Long-Term Update-2002 Olds Alero

[IAMCANADIAN]

I've owned my car for a few months now and each time I drive it, I'm impressed. While the car isn't perfect, the cons aren't big enough to turn anybody off. If you're looking for a GM midsize/compact, the Alero is definetly one you should check out.

Styling:
The car looks great, especially my GLS coupe with the 16 inch aluminum rims, it looks sporty, but isn't too in your face like its sibling, the Grand Am. The coupe is better looking than the sedan and appeals to younger buyers where the sedan is more for families. Inside is a more refined, import look that is very similar to the Intrigues, it won't necessarily stand out like the Grand Am's, but is pleasing to the eye and uses a higher grade of materials than the Grand Am, or at least it's meant to look that way.

Goodies:
This car comes loaded to the hilt with goodies, being the top model as well, you get power everything, a power sunroof in my car, 8-speaker 200 watt monsoon stereo, ABS Brakes w/ETS, A/C, leather seats, variable assist steering, tire inflation monitor, keyless entry alarm, immobilizer, power driver's seat, turn signal on reminder, automatic headlamps and much more. As you can see you do get good value, a major selling point with these cars.

Performance:
The GLS (optional on GL) is a 3.4L OHV V6 mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission. HP is 170 @ 4800 RPM and TORQUE is 200 LB-FT @ 4000 RPM. 0-60 time is 7.8 Seconds, roadholding index is rated at .82 g's on GLS with the P 225/50R 16 tires. This info was from an Edmunds test drive a few years back.

The Drive:
You can't really complain about how this car drives because even I was surprised on how great it really drives. The 3.4L V6 is surprisingly smooth and quiet with a refined throaty growl at high RPM, the Grand Am is louder and you can hear the engine a lot more being a Pontiac. I haven't found an automatic transmission as good as GM's, it's butter smooth, quickly downshifts without fuss and works well with the engine, even though it's a 4-speed automatic. The structure is very solid and the car is squeak/rattle free and ride quality is pretty good, it's a little more softly sprung over bumps than a Grand Am but isn't too soft, a good balance for daily driving. Handling is very good, especially with the 16 inch tires, the steering is on the light side, but is very responsive and firms up at higher speeds, but isn't too light like a big american car, but isn't nice and firm like a Grand Am, but it's tolerable. Brake pedal feel is nice and firm and easy to modulate. The gas pedal is light and if you have a heavy foot like me, it can be a little harder to modulate, but seems in tune with the engine where I find that some electronic throttle control systems like in my mom's saab feel artificial. Acceleration is excellent, it's not too much power, it's just the right amount and the transmission downshifts quickly and cruises up to speed so smoothly and quickly that I'm over the speed limit, not good for a young driver lol, but I would probably have that problem more often in a faster car like the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP for example. The ETS isn't a normal traction control system, it in fact is a bit crude, but the most fun, it keeps control of the vehicle, but can still make those tires squeal without a problem, in fact my cousin enjoyed that when he took it for a spin, it was raining and he floored it and those tires were squealing like mad and the traction light came on, but he still had good control, it's definetly a good traction system and from experience with it in other GM's, it's good in the snow and rain. Overall to sum it up, it's a great balance of performance and the V6 is definetly the best choice for those who love good old american performance, the V6 loves to rev and gives good power at low end and high end and has a 6200 RPM redline.

Fuel Economy: The Alero has a very small tank, 53 L to be exact, that might be okay with a 4-cylinder, but for the V6, it doesn't look good unless you see the numbers, it's rated a 26 MPIG city, 42 MPIG highway, in fact, not far off the 4-cylinder and better than many midsize sedans. So gas mileage is good, it's cheap to fill, in fact from a 1/4 to full, it only cost me 27 bucks today at 99.9 cents per litre.

Passenger and Cargo Room: There's plenty of room up front like most cars, the back seat is actually quite roomy for a coupe, it's comfortable, lots of head and legroom, something uncommon in many coupes, but entry/exit isn't easy, but GM has a smart and easy way of accessing the rear, just flick a switch, the seat moves up and forward and returns to it's normal position. The trunk is quite large for a car this size, 14.6 cubic feet, in fact that's more than the larger Honda Accord while showing no compromise in passenger room, the rear seats are the typical 60/40 fold down type.

Verdict: As you can obviously see, I love the car, while I prefer Pontiacs and will get a Grand Prix as my next car, I have to say I didn't make a mistake buying this car, it's the GM that was loved by the auto journalists, a big thing for GM, but I've noticed that what they say and what the people buy are two different things, but still, it was the best selling Oldsmobile and was the last model they ever produced. If you want a 4-cylinder Alero, I would spend the extra dollar on the ECOTEC 4-cylinder which came out in 2002, it's a lot smoother and more reliable than the 2.4L 4-cylinder, but that's not to say the 2.4L isn't a bad 4-cylinder, it's a pretty good one.

[pagemaster]

My friend had a light blue 2001 or 2002 Alero 4 door. THe car had 110,000km and was very nice. It was reliable as he only had to problems. Something to do witht the transmission and something else....the tranny problem was probably something caused by his driving. He is known for driving at 180km/h for extended periods of time.

The car was smooth, attractive inside and overall very pleasent. He did end up trading in for a 2003 Civic with 34k on it. The civic is much more louder and rough riding than the Alero.

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by pagemaster

My friend had a light blue 2001 or 2002 Alero 4 door. THe car had 110,000km and was very nice. It was reliable as he only had to problems. Something to do witht the transmission and something else....the tranny problem was probably something caused by his driving. He is known for driving at 180km/h for extended periods of time.

The car was smooth, attractive inside and overall very pleasent. He did end up trading in for a 2003 Civic with 34k on it. The civic is much more louder and rough riding than the Alero.

The alero is surprisingly quiet, I couldn't believe how much quieter it is than my mom's Saab 9-5 and costs a lot less. One thing I liked when I got the car is that the previous owner put in a rubber trunk protector that can be taken out, but it says Grand Am on it lol, oh well, at least if you spill something, it's easy to clean up. GM did a good job in designing this car, I haven't heard too many negative reviews on it, something which until recently has been uncommon.

[Xeper]

I owned the bigger sedan (the Intrigue) and that car drove very nicely. Its too bad I didnt know how to take care of cars back then.....

Anyone know where I can get a 3.5 V6 engine?

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by Xeper

I owned the bigger sedan (the Intrigue) and that car drove very nicely. Its too bad I didnt know how to take care of cars back then.....

Anyone know where I can get a 3.5 V6 engine?

sorry, I can't help you there. The 3.5L V6 was going to go in the OSV Alero, and was in the concept, but they gave up on it. Now that would be a powerful Alero because the 3400 is powerful, then the 215 HP 3.5L V6 would be one powerful midsizer.

[Xeper]

I thought the Alero concept was very nice... something Oldsmobile needed to restore its nameplate. I hate the fact that GM decided to can that brand.

They could of saved it if they really wanted to.

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by Xeper

I thought the Alero concept was very nice... something Oldsmobile needed to restore its nameplate. I hate the fact that GM decided to can that brand.

They could of saved it if they really wanted to.

they should've gotten rid of Saturn at the time, Oldsmobile was even selling better than Saturn, but I guess they could salvage Saturn better

[pagemaster]

GM did a good job in designing this car, I haven't heard too many negative reviews on it,

I remember reading about how good the car handles. It said a lot of good things about the car. Also, I don't mind the exterior all that much. It looked pretty good.

[IAMCANADIAN]

this was from a from an Edmunds test of the new 1999 Alero, this part made me laugh:

On one portion of the drive, as we piloted a 1998 Nissan Altima on hand for comparison, we came upon a slow-moving pickup truck. With a push of the accelerator, a downshift of the transmission, and plenty of engine racket, we guided the Altima around the pickup before the double yellow reappeared. Another journalist following in an Alero GL sedan decided that he too could get past the pickup before the No Passing Zone arrived. In our Altima's rearview mirror, the Alero quickly shot around the truck with ease. Assuming that it was the V-6 model, we commented to the Oldsmobile engineer riding shotgun in the Altima that the power from the Alero's V-6 was impressive. He looked behind us and offered a correction. "That's the four." Oh. Wow.

[IAMCANADIAN]

I don't have any pictures of my car, but it essentially is exactly like this, same colour, wheels, model etc.

[Mischief007]

I have the 4-cylinder version with the 5-speed and she gets up to 150 km/h in 4th gear quite quickly . A couple of complaints I have about the car is that my CV Boots are noisy and the wind noise/road noise is awfully high on the highway. I do have to have the music turned up to drown out the noise. Other than that, I'm planning on racing the car in AutoX events just to see what it can do since in 2nd gear around the corner, the car pulls extremely hard on basically bald tires . I drive this car like I stole it and I take care of it. Bought the car in April and have put on 18,000 km already. Mostly highway mileage.

For me it is not comfortable due to my bad back but hopefully GM will come out with a car with comfortable seats. ie: Ford Taurus. The Ford has the most comfortable seats out there that I've ever sat in.

Other than that, the engine doesn't seem to want to quit and loves to stay above 3000 RPM and sounds great closer to the 5000 RPM range. This is definitely a high revving engine. It's got no balls at the low end and this is why it needs the 3.94 manual transmission. Also, it badly needs a 6th gear for cruising.

Anyways. That's enough for me.

Edit: Some pictures as well .

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by Mischief007

I have the 4-cylinder version with the 5-speed and she gets up to 150 km/h in 4th gear quite quickly . A couple of complaints I have about the car is that my CV Boots are noisy and the wind noise/road noise is awfully high on the highway. I do have to have the music turned up to drown out the noise. Other than that, I'm planning on racing the car in AutoX events just to see what it can do since in 2nd gear around the corner, the car pulls extremely hard on basically bald tires . I drive this car like I stole it and I take care of it. Bought the car in April and have put on 18,000 km already. Mostly highway mileage.

For me it is not comfortable due to my bad back but hopefully GM will come out with a car with comfortable seats. ie: Ford Taurus. The Ford has the most comfortable seats out there that I've ever sat in.

Other than that, the engine doesn't seem to want to quit and loves to stay above 3000 RPM and sounds great closer to the 5000 RPM range. This is definitely a high revving engine. It's got no balls at the low end and this is why it needs the 3.94 manual transmission. Also, it badly needs a 6th gear for cruising.

Anyways. That's enough for me.

I find wind noise/road noise in my car a lot quieter, perhaps it's because it's fully loaded . The seats I find are quite comfortable, but I have leather so it might make a difference over cloth. The V6 is nice because it has good low end grunt and you don't need to floor it to get decent power.

[Mischief007]

^ The Aleros basically come fully loaded. I have everything that you mentioned in terms of luxury features. This is NOT a GX model but a GL2 model. Basically it's got everything including sunroof, fog lights, spoiler, etc. My back is bad IAMCANADIAN that's why I have problems with GM cars. It was the same with the 1997 Safari we had. Always came out of there with my back killing me. I don't know what it is about GM seats.

Power:
That is why the manual transmission is a 3.94:1 and the first gear being short. Gets up to speed quickly even when I shift at 2500 RPM. I usually pull away from traffic by shifting like that BUT I prefer hearing the engine once I warm the car up. So I visit the redline often and the car loves it.

Just tried searching for the gear ratios and they changed them for the 2.2 Saturn. It is now a 3.84:1 but you can see first gear is 3.58:1.

[W.A.F.U.]

Originally Posted by IAMCANADIAN

Fuel Economy: The Alero has a very small tank, 53 L to be exact, that might be okay with a 4-cylinder, but for the V6, it doesn't look good unless you see the numbers, it's rated a 26 MPIG city, 42 MPIG highway, in fact, not far off the 4-cylinder and better than many midsize sedans. So gas mileage is good, it's cheap to fill, in fact from a 1/4 to full, it only cost me 27 bucks today at 99.9 cents per litre.

Where are you getting your numbers? Everywhere I've seen lists the mpg at 20/29 for the V6 and those numbers are very close to what I get from my 2002 Grand Am V6.

[IAMCANADIAN]

Originally Posted by W.A.F.U.

Where are you getting your numbers? Everywhere I've seen lists the mpg at 20/29 for the V6 and those numbers are very close to what I get from my 2002 Grand Am V6.

MPIG is imperial gallons which is larger than US gallons, EPA does state that the Alero is rated at 20/29 for the US, in Canada it's rated at 26/42 Imperial MPG.