Anybody have/had an Olds Aurora?

[CJL 10+ year member]

Thinking about gettig one. 2000 and up generation.

How is the build quality,reliability?

And ofcorse if your had a setup in it how did it sound?

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[husker77 10+ year member]

Crap! We just got rid of our 2000. They had terrible problems with the head gaskets, and half the time when you tried to pull the heads it pulled the threads out of the aluminum block. 3.5 or 4.0? I had to add a quart of oil about every 400-500 miles and a gallon of antifreeze every 1500-2000. The 3.5 came with a transmission that they didn't harden the 4th gear sprag splines till 2002 so they pretty much all stripped out. You can still drive it just no overdrive, ours still got 25ish mpg without it though. The front hubs are notorious for not lasting, the cars are just to heavy for the ones gm used. I found the seats to be uncomfortable over long drives. Eventually the back window regulators will break

They are nice looking and pretty sweet cars, but I would stay away to be honest, just to many problems. It did haul ***, if you put your foot to the floor it wouldn't shift out of second till about 95mph.

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

I wouldn't rec one as a dd. Limited production years and parts could be difficult to find.

Go to a Aurora specific forum to find out all the stuff you'd like to know. They'll now the best years to buy, common issues and average cost to fix them. They're a wealth of information.

 

[husker77 10+ year member]

Parts aren't hard to get but it seems everything was about twice as much as any other sedan.

They do have a fairly strong following, but the forum I was on was really starting to die, most people were getting rid of their cars, they just start to develop to many problems that are expensive to fix.

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

My buddy had one. It was the only one I'd ever seen without leather. I can't remember is he crashed it too many times or the motor blew up. lol

I guess at one point I let him borrow a setup. He had 2 12" Type S and a JBL BP1200.1 in a sealed box... yeah

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

I'm an Olds guy and I wouldn't own one. Head gaskets etc. But check the GM forum before making up your mind.

 

[CJL 10+ year member]

What are the best forums to check out?

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

Looks like the one with the most traffic

Aurora Club of North America (ACNA) Forum - Home

Meh

Oldsmobile Aurora - Oldsmobile Forums

For siits & giggles

Oldsmobile Aurora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[husker77 10+ year member]

Looks like the one with the most traffic
Aurora Club of North America (ACNA) Forum - Home

I was on that one, they are very helpful.

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

Thinking about gettig one. 2000 and up generation.
How is the build quality,reliability?

And ofcorse if your had a setup in it how did it sound?

Are you sure it's a 2000? As far as I know the 1st-gen stopped production in 1999 and the 2nd-gen didn't show up at the dealership until 2001.

I don't have an Aurora but the 4.0 V8 version is the sister of the Cadillac Northstar V8. Has tons of power but it is also affected by the headgasket issue. Overtime the bolts pull out from the block (it's aluminum) and it'll need to be re-threaded and use bigger bolts. This happens quite often but no one has statistics on the actual percentage of failure. You can use GM's coolant tab if you have a minor coolant leak as long as it isn't leaking into your cylinders. I have a 98 Deville with the Northstar and I know all about that problem although it didn't happen to me (knock on wood). A headgasket repair job is fairly expensive (minimum of $1500) and a lot of shops don't like to work on them because they don't know how to do it properly and it'll overheat again. They share the same chassis as the Pontiac Bonneville/Cadillac Seville and Buick Park Avenue.

I wouldn't buy it if it's over $3000 unless it has really low mileage and perfect body. If the location of the alternator is the same as a Northstar then the alternator is... under your car.

Oh and the Northstar and the Aurora 4.0 is some of the very few engines that needs to be driven hard, like at least one pedal to the metal exercise a week. Otherwise it'll build up carbon really fast and kill it (and that's why old folks often end up with dead N* Caddies). First you'll hear what sounds like a rod/bearing knock which is actually carbon rap, you clean that out by giving it hell. If you don't then it'll eventually kill the engine.

 

[CJL 10+ year member]

Are you sure it's a 2000? As far as I know the 1st-gen stopped production in 1999 and the 2nd-gen didn't show up at the dealership until 2001.
I don't have an Aurora but the 4.0 V8 version is the sister of the Cadillac Northstar V8. Has tons of power but it is also affected by the headgasket issue. Overtime the bolts pull out from the block (it's aluminum) and it'll need to be re-threaded and use bigger bolts. This happens quite often but no one has statistics on the actual percentage of failure. You can use GM's coolant tab if you have a minor coolant leak as long as it isn't leaking into your cylinders. I have a 98 Deville with the Northstar and I know all about that problem although it didn't happen to me (knock on wood). A headgasket repair job is fairly expensive (minimum of $1500) and a lot of shops don't like to work on them because they don't know how to do it properly and it'll overheat again. They share the same chassis as the Pontiac Bonneville/Cadillac Seville and Buick Park Avenue.

I wouldn't buy it if it's over $3000 unless it has really low mileage and perfect body. If the location of the alternator is the same as a Northstar then the alternator is... under your car.

Oh and the Northstar and the Aurora 4.0 is some of the very few engines that needs to be driven hard, like at least one pedal to the metal exercise a week. Otherwise it'll build up carbon really fast and kill it (and that's why old folks often end up with dead N* Caddies). First you'll hear what sounds like a rod/bearing knock which is actually carbon rap, you clean that out by giving it hell. If you don't then it'll eventually kill the engine.

I meant 2nd gen. I haven't really started looking hard for one yet,so idk whats the average price in my area is.

The only GM Ive ever had was a 82 Grand Prix(they dont make em like they use to) The rest has been Ford(all my family too) and one Dodge.

Never had no major problems with none of my cars,so idk if ill be getting this one

 

[GAMEOVERCCA 10+ year member]

garbage lol

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

I would stick with Fords, my family went through three Tauruses and a Windstar and none of them gave us any major problems, just got used up.