Hello, my name's Tyson.
I'm not an Alero owner, but I do own the Alero's sister car.
I got my Grand Am April 10th 2007, as a replacement for my old 1992 Chevrolet Beretta 2.2 Auto. I used to be obsessed with that car, then I grew tired of it and my obsession turned to boredom and then hatred. This was mainly due to the fact that the Beretta broke down - ALL the time. It had a new problem once or twice a month, mostly due to its age and previous treatment before I got it. We found this Grand Am through pure luck, and after some heavy persuasion of my grandparents, I brought it home for 4500 bucks. We sold the Beretta for $1700 so in reality I paid $2800 for the GAGT. The Grand Am had 103,500 miles on it when I got it.
More info on my car:
It's a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am GT1, with every factory option (leather, power driver's seat, moonroof, keyless entry, CD and cassette, etc.). It also has a locking gas cap, installed after the previous owner had all of her gas syphoned out while she was at work.
The car was meticulously cared for before I got it, and I continue that tradition. Last summer I had the following maintainence done: coolant flush, new fuel filter, complete tune-up (new plugs/wires and cleaned TB), new brakes, and a tranny fluid/filter change.
I've also had the driver's side power window switch replaced, along with both regulators cleaned. The power window(s) issue is the only problem I've had with the car so far.
As far as mods go, there aren't many. But the list of things I have done is: Red "GT" badge overlays, Red front and rear "Pontiac" inlays, "Grand Am Owners Club" side window decals, tinted windows, and a short ram-air (warm-air) intake. It was originally a cold-air intake but it sucked up too much water and made the car run poorly everytime it rained. So I fixed that before I had a meeting with hydrolock.
Pics (from a couple of weeks ago, taken in my backyard):
I'll have more pics in a picture thread later. I look forward to chatting with you Alero owners. The Alero is a nice car indeed. I almost bought a black '01 GLS before I found my Grand Am in better condition.