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Comments
As for torque steer, it's almost nil. I dunno what it's like with the V8, but I would think it would be more because of more power.
The V6 is a better handling car, because a bit better weighted F/R. The 3.5 fits perfectly in the aurora, because it is a relatively light car. Go for the 3.5, and save yourself some money. And then take a nice vacation to the Bahamas.~A.R.
Arcoates - glad to see you have become a regular. We need more "Next Generation" folks in here. The Classic owners can't speak to the new car.
Henry
Aurora= luxury car
300M= loaded up family car
Thanks.
I have let my 95 sit for 1 1/2 weeks and experienced this grinding sound. If it is just a matter of rust buildup, if you keep driving the car the sound will go away as the rust is grinded off the breaks with use.
The oil pan was a problem with the 95's I thought. The seal on the oil pan needed to be replaced on some of the 95's. This was done to my car before I bought it (my Classic had about 12K on it when I brought the car). In any event, replacing the gaskets on the oil pan and cooling system should do the trick.
ZINC - How many miles do you drive a year? I thought you posted awhile ago that you only had about 60k on your 96. By the way. 139mph and no speeding ticket, I am IMPRESSED!
What is your secret? For how many miles were you able to maintain the speed? What did she ride like at that speed? Were you just going straight, or did you have to take a few bends/turns in the road? If so, ho much did the car lean? What did the baby Northstar sound like at that speed? Have you done any mods to the car or is it still 100% stock? If you ever do it again, I also would like to know the reading on the tach.
I know I asked a lot of qustions, but I would appreciate you taking the time to answer them when you have the time. I think taking the car to 139mph (basically pinning the speedometer) is a story worth posting to the Classic site.
YOU GO BOYZZZZEEEE!!
I'm looking at either a used '98 Aurora, or buying a new Intrigue. The '98 is a black/black one-owner lease model, loaded, in good condition with 27k miles for $19k. This seems like a good deal to me, considering the sticker on this car was probably $38k...
I've driven my mother-in-law's Auroras (she used to work on the assembly line that built them). Her used '95 was pretty good to her - got it for a good price and drove it for a couple years with few problems, before a persistent oil leak and SUV fever caused her to trade it in.
She realized the error of her ways, and last fall bought a '98 with 34k miles for $22k. I've driven both cars, but not hard (I can be an aggressive driver, just not with her :-).
Pro's or con's to the '98's? Did many of the "teething" type problems (so common in the first year of GM production) get worked out towards the end? I've never been an extended warranty kind of guy, but, on a used '98 which I'd like to keep for 4-5 years, buying a car from a company about to become extinct, would it make sense to get one (what I'm thinking)?
Any other pro's/con's? I've never owned a car with a V-8 before, nor premium fuel. OTOH, I only drive 10k miles/year, so what's the fuel differential really? Insurance between the new Intrigue and used Aurora seems to be a wash. The Aurora's obviously cheaper than a new Intrigue...
I haven't driven this particular car (or a GL or GLS Intrigue, which I will soon enough). Any other advice/thoughts/opinions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated (I posted a similar message on the Intrigue board)...
Thanks,
--Robert
Good luck
Ken
I have a 1997 Aurora with 50,000 mile on it. Has anyone had a loud "growl" noise come from the power streeing when turing at low speeds.. I think there may be a TSB on this, but I am not sure.
Thanks for any help
The car was saying I am young again.
As I took my drive home listening to the radio station my kids had put on the station the day before, the youthful energy the car had with its 100k tune-up started become infectious.
I was approaching my favorite stretch of highway. It's a straight stretch that descends from a hill into a valley where you can see for a good mile. It then ascends up another hill. There's no place for the Highway Patrol to hide in front or behind when there are few cars there This asphalt slice of motoring heaven had taken me pass the 109mph Autobahn Package threshold.
The highway was now calling to me again. The car was shouting I am young again.
And then it happend . . . .
It was no longer 2001, it was 1985. It was time to replace the Backstreet Boys, N Sync, Britney Spears, or whatever was passing for the latest musically challenged, highly processed and marketed wonderkid(s).
I searched trough my collection. The mood had to be right. First one song, no , another, no , another, not that one. And then I heard it. . . .
It is the Night
My body is weak
I am on the run no time to Sleep
I have got to ride
Ride Like the Wind
to be Free Again!
Yeah that is it.
ME!
AURORA!
CHRISTOPHER CROSS!
HIGHWAY!
NO COPS!
It was time. I FLOORED IT. And the car responded. 80mph, 95mph, 110mph, 128mph, 139mph. All the time the Aurora V8 roaring like the big cat it is. The mighty Simba the child of Mufasha - the Cadillac NorthStar.
But all too soon, in such a brief moment, it was over. The top speed limited at 139mph - but a speedometer pinned to its extreme nonetheless. As I eased back into the speed limit the song said it best . . . . . .
Never was the kind
To do as I was told!
Gotta ride like the Wind
Before I get Old!
(((KIDS DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME)))
Super post, Henry - thanks for the good read.
Ken
That was really nice. It brought a smile to my face cause I know that Aurora can get down when you ask it to.
The intrigue is also wider.
Interior dims for the new one is very close to the old design; however the whole car has been stubbed up and squashed.
It used to be a logical step down from a Deville but the redesign has made it bland and compact.. The 3.5 exhaust system on the A has to rob about 15hp just to get it through all the pipes.
I have a 3.5 Intrigue and a Northstar Caddy so I am into these multi-valve, high reving, oil-burning engines that are labeled some of the world's best.
Several posters on this forum are also Intriguers and Caddy owners so they have been exposed to my ranting. The Aurora in its lifetime has never been overpowered for the 250hp is far from a barn burner.
My assumption is that the V-6 A was to replace the fallen 88 model; but the small size killed that idea..
I imagine the Classic is probably a relatively reasonable value after the new one came along..
I own a 1997, with 58,000 miles. I started to have a problem with starting the car after it sits more than an hour, it cranks, and cranks, and finally starts, sometimes with a buff!, sound. But if you start it within the hour it starts right up. The dealer said bad gas, and replaced my fuel filter, did not solve problem, someone mentioned a fuel regulator.
Can anyone thing of something else for them to check?
Thanks for your continued help!, fellow Aurora Owners.
is dead after 2002. There will be no intrigue's or aurora's for 2003. The 3.5L will not be used in any other GM products, it is history.
GM has lost their mind.
GM is stupid, just look at what they have done in the last couple of years.
They have a guy running the place who's specialty is marketing detergent.
1997 is the year to avoid. Out of all of the years, it appears to be the year that generates the most complaints. 1995 would be next. I have a 95 and have not had any major problems with it. I would check the seals on the front and rear windsheilds, the A/c and the radio. I would also have the gm dealer run the reapair history on the car (assuming it was serviced at a GM facility). After that, take the plung. Just be sure that you are well under $10,000 in price. I stand by my market survey for N.J that the price shouls be around $7,500.
If you can get a 1998, got for it. In N.J one was advertised for $15,995 with 25K on it.
Aurora --1998
Headroom - front (in.) 38.4 Headroom - rear (in.) 36.9 Legroom - front (in.) 42.6 Legroom - rear (in.) 38.4 Hip Room - front (in.) 55.1 Hip Room - rear (in.) 56.2 Shoulder Room - front (in.) 57.9 Shoulder Room - rear (in.) 57.9
Intrigue --2000
Headroom - front (in.) 39.3 Headroom - rear (in.) 37.4 Legroom - front (in.) 42.4 Legroom - rear (in.) 36.9 Hip Room - front (in.) 55.6 Hip Room - rear (in.) 54.8 Shoulder Room - front (in.) 58 Shoulder Room - rear (in.) 57.
For those not familiar, I bought it for 15,490 on EBAY, with about 35K.
Ebay Item 553029320
In the 30 minutes I have spend driving it this morning, I am thrilled. Great handling, accelaration and feel. I had looked a buying a 300M or an Intrepied RT, buy am glad I got this instead. The car feels solid, effortlessly going up to 90mph. Didn't even notice.
As far as my EBAY car buying experience, here goes...
Won the bid on February 5th. Unfortunaltely, had to go down to Mexico City for work for about week the next day.
Got back to the States, sold my other cars and started to fisish the financing fun. Having my credit union figure out how to do a sale over EBAY and out of state. Wanted the car local, but it can't be until I pay for it.... that was fun.
Two holidays in the mix (President's Day and Mardi Gras--the New Orleans Fed shuts down--). Finally got the money wired to the seller.
Have to wait about 1 agonizing week for the shipping of the car. Shipped by DAS (EBAY's recommened) from Vegas to Louisiana. DAS hedged as said it could be up to 2 weeks
Anyway, after about a month from winning the bid, I have my car. This could have been much easier had I the cash on hand and more free time. But for paying trade in value on a car, I can handle the inconvience. If I had purchased the car locally, I figure I would have spent about 3 to 4.5K more on the car.
Kudos to Mickey at www.xplumptrucks.com for his great service (and price).
Happy Driving!
Brett
One of the original Goodyears is starting to come apart. Not good, considering they don't even have 22K on them yet. Also since I occasionally have been known to run her up to 90-100 mph, I don't feel very safe. I think I will probably buy some Michellins, but so far I've found the 235/60/16 is kind of an unusual tire size, and quite pricey. <<<<<IS THAT A WORD, and if so is it spelled correctly?
You have discovered (i.e. awakened to) one of the joy's of being an Auroian. The tires are expensive!
A few suggestions, I have the toyo tires on my 95. Very good at cornering (they are basically Z rated tires. The next recommendation is Continel tires. These tires are H rated and are the same tires on the BMW and Mercedes. You can also goto tiresdirect.com and search for the tire manufacturesr by size. Michelins are OEM for the Autobahn package.
Hope this helps.
Ken
How can I tell by VIN or what not if my car is has the Autobahn package?
BTW, after 2 days, still love the car.
Brett
Diamond white, sunroof, chrome wheels, and gold whatever.
Found a 99 Aurora w/16k miles ,burgundy ext. w/biege int. and chrome wheels. Pontiac dealer has it; picked it up at a GM auction and asking 19,995. Balance of the 50k warranty..I haven't seen the car; this is a fussy dealer and tough to beat-up.
Just when I was about to buy, a friend of mine told me about a great deal he got leasing an '01 Aurora. He had been paying $352 a month for his '99 Intrigue, but when his lease was up, he stepped up to an Aurora 3.5 for only $1,800 down and $351 a month! This sounded pretty good to me, and I was considering it, thinking now was probably not the best time to buy an Olds (I'm thinking low resale real soon), but for a really good price I could drive a luxury vehicle for maybe the only time in my life at those terms.
Then the same dealer ran an ad in the local paper advertising Aurora's for $2001 down (cute) and $339 a month, or for $26K to buy. My friend told the dealer that I was very interested, and he said "Tell your friend to come down, I'll work with him". I thought this was too good to be true, and of course it turned out that it was.
When I got to the dealer, the price he gave me on a lease for a 3.5 was $4700 down, and $386 a month for a car that would be coming in in a few weeks. He was basing this off an MSRP of 33K and would not budge an inch. Seems my friend got the $1500 loyalty certificate and a $1,000 rebate on the lease that they were running in January. I said, "what about the great prices in the ad". He says, "well that includes the loyalty rebate, which you don't have" Well, how about 26K to buy? "That price includes the loyalty certificate and a $2000 rebate that GM is offering on a purchase, but no rebate for a lease". Of course none of this was mentioned in the ad, not even in the finest of print. When I told him I was willing to do a deal that day, but there was no way I'd do a deal like that, he let me walk. He didn't even try to talk me into the less expensive Intrigue. I guess supply is really exceeding demand right now because he had no 3.5's on the lot and the 4.0 that was there had 3 or 4 other people checking it out and kicking the tires. The other Olds/Chevy dealer nearby also only has a Bronze mist 4.0 in the showroom and nothing on the lot ( a couple of '02 Bravada's though).
I was so angry and frustrated that I drove down the street and bought a Maxima SE the same day. Great car, drives great and I'm very happy with it (so's the wife). They bent over backwards there to sell me the car. The difference in the attitude of the two dealerships was like was like night and day.
As much as I love the Max, I was still a little disappointed about the Aurora until I read Bedard's column in the April Car and Driver. Then it hit home, GM -- arrogant until the end.
I know you guys love your Auroras and I don't want to demean them in any way. I think that both the new gen and the classic are great looking rides. I wish you all the best and nothing but trouble free driving in them. It just didn't work out for me. C'est la Vie.