It’s unfortunate that GM will be discontinuing the Oldsmobile line since they have finally hit the spot with the Alero and Intrigue. The Alero appeals to the more youthful spirited while the Intrigue provides the sophistication needed of a mature adult. I ended up leasing a black V4 Alero GX Sedan. My 3-year lease is over now, but I remember back before I got it that I would make regular trips down to the dealership at night just to look and drool. The Alero’s have excellent looks. They are very sporty and stylish looking. Unfortunately looks are only skin deep. Don’t get me wrong though the Alero is an excellent car for its class. The main complaint that I have is that the sporty looks don’t translate into sporty handling. This car has adequate handling for everyday running around, however if you decided to push those corners a little hard you will quickly find out that the car doesn’t like it. In contrast however the Alero is one of the best highway V4’s I know of. My highway ritual was always to get into the far left lane and hit the cruise at 65 MPH. Occasionally a Blazer or Lexus will get behind me and request to pass, otherwise I was the king of the road. The comfortable seats helped make long distance driving a breeze. The suspension is average. Not too stiff and not to soft makes for average all around handling.

The only other car I test drove before I purchased this car was the Chevy Cavalier. The Cavalier is a joke compared to the Alero. A Cavalier is only slightly cheaper than a V4 Alero, however it is in a much lower quality class. The two main differences between these two cars was the engine power and the quality of the ride. The Alero’s V4 engine has a powerful sounding grunt to it, which is also backed up with the power needed to go. Off the line I was able to accelerate much faster than a lot of other cars. The only cars I was unable to beat ever was any car with a V6 (unless an old person was driving it). The interior is refined and quite, Oldsmobile did a great job with their new designs. The materials are not the best quality in the world, however they also don’t leave you with that cheap plastic feeling either. The most notable thing is that the center consol is slightly angled and pointed towards the driver. When I first got in the car for my test drive I felt like a pilot. I was in control here! There is plenty of room in the back. I have two kids, so this was an important aspect for me. One complaint I have is that the horn is very hard to hit. Whenever I needed to beep I would usually have to make two to three tries before hitting it. There is plenty of visibility out of the front window, however the back is high so visibility is an issue. I would very often find myself with a lot of extra space when backing up into parking spaces. Sometimes enough to even get out and back up a little more. Another complaint I have is with the cup holders. There is one, very nicely placed between the shifter and storage compartment, but the only other one in the front is in front of the shifter and you can only fit a can of pop in it. So if two people are getting combo meals at Burger King for example only one will be able to have a cup holder. The other will either have to place it on the floor or hold it in their lap. Kind of a minor complaint, but something I remember quite well. The stereo is decent, and can be cranked up pretty loud before any bass pops occur.

The lighting system has some nice new features, however also a few drawbacks. Visibility on the road at night was good, however the fog lights didn’t seem to do anything. Then again I’ve never been in a car and seen fog lights do anything. The most notable feature of the lighting system however is that there is a sensor that will decide for you if the lights need to be on. This system has a few advantages and disadvantages. The most obvious advantages are that you will never see anyone flickering their lights at you, because your lights will be on if it is dark enough. The other is that not only do they turn on automatically, but they also turn off automatically. And all this together equals a system over which one has no control. So if you want to sit in a parking lot on a cold night and run the car for heat, then your lights are going to be on. If you want to turn them off to prevent shinning your lights into someone’s apartment for example, then you’re out of luck. Also, this feature will not qualify you for any discounts on insurance because they do not run during the day.

I had 43,000 miles on the car when I turned it in. I didn’t turn it in because of any problems, but only simply because my finances and tastes had evolved. Not to mention some record breaking GM incentives to get into a new car. Reliability with this car for me was near perfect, and all problems were covered under warranty. When I first got the car I had a problem with the air conditioning, and the ac unit needed to be replaced. I also later blew a fuse in the ac/heating system. I have a complaint about the design of GM ac/heating system. The units placed in most all GM cars require that if you want air to be re-circulated (instead of drawn from outside) then you can’t use the setting to blow air through the dashboard vents at the window. This seems ridiculous to me since in the winter one usually wants the car to heat up quickly but also needs to blow hot air onto the windshield to get rid of ice/snow. I also had some sort of metal bar break in the front, which caused a grinding noise when making slow sharp turns. I drove around with it for a month or so then got annoyed and brought it in to get fixed. Some plastic items in the car aren’t very durable. There is a change holder by the driver’s side door that partially broke within the first month of having it. I never bothered to get it fixed though because I realized that it would just break again. Also, in the trunk there is a plastic switch that disables/enables the trunk button in the passenger compartment, which broke within the first month as well. But using my keys I was able to switch it back and forth still. There was one recall while I had the car for the dashboard coming loose in accidents, so I brought it in and had it fixed for free.

I would like to comment on the traction control and ABS brakes. These two features seem to go and in hand in most cars today. If you have one then you probably have the other. I will stand by ABS breaks any day, as they have saved my life once. However, the traction control in my opinion is one of the most useless features around. When slipping in the snow it never seemed to help at all. And if one thinks about it, what wheel will have traction if they are both in the front. Most of the time if one wheel is slipping and on snow then the other most likely will also be on snow. What is really needed is AWD or 4WD. That is the only sensible solution to traction issues. Otherwise I would regard traction control as simply another item to charge consumers with and of course another thing that can break and need fixing. But this last comment is really not directed towards the Alero but to all FWD cars that have this feature.

Finally I would like to compare the V4 to the V6. I got the chance to drive the V6 around for a few days while on a business trip. The V6 was a blast to drive! I was passing cars left and right. The V6 gets great gas mileage for a V6, and compared to the V4 is only slightly lower which seems strange since there is a large amount of extra performance. I would definitely recommend going for the V6 if one can afford it. There really just isn’t any comparison. It was a real bummer to have to go back home and drive my V4. Another thing worth noting is that I’m very glad that I leased my Alero, because the value of the car dropped like a brick. The V6 holds its value much better. So right when I’m writing this review I would say that the V4 is a great deal, but if your getting a new one then go for the V6.
Amount Paid (US$): 17,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: V4 GX Sedan