My Alero is Slowly Killing Me

[cbtacc]

Hello I am new to Aleromod.com but have been following it for years now because it helped me with all the problems I have had with my Alero I have the 2001 Alero V6 and it has been nothing but headaches. When I first got it I was 17 and it had 89000 km on it and needless to say I felt it was the car for me, boy was I in for a treat. First I had to get my head gaskets replaced at 93000 km, then my front hub bearings went, then my windshield, then my front hubs again, then had to replace my front strut assembly, another windshield and then front wheel bearings again! It's been 4 years and I'm at 145000km and have decided to hang onto this thing until it completely just dies. Should I do that or should I just sell it?

[JLw7123]

welcome and keep the car

[Nate's Alero]

well, trust me, there is a lot more that could have gone wrong, i have spent so much on my car, and the fact that it has been decent... and why the hell would you need three windshields.. that makes no sense

[lonnie]

Welcome to the site....I would just sell it...I've come to the realization that I have to get rid of my car before the year is out. Not due to mechanical problems like yours but just because it isn't big enough. The reason I say that is because at some point you have to say enough is enough, and either suck it up and put decent money into it to fix all the gremlins or just scrap it and get something a little more headache free.

Good Luck in your decision!

My two cents is to sell it if you don't have the cash to fix everything.

[colonel6632]

you can't blame the windshields on the car. and the wheel bearings might of been over torqued, and didn't have the new nut on them. my car has been fairly reliable. and i bag it. just go regular maintence, and try fixing things yourself. that will save lots of money

and welcome!

[BlackJack]

Originally Posted by cbtacc

My Alero is Slowly Killing Me

Are you sure you're not slowly killing it? LOL

Well, to tell the truth, any number of cars could cause massive headaches. Just depends on how well that individual car is built, how it's been maintained (or not maintained), and how hard it's driven.

Do whatever you think is right for yourself, but as for me, I'm going to keep driving mine because I know that things are eventually going to break, and if I replace those broken parts with "economy version" parts, they're likely to break again.

Good luck.

[JunkProwler]

A friend of mine had a v6 coupe Alero for a couple years and hated it, with good reason. It was a total lemon, but thats the way she goes sometimes. Other than a hub and a headlight adjustment knob that broke off causing the headlight to point all the way down mine has been problem free for almost 40K KMs. You didn't really list major issues either, at 145K hubs and struts are due. The windshields are odd, what happened there?

[XanderWiFi]

I'm generally the last person to have a mean comment around here but...you're 23. A full grown adult by this societies standards. You should be able to figure out whether to keep it or not on your own...

Some will say: make it all better and put in the money to fix it up. I say: if fixing it up costs the same as a nice down payment on a new car, get a new car. If it is paid off and you just have to beat it around to save up money for a new car, keep it.

If you retire it, I say put it in a demo derby and give a good bang for a goodbye : D

[AleroB888]

I need a windshield, too. Group buy, anyone?

[colonel6632]

i also need one... i was quoted $350 for one installed

[Weazel]

Originally Posted by AleroB888

I need a windshield, too. Group buy, anyone?

I've needed one since I bought the car. The damn thing is so pitted it's like staring directly into the sun whenever light hits it Discount group window service at ASS?

[Ttop191]

colonel you are getting ass raped, i got one installed for $150

[whiterider00]

ya, i got one installed for $120. they even came to my house to do it.

[Redog]

ANy car's going to have problems.

I'll give you the wheel hubs and was it a head gasket or a LIMG? After 145,000km (don't know what that is in miles) your just going to have to expect to do shocks. It's called maintance.

I'm about to put my 2nd set of shocks on my car. I replaced the frist set at 62,000 miles which was actually 12,000 overdue. Now the car has 116,3xx on it, which means that it's over 4,000 miles due.

I'm not ripping on you. I still like the guy that got on here and bitched, and bitched about needing to put brakes on his car after 2.5 years. Let's not forget the guy that drove his car around the block a few times in 1st gear because he was mad at it. I think it was a transmission problem he had with the car. Great way to fix it :lol2:

[cbtacc]

I'm going to keep the car, the hubs I had my mechanic do, and i'm on my 3rd windshield because of stonechips that eventually spidered out into cracks and i'm 21 not 23 lol strut assembly i did myself and it was the actual head gaskets that went, my car had the engine light flashing and the car just died once i started it one day and i lost a lot of coolant so i towed it to the mechanic and he said the original head gasket for the alero is thin and tends to crack on some of them which allowed coolant to seep into the combustion chamber so we brought the car back to life lol and i baby my car i don't ever treat it like garbage! My apologies for bitching i really do love my car and in the end when it is time for it to go its going to be a sad day because after all it is my first car and i feel i've been through so much with it lol I have already planned to do the rear strut assembly in a few months once it gets warm outside

[zzyzzx]

Don't use Chinese hubs and cheap aftermarket windshields. The rest is normal maintenance except for the LIMG which is a design defect.

[JLw7123]

also do not use cheap gaskets ask nate.

[2004alero]

i purchased my car new in 2004 since then i replaced numerous parts. wheel barrings 4 times (done professionally) caliber all the tires 5 times (new) door handles on back doors which would only open if you pulled to the back, ignitions switch, regular oil fluid changes flushes, filters, thermostats, door panels (my fault brook the peg holders), headlight adjusters both broke(have no clue why), wiper regulate for windshield,fender Simone hit my car, touch up paint some one wrote hi on new fender with brake clean, coil packs. fun things Ive done include pouting Premium Bose in the car new aftermarket radio, ran all my own speaker wires, amp, sub woofer Bose, kicker panels (also Bose) allot of modifications to add the Bose (allot of time finding sizes that work in Aler). not to mention i still have a car payment on my car. so I'm paying 200 a month for car payment low i know and my car insurance (was 375 month) 258 a month. so dint complain many others Prolly had bad tyranny's and head gasket normal mechanical issues.