Hey all.


I''m new here, and I have a very general question that I hope you can help me with.


My 2000 Pontiac Bonneville was just totaled, and I''m in the market for a used car. There''s a 2001 Alero GL V6 at a local dealer that I''m very intererested in because of the price. It''s got just under 74K miles on it.


What are some of the common problems with this year, make, and model, and is it something that more experienced Oldsmobile owners would recommend? I''m going to the used car place tomorrow to check it out and test drive it, but I wanted some information to go in with. I have had a hard time putting together the required knowledge... for example, do these cars have a bad history of lots of stuff going wrong around a specific mileage? What kind of stuff?


I found out through a similar forum about a lot of common problems with Bonnevilles of various years, and I want to put together some of the same information here.


Thanks!


Rick

 

The lower intake manifold gasket is a very common problem on the V6. I would make the dealer change them before you sign anything. Wheel bearings, front brake rotors tend to warp, ignition cylinder wears out and sets off the passlock which cut off the fuel because the car thinks its being stolen. I''m sure there are more but thats what I can think of. I have a 01 with the 3400 V6 and the only problem I have had out of what I just mentioned is the lower intake manifold gaskets failed. I have about 118,000 miles and still runs like new.

 

Window regulators (the part that makes the power window go up and down) are another common weak area. They run about $140 each plus installation, which takes about 15 minutes.


Water leaks from the cabin air intake, or the door seals are common. Look for stains on the driver and passenger carpet in the footwell area.


There are fixes for most of the common problems, just some are not so easy (intake gaskets, $600-800) or cheap.


Let us know what you see when you do check the car out.

 

I forgot about the windows. I have gone threw the white clips in the driver side twice and the passanger side once. Niether of my back windows go down though, I''m not paying a $100 each for the rear regulators, I never sit back there.

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the information. The dealer''s offering this car with only 74K miles for under $5000, but I went and saw it yesterday. First thing I noticed, before even getting in, was that there was a small amount of what looked like sand in the trunk. This immediately alarmed me, but then I found more sand and stained carpeting in the driver''s side rear foot well, and my fiancee noticed that the seat mounting brackets showed a good amount of rust. It looks like this car may have been in the water, so I think I''m going to pass.


Aside from that, the car has a metallic "clunk, clunk" sound in the rear that increases in speed as the car does, and does not disappear at any speed. I was thinking bad wheel hub or something worse. And then the tire pressure sensor light came on while I was test-driving. They''re giving me this stuff about "well the manager''s already marked down this car, so I don''t know if they''re going to fix it before it leaves", but it seems to me that they''re trying to unloada problem car.


If anyone think I''m being too quick to dismiss this car, let me know, but it threw up enough red flags for me that I think I''m going to keep looking.

 

I wouldn''t get it just because the dealer saying they probably wont fix the problems it has. Thats how most dealers are, they will try to sell you a dog turd if they could.You could do the carfax thing to see if it was in a flood.