I just purchased a 2001 Olds Alero .. will I regret it?

dawn10806

I've done a lot of research and have found many positive and negative reviews on this car. It's a 2001, 4-dr sedan with a V-6 motor. It only has 57,000 miles on it, one owner, no accident or serious mechanical issues per Carfax. I took it out for a test drive and to my mechanic before buying it and the only problems they found were rear brakes and lower ball joints, along with the trac off light and service vehicle soon light being on. The body is in great condition, aside from two small dings and a little surface rust on the rear wheel well. The dealership agreed to fix these issues before I take delivery of the vehicle. I'm hoping that this isn't too good to be true and that as soon as I take ownership of it, things will go wrong. The price was reasonable and I work for the sister company of the dealership, so any issues I may encounter should be handled without a problem. Any suggestions, issues I should know about?

snowboy76

I bought my 2001 Alero back in 2005. Has a V6 3400 SFI engine. Had 47000+ miles on it. Carfax showed clean report, but what they don't tell you is that Carfax wont inform you if the car has been in an accident and repaired by a private party. This was the case with mine unfortunately. The car is not always the same for everyone from what I've searched. Mine however has been a pain at times. The ignition switch has been replaced 5 times, the fuel pump once. All due to miss information from a GM dealership. I didn't buy the car from them. The only thing I needed to do was reset the ignition/security by leaving the car in the "ON" position 10seconds the off for 5, then start it. works every time. The engine is known for leaky upper and lower manifold gaskets, I've replaced mine twice. once at pepboys, other time recent myself. Takes 6-8hrs cost for pepboys was $735...my own replacement $250. if u need this replaced buy the higher priced metal gasket, it's worth the extra $30. Other than these two issues the windows will dry-rot the plastic brackets and be usless. This has happened on more than one person's Alero. Hope you got a REALLY good deal, I got screwed since buying at one of the "Buy Here Pay Here" places. Car was worth $9897 and I've spent in 5 yrs due to interest $25,000. ouch! Not including repairs. The iginition replacement alone $438.00 the fuel pump $567.00 GM should have recalled many of these for the ignition thing, they have only recalled Aleros for a Turn signal issue. Make sure that's repaired!

mrbreezeet1

Well To the OP how has the car been, I am looking at an 02 with a V 6, it's a little rough, and the ABS and traction control light are on, as well as a check engine light.
There are 135,000 miles on it.
The hood needs painted and the left rear door and quarter are dented, with the front dog leg rusting out due to the dent.
He is wanting $1,500.00 I am wanting to pay only $1,000.00 due to the miles and the work needed.
Thanks,
Tony

hatealero01

Its not worth the trouble at all. when you buy an alero either u get a great car or you get a lemon. i personally believe you should save you money and buy a car more reliable!

ez50

Humming started at low speeds 3 months ago. Now Trac Off/ABS/Service engine soon lights on. The humming gets noticeably louder (I think noise is from LF) when entering the "on" ramp on freeway while making sharp RIGHT turn at 35 mph.

Other research tells me the worn hub/bearing is usually the opposite wheel of the turn--sharp right, humming from left wheel. Does this sound accurate? Any feedback is appreciated.

stellarex

I replaced the wheel hub/bearing in mine, it was a fairly easy job and relatively cheap.

The worn bearing is usually the one you turn into (if you turn right and it makes a humming noise its usually your passenger side)

They are so easy to fix you might as well do both at the same time.

shelburnerick

This response is FAR too late to be helpful to the poster, but may be of interest to others considering buying used Aleros. Components that commonly fail are:
(1) front hub assemblies - which is an assembly supposedly sealed against the weather, and contains the wheel bearing and ABS sensor. Failure results in a grinding noise (wheel bearing) and/or an ABS sensor failure/warning light. The car drives and brakes fine when its just an ABS sensor failure - no ABS of course. Solved by replacing the hub assembly, which I've had to do every 40-80,000km when using CAD $300 A/C Delco or Timken hub assemblies - but price it out for where you live.
(2) de-lamination of the "fabric" on the dash with the dash structure beneath - strictly cosmetic
(3) brake pulsation, requiring turning down the brake discs and/or disc replacements. Once again, price it out for where you live.
(4) intake manifold gasket - chronic problem with all GM pushrod V-6 engines, plan to replace at least one at 100,000 miles

Other than that, my 3.4L V6 2009 Alero with 245,000km or 150,000 miles has the original radiator, water pump, alternator, power steering pump, brake booster, struts, auto transmission and the fluid levels do not move - no leaking or burning and I don't hesitate to drive it long distances. So altogether a quite reliable car, except for the points mentioned. Outside of the winter months I get 32mpg U.S. on mostly flat highway at 65 mph, and 28mpg in 50/50 mixed urban/highway driving.

rpshwin

When the manifold went on ours, I was not home so my brother in law came over and put in head gasket repair gunk. The kind you have to drain your radiator coolant for and use water. He didn't drain the radiator coolant, nope he didn't read the label, so it was a big mess cleaning the gummed up coolant out of the engine, reservoir, etc etc ... but it worked!! Yeah it worked... go figure. It has been 25,000 miles and no problems with that or over heating. With us its all been electrical and fuel. We did have to replace the hubs ... and rack and pinion. I had to do that twice due to a bad seal in the reman. ... not a fun job. All in all when it runs it runs well with very good gas mileage, and has power to spare .... but getting it to run and keeping a battery well that's an entirely different story. I wouldn't wish this car on my worst enemy, especially if they owed me money... I'd never see it as they'd always be repairing their Alero.