motor. Same Vent. Covered under
warranty at the time. (Whew)

touringsedan:
Well...He he...It's too late to get an extended
warranty (bumper2bumper), but you really should
look in to a warranty contract of some sort. They
all have their +/-'s though. Anyhow. This car
WILL nickel and dime you. It's small change though
You do have some wacky things going on, but the
majority of the car will be there for you. This
car is an experiment to own. It's VERY high tech,
but like all experimental high-tech cars, they
are expensive to maintain. Just having the Trans
fluid changed cost me more because the trans is
a breed of it's own. More fluid. More $$...You'll
find this to be the most common factor with the
car. It's expensive to maintain in the long run.
But it's a collectors car. (not yet...Just wait)
If you maintain it properly, then it will be
worth your money later. Really. If you drive
120+ miles a day, either expect to pay a lot for
upkeep or put it aside and get a Saturn or
some other vehicle that can take the mileage.
Sorry for the grim news.

vwbus1979

A toast to my Aurora who just turned 50,000
this morning!

"To another 50,000 of smooth elegant driving..."

[clink]

Thank you...

redskin024

when my dad had his 97, it turned 50,000 back in 1999! we turned it in with over 65,000 on it, but the dealer doesnt know that.... shhh....

etharmon

How well did your 89 T-sedan hold up? I always liked that version of the Ninety Eight. I particularly loved the front seats as they felt like thrones. I remember trying to get my father to buy one brand new back in 1990 but he decided on a Chrysler minivan instead. Big mistake! Sorry your having problems with your Aurora. The Aurora is a very nice car and it basicaly replaced the Touring Sedan. Hope things go better with the 96.

Henry

I agree with vwbus (good to see your posts again).

The aROARa is a car that is fun to drive, but it will cost you $$ to maintain. Some have said that they got 100,000 miles with nothing but oil changes. But that has not ben my experience. Nothing MAJOR has gone wrong with the car, but it can dime and quarter (new milenium guys) you to death if you let it.

The car can take the miles (someone had 255K on his Classic). I used to put 88 miles a day on mine.

So Buck-up new Aurorian, the future is bright. And being on a first name basis with your dealer's service department is not such a bad thing.

Henry

I rest my case since it did not even take 10 postings to see the same problem arise. Zinc, at least you have the benefit of knowing what the problem is already.

So Buck-up old Aurorian, the future looks bright!

Henry

Welcome to the over 50 club.

(CLINK)

I can't wait to be in the over 100K club.
I always thought it would be kool if Olds handed out the badges for over 100K like Mercedes. However, in looking at the "grill" of the Classic, there would be no place to put it.

On a personal note, if any of you guys are computer geeks I would love to hear from you on what type of processer is best (Pentium III, pentium IV, AMD, Celeron). I am buying a new computer and am a little lost on this one. Yes, it is for my law/CPA practice.

gisom

I had to use my donut tire for a short period and my abs light came on. I know it was because of that little tire. Is there something I should reset now that I have the regular tire back on?

vwbus1979

Hmmph...I had to use my "donut" and the light
never came on. I wonder if it matters what tire?

I can understand the "Traction Control", but
not the abs...Weird...

Speaking of ABS...I was driving to a wrap party
on Saturday when I was looking at my passengers
map instead of looking forward. I glanced up
and saw a car at a dead stop RIGHT in front of
me. The ABS kicked in and saved the day. I must
have been an inch away from hitting this car load
of gang bangers. (Downtown) Whew! My Aurora
fussed and groaned, but she stopped when I needed
her too...WOW...Scary! I didn't think a big car
like that could stop that quick. Kudos for
ABS, because w/o it, I woulda crashed.

As for Computers...P3 is tried and true for
the REAL SPEED. Celeron and AMD are "OK" (cheaper)
If you are in LAW, spend the $$ and get the P3.
Also, be sure to get Win2000 Prof. Why?

w9x architecture is a 32 bit GUI platform built
on top of a 16bit structure. The 16 bit structure
has been the norm of the windows OS, including the
now archaic w3.x platforms. These OS's have been
designed as lay-over software to run on the 16
allocation tables designed from DOS.

Windows NT was developed as an alternative OS
platform designed for the purposes of small
networks, and architectured as a pure 32 bit
system. This allows for greater power and
"controllability" of a network OS, while still
maintaining an almost complete GUI environment.

Where a platform such as NT will never be as
powerful or malleable as a command line structured
system like UNIX, it allows for easier, more
intuitive administration. A primary flaw of NT is
its comparatively enormous coding, in the millions
of lines. This, although making a diverse and
intuitive GUI for network architecture, makes the
OS too cumbersome for large LANS, as well as being
too slow in many respects.

Windows 2k is a morph of the two different design
theologies. w2k is built on an NT architecture, so
that it is a pure 32bit system. This allows for
the networking power of NT.

w2k also, however, represents great advancements
in code efficiency, running far fewer iterations
and processes for very similar functional tasks as
compared to its NT predecessors. This allows for
the OS to make up many of the speed and file size
deficiencies criticized in the NT platforms.

So...Back to the Aurora...

Henry

Is there HEAT in Zinc1 Country yet??

Besides, you are in Cali, how long did it take you to even notice the heat was not working????

Henry

I never seen a snowman in L.A.

(Probably got lost on Route 10)

touringsedan

I wanted to thank everyone that responded to my questions. A couple of items first.
My Touring Sedan is still running strong with 255K miles on it. The upkeep in the beginning was a lot but after 100K miles it tapered off and normal maintenance was all that was needed. I will be donating it to my church for a raffle to raise money. The seats were great. I thought about transferring them to the AroarA. My wife pitched a fit. The seats in the front of the AroarA for me is a bit of a letdown. I put 230K miles on the 89 TS. I have purchased a warranty now that extends out to 99K miles. I do hope that helps.
I do not mind the maintenance if the mechanics can fix things quickly and without repeat trips to do the same thing again. The best mechanic I have works at a Buick Dealership. Guess what they cannot work on Caddy and AroarA's.
the $$ amounts are going to be more my last oil change after I purchased the car was $75.00 with Syntheic oil. Firm believer in the oil. Can't change that.
My brother in law has over 130K miles on his 96 AroarA, one of the reasons I bought mine.
I do love the car for ride, speed and overall looks. This is a real sleeper.

Zinc, Love the web site. wish I had studied more before buying. I think about the 99 now.

does anyone know how to tell if the autobahn package is a the AroarA. I have the 3.48 Gear Ratio but no Chrome wheels. That reminds me where can I get a set of AroarA chrome wheels without going through the dealer?

this townhall is great.
Thanks alot for the help and answers!!!!

redskin024

my dad had this problem on his 95... its a bad ABS sensor in the wheel. tell that to the dealer when you take it in if it keeps recurring. The sensor gets water or something in it and it goes kaput.

by the way, on this site we hear mostly about small problems with this car. we havent heard much about blown engines or dropped trannies, although items connected with the transmission have had problems. i believe thats a testament to the car. My mother has an 88 Eldorado, with a 4.5 V8(yes it does remind of the Aroara at times), and the engine on it bought the farm with only 70,000 miles on it. The Olds beat the Caddy twice, as my dad put almost 70,000 on each of the Aurora's he had.

vwbus1979

Some time ago, I posted information to this
group on where you can get the chrome rims
(Directly from the manufacturer, not the dealer)
In the message, it has a phone number and a
contact name of who you want to talk to ...

The post also discussed the whitewall tires that
can go with those chrome rims. (I already forgot
the custom name for these tires...Anyone?)

So with some digging, you can find that info.
They were fairly inexpensive, too. Good luck!

So tell me a little about your warranty. What
kind did you get? How much was it?

I paid $1400 for bumper2Bumper for another
50,000k. I feel that was a good number. If
the tranny DOES drop, my warranty just paid
for itself...

Anyone know why the Olds book says change the
tranny oil at 50k, but most other cars are
20k? Just curious!

touringsedan

I got the warranty from warrantybynet. It is only for 30000 miles for $1000. It covers a lot of stuff and I can renew for another 30000 miles before I go over 100K. Check it out:
www.warrantybynet.com.

I will check past posts for the chrome wheels.

touringsedan

Nashville has a Jetchip dealer but I could not find the part number on the web last night.
I will be calling them soon.
Thanks again for the info on the autobahm pkg. Just another thing to kick the salespeople over. I was told that I had the pkg. Not a big deal now, the car runs so strong I can take on almost anything on the road. AS far as 103MPH, I think I have passed that but will check again soon.
What happens when the car exceeds this speed, I hope that it does not stop or does the power go away? Going to enjoy this test.
I am open to more ideas on improving speed/performance and handling.

touringsedan

Well, two things.
1. I do not have the autobahn pkg. Shutdown at 103MPH crap!!!
2. Called Jetchip, the new module does not defeat the shutdown issue. double CRAP.

But Prestige Custom Wheels can help me with the Chrome wheels.

thanks everyone.

vwbus1979

Umm...Not that it's "legal", but I've pegged
my sweets at 110mph, then suddenly it just
backs out...Not a good feeling when you want
to move forward...

My guess is that if you are nice to your
GM dealer, you can still get remnants of the
Autobahn package. I don't want the spoilers
and CD players, just gimme the horsepower
and firmer steering!!

With the right tires and chipset, you can easily
bury the speedo...I don't know about you, but
I wouldn't want to be doing 140 in a 4400lb car!

etharmon

Those old aluminum block iron head V8s that Cadillac built from 1982 to about 1989 were very troublesome, especially the 4100 from 82-87. The later models from about 90 on were better but the best thing Cadillac did was dump this whole engine series in favor of the Northstar.

grbeck

This must be national Aurora month. The November 27-December 3 issue of Autoweek features the 2001 Aurora 4.0 in its Autofile section. Interestingly, several owners who sent in comments remarked that they have had no problems with their cars as of yet. Let's hope Olds has worked out the quality bugs. I'm seeing more of the 2001 models around Harrisburg, Pa. I hope they catch on, for Olds' sake!

The January 2001 issue of Road & Track features the 1995-99 Aurora in its Owner Survey section. Sadly, "reliability/durability" is listed by owners as one of the cars five worst attributes. Nonetheless, owner comments were enthusiastic about the car, especially about the performance and the distinctive styling. At least Olds put out a car that generates some enthusiasm and pride of ownership, which is exactly what GM in general and Olds in particular need right now.

touringsedan

My Speedo show 110MPH but the Information Display showed 103MPH.

What maintenance intervals do you use for oil and tranny?
What have you found to be the best all round tires? I do not need "Z" rated, yet!
Thanks

touringsedan

I really do not need to go that fast all the time, but I would like to know that I am not limited by someone's idea of too fast. My 89 Touring Sedan stills runs over 110MPH with missing a beat. The TS is a great car. It went the way of the Classic ARoarA too. start getting it right the stop production or change it so much it does not look worth buying. I still have a few years on this 96 then it will be a 99 in 2004. Maybe by then the new body style will look ok.

Do you know any part numbers for the Autobahn pkg besides QQX? I am beginning the search.
What do you think about a rear spoiler? I have seen them and it does add a different look. Just wondering.