Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Jeremy
Thanks,
Jeremy
http://www.partsamerica.com/PartDetails.asp?SourceArea=SHOP&S- - - ourcePage=SEARCHRESULTS&MfrCode=VEN&MfrPartNumber=20729&a- mp;a- mp;a- mp;PartType=1041&PTSet=A
Jeremy
I was wondering what you guys thought about doing a tranny flush at 30K miles. The manual says to do it at 50K, but my dealer suggests the 30K interval. If I do do the flush early, it couldn't hurt. What do you think?
Jeremy
Jeremy
Jeremy
BTW - Say, for instance, that they have to replace my radio. Is there any chance that they would let me pay a little extra $$ to get the unit with the CD AND tape? Let me know.
Jeremy
BTW, there is no chance of me getting the Tape/CD combo. I even told them that I would pay more $$ but they informed me that any warranty repair must be done with the same stock equiptment that matches the VIN on the vehicle. I was a little peeved, but whatever.
Jeremy
Jeremy
Jeremy
Jeremy
http://wardsauto.com/ar/transportation_gm_recalls_cars/index.htm
What symptoms did you have indicating a intake gasket problem? Was it the usual coolant leak? I know this is a problem I will see sooner or later. It would be great if I could just get away with a tighten up as you did.
All in all I still think the Alero is one of the best cars I have owned.
To Drivehard: After 92,000 miles and only those few repairs, I would say that you have found a fine automobile. As for the drive belt, I would say you got your monies worth on that bad boy. Most of them need replacing at 50-60K miles. Honestly, once again, I believe you have a great car there. Keep up with the maintenance and she shouldn't cause too many problems for you.
As for those crappy rotors, I would definitely go non-GM if you haven't done so already. At 30K miles I'm beginning to feel a SLIGHT pulsation in the brakes when I slow. I think that I will go to either slotted or cross-drilled rotors. I saw a set of the slotted rotors on a 2001 Grand Am GT1 and they looked sweet. The Grand Am was silver as well, so I hope that if I shell out $50 per rotor, they will look equally as well on my baby.
As for my car, I'm making a trip back to the dealer tomorrow. So far I have had little trim annoyances that I wanted fixed before the warranty runs out. Anyway, my trip tomorrow is to replace the right rear exterior door handle...AGAIN. It was working fine for a month or so, then yesterday I went to clean my car out, and the door handle just flat out didn't work. I tried and tried but nothing happened. I found a TSB out for the door handles, but the stealership informed me that it didn't appear to affect my vehicle. Oh well - we'll see after tomorrow.
As for my radio, they ended up replacing it with a remanufactured one. That really peeved me, but I figured they would since that's what it stated in my warranty booklet. The new one hasn't cut out on me at all, but the buttons take a little harder push than the other radio took.
The dealer suggested to me a while back that I have the transmission fluid flushed as well as replace the filter, and have the plugs cleaned and re-gaped at 30K miles. The manual says that there is no need to change the tranny fluid or filter until 50K miles, but I would like to play it safe. I think that I will purchase the filter from GM but have Aamco do the flush since that's cheaper. As for the the plugs, I just purchased Bosch Platinum +4 plugs. Instead of cleaning and re-gaping the other plugs, I'll just have them replaced with the Bosch's. Hopefully I'll see an increase in MPG as well as new "peppiness".
Everything so far is going well with the Mobil 1 Synthetic 5W-30 oil. It looks much, much cleaner than with the dyno oil that was in it, even when the dyno oil had just been put in. I think it's a keeper!
Well, I guess that's the end of me for now. I'll let you know what happens, if anything, with the door handle.
Jeremy
I have never heard of Wanli before, Anyone know if this is a good tire, They Cost me about $99 per tire, thats tire, mounting, balancing.
As for my Silver Bullet, it's doing good. I'm about 10 miles away from the 31K mark. There, once again, is some stuff that I need to get looked at. The replacement radio they put in back in February sucks. About half of the preset buttons don't work unless you push them just right and the track selection button only works in the cold unless you push really, really hard. Also, when my passenger door closes, there is this nasty tin sound, like an empty pop can being dropped on the street. It's happened ever since I got it, but I didn't think anything of it until I compared that noise to the noise the drivers door makes, which BTW sounds much more solid. And the last thing is the rear defroster. When I turn it on it only clears the middle section; it doesn't even touch the right, left, top, or bottom. I know that the ALL of the bottom part of the window isn't supposed to get melted, but what's supposed to, doesn't get it. I have heard of this problem on another forum, and the only fix is to replace the back window
I have been getting kick butt gas mileage. I drive mostly city and am a 'spirited driver' (read: lead foot at times). Anyway, I'm getting 25 mpg! I love it. My Malibu had a smaller engine, the 3.1 V6 and I never, ever got over 19 mpg.
It's been a while since I've been on; frankly this website is pain in the butt. Sometimes it wants to let me in, others it takes 5 tries, and then sometimes, it just doesn't let me in at all. The latter usually happens most often. Anyway, since the last time I was on I took the Silver Bullet to the stealership for their reccommended 30K 'tune up'. I got the fuel filter replaced, plugs cleaned and re-gapped, and new air filter (I had just done that so they gave me the filter), the throttle body serviced (cleaned and stuff), and something else, but I can't remember what that was. I got that for about $120. I also had the transmission flushed and the filter replaced at Aamco. I had them use Valvoline ATF. I know that this stuff isn't supposed to be done until like 50 or 60K, but I would much rather pay a little more for earlier maintenance, than have something fail on me later. I read on some other forums of a few trannys failing at about 112K.
I waxed her about a month ago using Diamond Luster wax. It looks okay but I think I'll try Eagle One Wet Wax and Polish or the new Eagle One NanoWax next time, which will be in about 3 months. I'm going to wax my Mom's black 1999 Blazer with one of the two, and then I'll decide. I'll let you know how it turns out.
In the area of accessories, I have added a new 3M clear bra. The stealership wanted like $450, to which of course I laughed in their face. I found a place in the Denver-metro area called Extreme Clear Bras (for anyone in the area) that did an awesome job. I got 12 inches put on the hood and on the fenders for $150. It took about 15 minutes to do; that turns out to be $10 per minute, but it was much cheaper than the dealer and I got a lifetime warranty with it in case it ever turns yellow or anything. I would highly recommend a clear bra over a regular one any day. The clear bra is about $70 more but won't stretch or scratch your paint like a normal bra will. I also plan on purchasing a car cover with lock from the dealer for about $100. I'm shipping off to school soon and the Silver Bullet will be parked most of the time :-( I want to keep her covered so that the paint won't fade and the interior won't get jacked.
If I remember correctly, there are a few folks here who aren't fans of pushrod engines. I know there are TONS in the Malibu thread. I found a great article in support of pushies in the May edition of Car and Driver on page 34 by Larry Webster. Check it out whether your in support of them or not. It's great!
Well that's about all for me. I'm sitting here at my computer all out of tissues and I'm really sick, so I gotta go. See ya later (if Edmunds decides to let me log in the next time I try :-)
Jeremy
I just thought I would mention a few problems that I am having with my 99 Alero. I brought my car into the dealer for a couple of things. One being that my driver seat does not raise up and down anymore. I was told that my motor gearing was stripped and that I would need a whole new motor replacement. The estimated cost by the dealer for this is $450 (not including labour). I will mention that this seat motor was not used that often. While I am the main driver of the car I would say the this motor was probably used twice a month. I was very surprised to hear that this was the reason for it not working. I would think that this motor should last longer than just 5 years.
Another problem that I have is with the bottom vent for the feet area. When the heat switch is turned to the "feet" part no heat/air will come out. The dealer said that I needed a new "Mode door" which he described as some plastic piece and that this plastic piece just broke off. He said that this plastic piece is relatively a cheap part to buy but that it would be about a whole day of labour to fix it and therefore could cost about $700.00
The newest problem that I am having now is that while I am driving my gauges inside the car will go to zero (ie gas gauge, speedometer ect.), the digital kilometer reading will go blank, the buttons for the windows won't work, and the heating/air vents will not work. However, my radio still works. The service technician said that this is due to a defective ignition switch. He said that the switch is wearing out. The price quoted for a new ignition switch was $225.00.
Has anyone had any similar problems with their Alero? Perhaps you could offer me some advice before I give the go ahead to get things fixed.
Thanks, I would appreciate anyones suggetsions!
Hope this helped. Keep us posted on where your get your repairs done and how much.
Jeremy
Thanks for replying to my post.
I didn't know an ignition switch could be tied up to so much electrical stuff inside the car. I will definitely have to get that repaired because it's a real hindrance having the gauges go to zero and not having heat on those colder days.
For now I'm going to wait on getting the seat fixed as I agree with you, that seat going up and down isn't that important (although it did break on a lower position than I normally sit at), and I will also wait to get the floor vent fixed too. The technician did say that it would cost $700 because that mode door is hard to get at and that is why it would take a whole day of labour. Yes, I will be shopping around before getting this fixed!
I will email you about that web site.
Thanks for your help!
Jeremy
I found the best stuff to use on our leather-wraped steering wheel and shift knobs. It's Coach brand Leather Moisturizer (that's Coach as in the luggage). It doesn't leave that nasty residue Armor All will and it won't make the components slick. It sinks right in and my leather looks brand new. No more funky white spots near the stitches or dry looking leather. It's about $8.50 at any Coach store for a 6 fluid ounce bottle. I highly recommend it!
Jeremy
Jeremy
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1825170&nav=0RceMgyd
The article says they're equipped as follows:
The final 500, described by officials as a collector's edition Alero, boast all the options, including sunroof.
The car is based on the high-end Alero GLS, but is distinguished by a number of unique features such as a specially designed heritage logo on the hubs, trunk, floor mats and the tan leather interior. Each has a numbered brass badge bearing the production number. Workers began producing them late last week. All the vehicles are the same color (dark cherry red).
It's sad to see Olds go though. Although I have owned Japanese brands in the past I feel like part of our heritage is being lost when these brands die.
Jeremy
On my 2002 Alero, some of the buttons on the radio and the lock button on the driver door are getting rubbed and scratched off. I barely touch them, (I don't even have long nails!) I wouldn't mind, except that if the buttons look this bad after only 10,000 miles, they'll be terrible years from now. Will my warrenty cover replacing them or do you think it's one of those things that isn't worth messing with?
Thanks!