I still daily my 99 Oldsmobile eighty eight. Got it from my grandparents when I earned my license, and it just keeps trucking 12 years later. The GM H and C body cars were ubiquitous in the commuter lot where I went to college. It got me through 4 years of school, and where ever I've wanted to go when my fancier other cars have broken down. At this point it's getting a bit long in the tooth. I still keep it as shiny and waxed as my grandpa did, but the rust has cost me a fair bit to combat.
@@iPhoneAppReviewer Lets just keep to calling him Jeffrey. Jeff makes him sound almost human. And never forget ABC had the entire story and covered it up.
@@ellisjackson3355 You can't see my muscle because of the hair. I work a pretty physical job, so I do have big arms and shoulders. If I worked on my chest muscles I would have the complete package. I've been thinking about doing it, but I'm thinking, what's the point? It would be like putting mods on a naturally aspirated base model Fiesta.
@@JohnSmith-wx9wj whatever your vehicle, mod it to your heart's content. It's YOUR vehicle, YOUR rules. If your body is a festiva, make it your ideal festiva. Do it for you and those who like it will surface. That was easy
Don't forget leaky intake manifold gaskets. And rusty brake lines. And interior plastics with edges sharp enough to cut you. GM was so friggin' cheap with these cars.
It astounds me how many Aleros are still on the road in amazing condition. Every Pontiac Grand AM or Buick La Sabre has become rundown garbage at this point, but the alero survived, somehow...
I see a decent amount of Grand AMs, Buick Le Sabres, and Oldsmobile Aleros up here in Canada. Sure, a lot of them have lots of rust, but they're still running.
Yes. I am the pensioner that is supposed not to buy an Alero. I will, it's a 1owner car with 110k km, guess where... In Israël...In Europe & Israel, they sold it as a Chevrolet Alero. Gonna rebadge with Oldsmobile on the trunk 😂
My wife's Alero has 205,000 miles. She bought it new in 2003. Other than some minor nickel and dime stuff it is a good runner. Was a daily driver until we bought something else with more room. Now I drive it once a week just to keep it going.
I like how after 5 years, the RCR style hasn't changed at all. It still looks like an armature RUclips video from 2009 and I mean that in the nicest way. Its consistency in the most inconsistent place on the internet. Never change RCR. Look forward to hearing from you every Monday.
BigWheel you forgot "ac blows cold, kinda new tires, just did oil change +filter last month, clean, drives great. Clean title in hand. 2003 Honda civic with 220k miles. $4000 obo LOW BALLERS WILL BE IGNORED. "
Ever see the ads where you think the guy who posted it is functionally illiterate? If you check Miami or Tampa Craigslist sometimes you see ads in Spanish for really old corollas but at least the grammar and spelling is accurate
Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, and Mercury should all serve as lessons for automotive divisions, in that when literally none of their products are unique to the division, that division has no reason to exist anymore. The Alero as essentially a badge-engineered Grand Am is a sign of that.
@@davidkaminski615 That is a damn good question. At one point, GMCs seem to have been marketed towards commercial applications while Chevrolets were marketed towards private ownership, but there are plenty of examples of the contrary. On top of that GMC dealers are often paired with Cadillac dealers, so perhaps now GMC is trying to be both commercial and upmarket, while Chevrolet more mid-to-downmarket.
They all started out good but Gm had to many divisions with no purpose and i think if they would have probably put in more time and effort they would still have Pontiac at least as a performance division.
@@zoidzoid87 GM's many divisions make sense if customers see the products of those divisions as different cars. Doesn't even necessarily matter if they *are* different cars, if buyers see a Regal, Grand Prix, Lumina, and Cutlass Supreme as four of say, ten viable choices, then GM has the potential to hold 40% of the market. The problem comes when the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, the Buick Century, the Pontiac 6000, and the Chevrolet Celebrity are essentially all the same car. The Buick and Olds were nearly identical on the outside, I have to look for badges to tell them apart. The Death of Oldsmobile may have happened in 2004, but the seeds of its demise were planted twenty years earlier when all of its models looked the same as a Buick, or a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet, and when it would have the same powertrain choices as a Buick, a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet, with nothing but some interior accents and exterior badges to really differentiate it. Chrysler did this to Plymouth, with the Neon, the Breeze, the Voyager being the same as offerings from Dodge and Chrysler, and Ford killed Mercury likewise, the Grand Marquis, the Milan, the Monterey, the Mountaineer, same as Ford offerings. Park 'em next to their siblings and cover the badges and there's nothing special about them anymore. That makes them redundant, so why pay to maintain a division?
I do feel GMC is above Chevrolet as it appeals to older buyers with deeper pockets. You don't see a GMC pick up truck on a dirty work site, but you might see a Chevrolet. The boss might show up in a GMC tho
Drake Orion I always wonder about that. You know your car is gonna be on RCR. Literally tens of hundreds of people are going to see it. You can’t run through a coin-op car wash armed with a trash bag, the 75¢ vacuum cleaner, a bottle of Armor-All, and the will to present your car in its least-terrible form? Jesus, people.
@@andrewwalker9960 I mean these reviews showcase the vehicle in it's day to day. It's what your car looks like, it's what mine looks like. We're not glamorizing a regular car
This made my day, the '99 Alero was my first car, inherited from my Grandma with 24,000 miles on it. It cruised well on the highway, drove well in snowstorms, it even survived a crash with a deer. I loved that car. Sure the shifter button popped out and had to be glued back in, but the thing just drove with no complaints.
I [used to] drive a Dodge Stratus! Seriously, I had a Stratus for several years. It handled pretty well and had a lot of interior room. Unfortunately head gaskets sucked in the early 2.4 motors.
The amount of cars that are more interesting or exiting he could have gotten instead (for the same money" is immeasurable. His thinking is a mystery we're not ready to grasp.
The Alero is like that time you finally hooked up with that person you were mildly attracted to in a moment of boredom, when you had nothing else going on, and then afterwards emotionally rolling your eyes to yourself, wondering if life had really come down to this moment and whether you had peaked and were on the downslope of life.
BigWheel I had a 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora as my first car, and when I got it the engine acted like there was a drain for the engine coolant installed. I ended up fixing it with some bar's stop-leak. But unfortunately it died this past may, because it also burned some oil and I let it get too low and the engine seized. It will be missed
@@greyclassic6563 No. He IS pretty hard to listen to. There's nothing wrong with his writing but why is his voice like this? I don't know *anyone* else with this kind of tone...
I knew a guy who drove an alero in the mid 2000's. He looked like Charles Manson, had a sick knife collection, got a crazy check, and talked about doing acid all the time. He was really proud of his alero.
I guess. I mean.. for people looking to impress and convey a lifestyle, absolutely. The Grand Am was more sporty and aggressive looking. It had more bells and whistles plus appearance and performance packages. It was a movie star (Lethal Weapon 3... lol). But to me the Alero was more progressive while being understated at the same time. It was the conclusion of the styling Olds started with the absolutely amazing Aurora and continued with the Intrigue... being both absolutely modern but not overly flashy. The problem was that market didn’t really exist. People either wanted a flashy trendy car for cheap.. or they wanted conservative styling in a higher quality automobile like a Camry.
@@Bartonovich52 I was looking at old ads. Yeah, can't see why you would get the Olds over a similarly priced accord or camry. I can't imagine Aleros being built better than my brother's Grand Am. That thing was not built especially well
The one on Pontiac was originally going to Olds, but I actually thought Pontiac was the more interesting story. But now I don't know, since they sort of cover the same material. With that said, it's something I might revisit in an Oldsmobile RCR Story after I'm done with the next one (probably in January).
Remember when teenagers started driving older GM cars like these because you could pick them up for $1500 all day and were too useful to die in the Cash for Clunkers carpocalypse?
You still can. Plenty of them on marketplace, Craigslist, etc for under $2000. If you just want something small and fuel efficient for cheap, Chevy Cavalier. Yeah, they're cheap feeling, but they're dead reliable and easy to work on.
Pre bailout GM products are like buying off brand groceries at aldi. And they're too crappy to hold value too common to run out of parts and too reliable to worry too much about, plus if it explodes the scrap and parts you'll sell off of it will likely pay out more than you put down on the car in the first place.
Every time I see an Alero on the road (more often than you would think), I wonder what could have been if GM hadn't burned all its goodwill & cultural capital w/Oldsmobile in the 80's and 90's.
I think the Brand pyramid illustration explained it pretty well, but put Saturn in Chevorlet's place as the entry level car, pushing Chevrolet to where Oldsmobile was supposed to be. Its not Irony that the only GM brands that survived were ones with a insane performance car. GMC's Cyclone, Buick's Grand National, Chevorlet with the Corvette, and Cadillac's CTS-V, all halo cars that grabbed attention to the brand. Whereas Pontiac's Fiero was made to be disappointing on purpose so not to compete with the Corvette, The Firebird similarly with the Camaro, Olds hadn't a halo car since the 60's, And the less said about Saturn's Sky, the happier we will all be.
The Firebird and G8/GTO were OK, but not better than the Camaro both shared DNA with performance wise, and styling wise as as well IMHO, though opinions vary. It was a stupid move to drop the nameplates Pontiac had for a letter and a number though. I owned the last new model Pontiac sold in the US, the G3, which was a rebadged Chevy Aveo(slower than the Chevy to the last). Kinda gives us Pontiac's answer of how to go out, with a whimper, or a bang. Pontiac died with a whimper.
Tbh I really enjoy Aleros! Always glad to see one in good shape still. Minor point: the hierarchy was Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac. Olds was always slotted below Buick. But it was also the innovation/power/style brand for GM from after WWII well into the 60s. Buick was all about understated luxury, Cadillac was about being the pinnacle of luxury, Pontiac finally became THE sporty youth performance brand, but if you wanted a well-appointed, good-handling, and fast car, you were an Oldsmobile man. Olds needed to start marketing their cars as "your grandfather's Oldsmobile." And if, somehow, they showed up today, they would have to be "your great-grandfather's Oldsmobile." Because they were great cars. The ignominious end is lamentable. 😕
I still own a 2001 Alero that I purchased new, 2 weeks after 9/11. I found replacing the catalytic converter reestablished engine performance comparable to when the car was new - with standard transmission gearing for nifty low-end torque I can hole shot most Toyota models.
He also has a white I think 1990 LeBaron convertible that he also thinks is worth like 25k. But thing is that it's wrecked a pole fell on it and caved the entire windshield in.
I used to date a girl who drove one of these. She had crashed it multiple times, the transmission and brakes were going out, and even drove it on 3 wheels once (don't ask lol) but this thing was damn reliable and I formed a soft spot for early 2000s GM cars
@@Phenom98 Aye, ya can't have one without the other! And the Chinese have so many US dollars by now I'm surprised they even make cars there. Could likely give every man, woman and child there a Buick, and have money left over.
Because we didn’t have Cash for Clunkers here in Canada.. these are still _everywhere!!_ I live in a small city under 100,000 and I see at least one a day. Combined with that generation of Grand Am and Chevy Malibu, probably 4-5 a day. Way more than equivalent vintage Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys which were sale leaders as well.. but nowhere near as rust proof. I never owned one but my family and I had several U platform minivans of the same era and the powertrain was absolutely solid. Yeah.. head gaskets.. eventually at like 200,000 miles which is about when the Subaru that everyone fawns over is on its third one. But decent power.. enough to surprise someone who doesn’t expect a minivan to do a jackrabbit start. Awesome fuel economy no matter how hard you pushed it. Just oil changes and maybe a transmission fluid flush. Today, these are $250 cars. Everyone knows that they are absolutely worthless at over 20 years old. The value is entirely based on the condition of the tires and how much fuel is in the tank. Almost every electrical convenience is gone and the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree. But they just keep going and going and going. Even though they are only a $400 repair bill from being pushed over a cliff and set on fire.
LOL! My parents had the Grand Am version of this car. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all and a GREAT road trip car. It was a solid value and cheaper than a lot of equivalent imports. The only repair it ever needed was intake gaskets. Leave it to GM to make such a bad interior though, sheesh. I could see one easily racking up 200k mostly trouble free miles.
The best, most reasonable, hilarious and accurate intro of RCR that has ever existed so far. Thank you, Roman. My english isn't sufficient enough to express the gratitude i feel
@@ScubaSteveM45 yea! If it was me I woulda spent like 250 dollars at the car detail shop to get the full interior and exterior cleaned on my 500 dollar car. The entire car company's reputation depends on this video and this video alone!
@@alexyoungberg5232 not everybody drives a grubby shitheap you know. You sound like my buddy who only cleans his Honda when the garbage, empty prerolled joint tubes, fast food drive through bags and empty cans pile over onto the passenger seat
2004 Alero was my first car, lasted 180,000 miles with 32,000 starting. My daughter grew up with it. I owe a lot to it and loved it. powertrain was rock solid. Great video
@@ACJ523 I'm not even sure what he means when he says "low-key". I'm accustomed to low-key meaning modest and unemphasized. All the Alero looks like to me is typical nineties styling cues, found on innumerable cars where the headlights swoop-down into the front bumper cover for aerodynamics. Nothing wrong with the look but clearly automotive designers of the late eighties and nineties all were part of the same school of design.
Good summary of what happened to Olds... the seeds for their demise, and the demise of Pontiac was sewn way back in the 1970s when GM management decided competition between their brands was a bad thing. And so badge engineering was born, using the same homogenized components to make four or five "different" cars. I contend that GM did much better when their divisions had more design autonomy, and were able to make their own engines. Climbing the GM purchase ladder according to your age and income (Chevy > Pontiac > Olds > Buick > Caddy) made sense, and really would make sense today as well.
The sad part is, I remember these being attractive cars. We looked at this and the Olds Intrigue. In top GLS trim it looked great and it drove okay. That being said the Intrigue was considerably nicer and was priced accordingly. Sad how their reputation has fallen.
Better Hugh 4 You Yep, I had a coupe as well. I really liked that car, but for whatever reason it got cancer pretty bad on the driver’s side between the door and the rear wheel at the bottom of the panel. However, the passenger side never got it.
They were stylish along it's twin sportier Grand AM both of them were attractive think had prefer the Alero over Grand AM though it had more features than Alero.
I've been waiting around checking this page for anything SAAB & I have a better chance of winning the lottery than him doing a SAAB review especially on something like the 1999-2001 SAAB 9-5 & if he does do SAAB it's gonna be the plastic GM 03-07 9-3
I think this car looks really good... It's no-grill face looks better than the Ford Taurus, and I think it looks a lot more smooth and appealing than the "look at my aggressive plastic fender panels" Pontiac Grand Am (or whichever Pontiac they made out of it).
I rented a 2-door version of this car back in '99 for a long driving trip. It was surprisingly good for a rental. Good sound system. Oh, and it was the Olds Intrigue that was in the X-Files movie. Sorry to be 'that guy'.
These will always be special cars to me. When I was in high school I had an absolutely beautiful teacher who drove one. I can't help but associate the Alero with her.
@@v8dude609 It was 2006. She was an awesome agriculture teacher who was also our FFA advisor. We all really enjoyed her but she ended up going to work at a district that was closer to where she lived that payed her a lot more.
Thank you for doing an episode on a late-model Oldsmobile. As someone who spent many young hours in an Achieva my grandma owned, they're just a little nostalgic for me.
Spot on. A sad end to a car line that purposefully targeted the wealthy automotive introvert. I am in the Olds demo now, not rich but comfortable, an old fashioned car guy that doesn't care for SUV's. There is nothing for me to buy. Reputation matters, and GM wasted theirs, then and now, by appeasing Wall Street rather than customers. The same car across brands, over and over. The Honda's and Toyota's of the Alero's time were no better and arguably worse. I've owned them. Boring with even less personality and considered reliable ONLY because owners kept telling themselves (and consumer reports) that despite a mounting pile of repair receipts. The Camry's got fixed because they were worth more merely from cognitive dissonance; the Oldsmobiles were junked because they weren't 'worth repairing'.
Hahah the X-Files shout out. I still love watching the X-Files and I love the absolutely forgettable mediocre "motor vehicles" they drive around in the show.
My brother has a 99 alero. For the past 5-10 years he's been talking about getting rid of it. He drives it daily and he goes on short (100-300 mile) road trips every weekend (lives in Iowa). It is quite rusty but somehow keeps on going. My other brother has a 99 corolla but we accept that it is great and there's no talk of getting rid of it. I have a 99 rav4 and we act like it's got another 20 years in it. Good video: captures the essence of this beater.
I’m pretty sure my second car is going to be my dream car It’s seriously just a little fifth generation accord sedan with a manual transmission Edit: am I the only one who also appreciates cars like this that are front wheel drive, 4 cylinder, typical secondhand cars?
This whole channels viewer base, I’ll never forget my b14 Sentra 5speed, it was such a hoot on dirt roads because it had high ground clearance and a tight turning radius
@@AveryatTwoohFive That similarity has been noted. They have almost no common parts outside of fasteners though. I personally like the 6th generation Accord coupe best, or perhaps the same-era TL.
This was my first car ever at 17 I drove it into a snow storm went off the road and up a stop sign had no front end after that so I rebuilt it all myself for 116 bucks front bumper fenders headlights n bracket still going on as my 3rd car lol
My first car as a 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue my dad gave to me after he used it as a commuter car from Shenandoah County to the NoVa/DC area. It got to 325,000 miles and I sold it to a friend for 500 bucks. It was a car that was the boring but ever-reliable pack horse. Sometimes I miss it, but not in a driving way. I miss the comfort of its nostalgia.
These 90s/early 2000s GM cars will run like shit longer than other cars will run
I see students with nice condition buicks from the 2000s more and more frequently
@@Syncopia Almost got a mint early 2000s impala
I bought a really clean 2006 Buick Lucerne for $1,400. It's a really nice daily for the price.
Yea that's how it is. They will be the only things running from their already dead company. Because their still kinda New.
I still daily my 99 Oldsmobile eighty eight. Got it from my grandparents when I earned my license, and it just keeps trucking 12 years later. The GM H and C body cars were ubiquitous in the commuter lot where I went to college. It got me through 4 years of school, and where ever I've wanted to go when my fancier other cars have broken down. At this point it's getting a bit long in the tooth. I still keep it as shiny and waxed as my grandpa did, but the rust has cost me a fair bit to combat.
He’s whispering and screaming at the same time
Yup
@@patronus1776 Have you tried not being entirely made out of vagina?
@ Kiwirar
Using “vagina” as an insult in 2021. Lol.
That says more about you and your fragile masculinity than it does about anyone else’s. Lulz.
@@Bartonovich52 Who are you?
@@Bartonovich52 your comment has more repressed sexuality than an Oldsmobile 88
2 Minutes in and I had completely forgotten this video was about the Alero
But I still haven’t forgotten that Jeff Epstein did NOT kill himself.
It’s a perfect car for thieves and criminals. Everyone forgets that car exists a minuet after they saw it.
@@iPhoneAppReviewer Lets just keep to calling him Jeffrey. Jeff makes him sound almost human. And never forget ABC had the entire story and covered it up.
first two mins are about nothing... thats why
Mission Fucking Accomplished
The Alero now lives on as the source of headlights for UPS trucks!
Interesting
I always notice this lol
I noticed. Great eyes/perception.
Thank you sir...I couldn't place those headlights till right now.
Is that where they're from? I always thought those came from the Eagle Talons
"The audacity" holy shit I just about died.
i know right? he uses audacity too!
@@SoulTouchMusic93
That was absolute perfection
that part honestly made my morning
F
He went and did it
“An Alero wasn’t put on this earth to be sexy any more than I was.”
Oof
I relate. Short and hairy. The only way for me to be less ideal would be to put on another 20 pounds.
That was some beautiful suicide by words
@@JohnSmith-wx9wj put on another 20 lbs of muscle and you might like the results
@@ellisjackson3355
You can't see my muscle because of the hair. I work a pretty physical job, so I do have big arms and shoulders. If I worked on my chest muscles I would have the complete package. I've been thinking about doing it, but I'm thinking, what's the point? It would be like putting mods on a naturally aspirated base model Fiesta.
@@JohnSmith-wx9wj whatever your vehicle, mod it to your heart's content. It's YOUR vehicle, YOUR rules.
If your body is a festiva, make it your ideal festiva. Do it for you and those who like it will surface.
That was easy
Aleros came standard with squeaks and rattles.
Don't forget leaky intake manifold gaskets. And rusty brake lines. And interior plastics with edges sharp enough to cut you. GM was so friggin' cheap with these cars.
Oldsmobile69 you don’t need to tell me. I’ve owned the same one since I bought it new in July 2000. It has gone through several.......changes.
It's weird, but you very rarely see surviving 90's Olds. The few you do, they are always thrashed beyond belief.
and malfunctioning climate control
my 2016 Ford Fusion rattles more than my Alero
It astounds me how many Aleros are still on the road in amazing condition. Every Pontiac Grand AM or Buick La Sabre has become rundown garbage at this point, but the alero survived, somehow...
I see a decent amount of grand ams here in NJ but I also see aleros
I see a decent amount of Grand AMs, Buick Le Sabres, and Oldsmobile Aleros up here in Canada. Sure, a lot of them have lots of rust, but they're still running.
I have an ‘02 with 96k miles and it’s more reliable than an ‘18 Camry
Yes. I am the pensioner that is supposed not to buy an Alero. I will, it's a 1owner car with 110k km, guess where... In Israël...In Europe & Israel, they sold it as a Chevrolet Alero. Gonna rebadge with Oldsmobile on the trunk 😂
I dodge these like the plague, Olds Alero's have a weird connection with my brain. Oldsmobile Alero: the vehicle of your UNsuccessful drug dealer.
Brainc0la :T **Aleros**
Or the vehicle of your _very successful but smart enough to not be overly flashy_ drug dealer.
The alero, the star of meth head car chases.
That Drug Dealer is never getting Caught... No cops would even notice the guy... Perfect Stealth Vehicle.
Everyone knows the guy with the good shit is driving a 2003 Chevy Cavalier with heavily tinted windows
I drive one of these with a v6, its a decent car, been very reliable, going on 320k miles, still runs like a champ
Mine technically died at 330 thou. Sensors all started going one after another. Donated it to charity.
Mine died at 94,000, 2 months ago
Mine died at....
Oh yeahhhhh, I don’t even have a car yet lel
My wife's Alero has 205,000 miles. She bought it new in 2003. Other than some minor nickel and dime stuff it is a good runner. Was a daily driver until we bought something else with more room. Now I drive it once a week just to keep it going.
I don't believe you
"The Alero is aggressively forgettable."
Hello, me.
I'll remember you as that one guy from the comments who has decent, tsundere tastes in guns.
hey
@@izayoiaifuyu Who is their pfp?
My friend rented one for his wedding day back in '02 I think. That sounds really sad now.
F
Accurate.
Are they still married?
Gregory Malchuk yes, happily!
Cesar Abeid
My parents had a 1999 Camry for their wedding
This is the calculably most anyone has ever thought about an Olds Alero,
Actually, I've spent 2 years working on one in a barn...
Logan Roether how is it
@@zotanzero HOW IS IT?
@@zotanzero Listen you SOB. We asked HOW IS THE FUCKING Alero?!
He spent 30% of it talking about classic car owners 😂
I like how after 5 years, the RCR style hasn't changed at all. It still looks like an armature RUclips video from 2009 and I mean that in the nicest way. Its consistency in the most inconsistent place on the internet. Never change RCR. Look forward to hearing from you every Monday.
This is car equivalent of every generic craigslist ad ever
Car 3000$ runs drives stops call [hidden information] for more don't ask stupid questions
BigWheel you forgot "ac blows cold, kinda new tires, just did oil change +filter last month, clean, drives great. Clean title in hand.
2003 Honda civic with 220k miles. $4000 obo LOW BALLERS WILL BE IGNORED. "
So is your civic so you cant say much.
Ever see the ads where you think the guy who posted it is functionally illiterate? If you check Miami or Tampa Craigslist sometimes you see ads in Spanish for really old corollas but at least the grammar and spelling is accurate
@@bootlegscarce0844 lmao forgot that one: "tire kickers" to us western wankers. That's one of my favorites.
this is the car labelled "Yes" on craigslist
Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, and Mercury should all serve as lessons for automotive divisions, in that when literally none of their products are unique to the division, that division has no reason to exist anymore. The Alero as essentially a badge-engineered Grand Am is a sign of that.
So...Why does GMC exist then?
@@davidkaminski615 That is a damn good question.
At one point, GMCs seem to have been marketed towards commercial applications while Chevrolets were marketed towards private ownership, but there are plenty of examples of the contrary. On top of that GMC dealers are often paired with Cadillac dealers, so perhaps now GMC is trying to be both commercial and upmarket, while Chevrolet more mid-to-downmarket.
They all started out good but Gm had to many divisions with no purpose and i think if they would have probably put in more time and effort they would still have Pontiac at least as a performance division.
@@zoidzoid87 GM's many divisions make sense if customers see the products of those divisions as different cars. Doesn't even necessarily matter if they *are* different cars, if buyers see a Regal, Grand Prix, Lumina, and Cutlass Supreme as four of say, ten viable choices, then GM has the potential to hold 40% of the market.
The problem comes when the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, the Buick Century, the Pontiac 6000, and the Chevrolet Celebrity are essentially all the same car. The Buick and Olds were nearly identical on the outside, I have to look for badges to tell them apart. The Death of Oldsmobile may have happened in 2004, but the seeds of its demise were planted twenty years earlier when all of its models looked the same as a Buick, or a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet, and when it would have the same powertrain choices as a Buick, a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet, with nothing but some interior accents and exterior badges to really differentiate it.
Chrysler did this to Plymouth, with the Neon, the Breeze, the Voyager being the same as offerings from Dodge and Chrysler, and Ford killed Mercury likewise, the Grand Marquis, the Milan, the Monterey, the Mountaineer, same as Ford offerings. Park 'em next to their siblings and cover the badges and there's nothing special about them anymore. That makes them redundant, so why pay to maintain a division?
I do feel GMC is above Chevrolet as it appeals to older buyers with deeper pockets. You don't see a GMC pick up truck on a dirty work site, but you might see a Chevrolet. The boss might show up in a GMC tho
Re: your opening rant: You're forgetting spoiled rich kids. Some of them DO start with a dream car
What if your dream cars a $900 shitbox?
That's like 1% of the population tho.
Yep, and then they treat it like shit and cry when it breaks. So glad they can afford another though, right?
I love how the owner knew that a review was going to happen and never bothered to clean the ashes out of it. Lol
Drake Orion I always wonder about that. You know your car is gonna be on RCR. Literally tens of hundreds of people are going to see it. You can’t run through a coin-op car wash armed with a trash bag, the 75¢ vacuum cleaner, a bottle of Armor-All, and the will to present your car in its least-terrible form? Jesus, people.
@@andrewwalker9960 I mean these reviews showcase the vehicle in it's day to day. It's what your car looks like, it's what mine looks like. We're not glamorizing a regular car
@@md4luckycharms maybe it might be fine to reach out offering my 2006 Scion xB with cosmetic issues and the floor covered in CDs
@@andrewwalker9960 I mean, that's what this car is. To expend effort on it is to deny its true form.
I just wonder who can stand to ride in a car that nasty. It must smell awful inside.
"Cause your a go getter who dresses like a 3rd grader on picture day!" I may have to start using that line.
Faded Jate ditto
The uplander was for them types of people.
@@pittsburgh_.central Did he review an Uplander? I thought he did.
This made my day, the '99 Alero was my first car, inherited from my Grandma with 24,000 miles on it. It cruised well on the highway, drove well in snowstorms, it even survived a crash with a deer. I loved that car. Sure the shifter button popped out and had to be glued back in, but the thing just drove with no complaints.
I thought the intro would said “Mom, my alero just broke down but it only costs $3 to fix”
The Olds Alero is a s regular as regular can get.
Next to the Plymouth Acclaim.
I [used to] drive a Dodge Stratus!
Seriously, I had a Stratus for several years. It handled pretty well and had a lot of interior room. Unfortunately head gaskets sucked in the early 2.4 motors.
Or the 96-99 legacy outback.
Saturn S-Series?
I had a Plymouth Acclaim, and later the 'sporty' Dodge Spirit ES.
@@CaptainBlackBread I love the legacy outback. It was an awesome car
October 2000, I turned 17 and got a 2001 Alero for my first car. Was never disappointed and was sad to see her go. Solid car.
If a guy with a 2004 mustang thinks its mundane it must be among the worst.
It's a V6
*edit: V6 Automatic 4 speed at that
@@trevn__ ugh.
@@trevn__ What do you drive a nissan centra? Get the fuck out of here
The amount of cars that are more interesting or exiting he could have gotten instead (for the same money" is immeasurable. His thinking is a mystery we're not ready to grasp.
His dream car is an AMC Eagle. I don't think Roman gives Mr. Regular's biggest brownest shit about exciting cars.
The Alero is like that time you finally hooked up with that person you were mildly attracted to in a moment of boredom, when you had nothing else going on, and then afterwards emotionally rolling your eyes to yourself, wondering if life had really come down to this moment and whether you had peaked and were on the downslope of life.
WE ARE ONE STEP CLOSER TO A U R O R A
If he can get in one before all their Headgaskets melt it would be a miricle there's Probobly like 300 left that are in good running condition
Thats if any are left due to head gasket bolts.
I know of one that has been sitting over a decade due to electrical problems.
*2000-2005 Buick Lesabre first.*
BigWheel I had a 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora as my first car, and when I got it the engine acted like there was a drain for the engine coolant installed. I ended up fixing it with some bar's stop-leak. But unfortunately it died this past may, because it also burned some oil and I let it get too low and the engine seized. It will be missed
Ironically, I see a lot more Alero’s now, than I did 10 years ago.
Roman always sounds like someones strangling him trying to get answers.
;___; I respect The Roman but I don't *love* The Roman...
Im the only one that finds him pretty hard to listen to. Ive been following MR for many years now
@@greyclassic6563 No. He IS pretty hard to listen to. There's nothing wrong with his writing but why is his voice like this? I don't know *anyone* else with this kind of tone...
@@mazzalnx he has a classic european emotive voice. Mr. Regular knows how to put on voices, but Roman is more comfortable being himself.
He was probably born that way. Cut the guy some slack, if you want.
I knew a guy who drove an alero in the mid 2000's. He looked like Charles Manson, had a sick knife collection, got a crazy check, and talked about doing acid all the time. He was really proud of his alero.
When you guys leave the fart jokes out you create some beautiful monologues. That being said, more fart jokes please. 🤣
Roger that!
This one really need more fart jokes, because when it came down to it... it was pretty darn depressing.
@@conroypaw Depression is kinda the Alero's vibe. It's appropriate.
This is one of my favorite 90's-early 2000s cars
The TLDR version of this video would be “The Oldsmobile Alero is the quintessential regular car.”
Ever since I watched The Quintessential Quintuplets, the world "quintessential" has been forever ruined in my head.
Louis Subearth Felt.
@@LouisSubearth you excited for season 2?
@@LouisSubearth I've experienced that disappointment.
To borrow an old RCR line, I think Aleros are good looking "in a Melissa Joan Hart in the 90s way"
There's actually quite a few of these driving around in Finland, for some reason.
Poor finland :(
Was Oldsmobile sold there, or is it the Chevrolet-badged version that was sold in the U.K.?
@@TBustah Yes Alero is Chevrolet in Finland.
There are a weird number of them left here in Canada too. It's baffling.
I remember there were lots of ads for it hailing it as the return of the American car.
I had a 2000 Alero. “Built for working your way up out of it” describes it perfectly. It felt like an accomplishment when I finally sold that thing.
Love how you guys reversed the usual roles in this video, i laughed so hard at the music
I love all of Romans reviews! They're my favorite
Long story short: Grand am pulled it off better.
I guess.
I mean.. for people looking to impress and convey a lifestyle, absolutely. The Grand Am was more sporty and aggressive looking. It had more bells and whistles plus appearance and performance packages. It was a movie star (Lethal Weapon 3... lol).
But to me the Alero was more progressive while being understated at the same time. It was the conclusion of the styling Olds started with the absolutely amazing Aurora and continued with the Intrigue... being both absolutely modern but not overly flashy.
The problem was that market didn’t really exist. People either wanted a flashy trendy car for cheap.. or they wanted conservative styling in a higher quality automobile like a Camry.
@@Bartonovich52 I was looking at old ads. Yeah, can't see why you would get the Olds over a similarly priced accord or camry. I can't imagine Aleros being built better than my brother's Grand Am. That thing was not built especially well
You are correct
@@Bartonovich52 lethal weapon 4 too lol.
RCR Stories: The History of Oldsmobile
I want this!
The one on Pontiac was originally going to Olds, but I actually thought Pontiac was the more interesting story. But now I don't know, since they sort of cover the same material. With that said, it's something I might revisit in an Oldsmobile RCR Story after I'm done with the next one (probably in January).
Yes
I LOVED MY ALERO!!!! The 3.4 v6 was a great engine and sounded great!
I have a 3.4l firebird
Glad you had a good experience, but the GM 3.4 V6 was the WORST engine Iv ever had in a car so far. Just my personal experience
This is amazing, i was thinking last week: "Why haven't they done the Alero yet? It's just so....... Regular."
🎵i gEt nAkEd 2 pOOp
i gEt nAkEd 2 pOOp
i gEt nAkEd 2 pOOp
B kUz i LIVE ALOOOOOOONE🎵
Remember when teenagers started driving older GM cars like these because you could pick them up for $1500 all day and were too useful to die in the Cash for Clunkers carpocalypse?
You still can. Plenty of them on marketplace, Craigslist, etc for under $2000. If you just want something small and fuel efficient for cheap, Chevy Cavalier. Yeah, they're cheap feeling, but they're dead reliable and easy to work on.
Pre bailout GM products are like buying off brand groceries at aldi.
And they're too crappy to hold value too common to run out of parts and too reliable to worry too much about, plus if it explodes the scrap and parts you'll sell off of it will likely pay out more than you put down on the car in the first place.
@@SkylineFTW97 We had a Cavalier for a field vehicle, they can take a few jumps that's for sure.
@@BigWheel. I still see many of them on the road, usually clapped out and rotting because it's the northeast
“ ETERNAL SUNSHINING OUT OF YOUR MEMORY “
Every time I see an Alero on the road (more often than you would think), I wonder what could have been if GM hadn't burned all its goodwill & cultural capital w/Oldsmobile in the 80's and 90's.
Or pontiacs that where solid cars, and chevies being shit.
I think the Brand pyramid illustration explained it pretty well, but put Saturn in Chevorlet's place as the entry level car, pushing Chevrolet to where Oldsmobile was supposed to be. Its not Irony that the only GM brands that survived were ones with a insane performance car. GMC's Cyclone, Buick's Grand National, Chevorlet with the Corvette, and Cadillac's CTS-V, all halo cars that grabbed attention to the brand. Whereas Pontiac's Fiero was made to be disappointing on purpose so not to compete with the Corvette, The Firebird similarly with the Camaro, Olds hadn't a halo car since the 60's, And the less said about Saturn's Sky, the happier we will all be.
@@twotone3471
Pontiac had the G8 and such. They weren't slouches.
The Firebird and G8/GTO were OK, but not better than the Camaro both shared DNA with performance wise, and styling wise as as well IMHO, though opinions vary. It was a stupid move to drop the nameplates Pontiac had for a letter and a number though. I owned the last new model Pontiac sold in the US, the G3, which was a rebadged Chevy Aveo(slower than the Chevy to the last). Kinda gives us Pontiac's answer of how to go out, with a whimper, or a bang. Pontiac died with a whimper.
Tbh I really enjoy Aleros! Always glad to see one in good shape still.
Minor point: the hierarchy was Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac. Olds was always slotted below Buick. But it was also the innovation/power/style brand for GM from after WWII well into the 60s. Buick was all about understated luxury, Cadillac was about being the pinnacle of luxury, Pontiac finally became THE sporty youth performance brand, but if you wanted a well-appointed, good-handling, and fast car, you were an Oldsmobile man.
Olds needed to start marketing their cars as "your grandfather's Oldsmobile." And if, somehow, they showed up today, they would have to be "your great-grandfather's Oldsmobile." Because they were great cars. The ignominious end is lamentable. 😕
Yep, olds had the most experimental stuff, look at all the hemi/dohc/turbocharged olds stuff they had in museums. It's crazy.
No song has every cut me to the core as "I get naked to poop because I live alone"
Some people get naked to poop because they have to clean that area carefully in the shower immediately afterwards.
I still own a 2001 Alero that I purchased new, 2 weeks after 9/11. I found replacing the catalytic converter reestablished engine performance comparable to when the car was new - with standard transmission gearing for nifty low-end torque I can hole shot most Toyota models.
The *audacity* 😂
Also, I liked the Alero. It felt like a premium J body. And you could get it with a stick 👌🏻
N-body. Like a Malibu but better I guess.
@@kevin9c1 Yeah I know it wasn't actually a J, it just felt closer to that than it's actual stablemates
Badge engineering killed Oldsmobile, Buick will die next. Then GMC.
Dude the decline of Oldsmobile is my favorite sadjerk :/
Jurassic Coast Comics no sense in wasting my tears 😤
I miss Saab and I'll miss oldsmobile
"A stronger internet connection for never seeding your torrents" - I'm personally attacked...
My uncle owns one of these he's convinced that it will double or triple in value because it was the last model year before Oldsmobile was axed.
Ill buy it off him right now for Tripple its worth, $1500.39
Jordan Young That’s just hilarious, and also sad.
@@BigWheel. too much
He also has a white I think 1990 LeBaron convertible that he also thinks is worth like 25k. But thing is that it's wrecked a pole fell on it and caved the entire windshield in.
@@wodedagawd9328 but its Tripple the value
It's a beautiful car, I don't understand why he thinks it isn't 'sexy'. Still looks modern today.
I used to date a girl who drove one of these. She had crashed it multiple times, the transmission and brakes were going out, and even drove it on 3 wheels once (don't ask lol) but this thing was damn reliable and I formed a soft spot for early 2000s GM cars
FINE. I'll stop clicking off Roman videos immediately. Jeeze.
That's a weird Corolla
Hehe
tired and read this as "that's a weed corolla" which ... yeah.
Yknow what-
I’m coming around to Roman’s style, I like it!
Good job, buddy!
I didn't expect an explanation of the current decline of buick.
Buick exists to sell cars to China.
Kinda like hollywood and movies?
@@purestress2597 Exactly like that.
@@twotone3471 Kinda like ice cream trucks and ice cream rite m8
@@Phenom98 Aye, ya can't have one without the other! And the Chinese have so many US dollars by now I'm surprised they even make cars there. Could likely give every man, woman and child there a Buick, and have money left over.
Because we didn’t have Cash for Clunkers here in Canada.. these are still _everywhere!!_
I live in a small city under 100,000 and I see at least one a day. Combined with that generation of Grand Am and Chevy Malibu, probably 4-5 a day. Way more than equivalent vintage Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys which were sale leaders as well.. but nowhere near as rust proof.
I never owned one but my family and I had several U platform minivans of the same era and the powertrain was absolutely solid. Yeah.. head gaskets.. eventually at like 200,000 miles which is about when the Subaru that everyone fawns over is on its third one. But decent power.. enough to surprise someone who doesn’t expect a minivan to do a jackrabbit start. Awesome fuel economy no matter how hard you pushed it. Just oil changes and maybe a transmission fluid flush.
Today, these are $250 cars. Everyone knows that they are absolutely worthless at over 20 years old. The value is entirely based on the condition of the tires and how much fuel is in the tank. Almost every electrical convenience is gone and the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree. But they just keep going and going and going. Even though they are only a $400 repair bill from being pushed over a cliff and set on fire.
Nice squishy Grand Am you got there
LOL!
My parents had the Grand Am version of this car. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all and a GREAT road trip car. It was a solid value and cheaper than a lot of equivalent imports. The only repair it ever needed was intake gaskets. Leave it to GM to make such a bad interior though, sheesh.
I could see one easily racking up 200k mostly trouble free miles.
@@Gr8thxAlot omg just took my 99 Grand am gt to my mechanic and found out my intake gasket is leaking. It's a $500 dollar job they say
@@stevenblair980 Unfortunately, it seems to be pretty common. But, the price seems fair. It should have a lot of life left after you get it fixed.
Yes, they were decent cars for the money. One of the times GM got things right.
My first car was a 1999 grand am, I loved that car.
The best, most reasonable, hilarious and accurate intro of RCR that has ever existed so far. Thank you, Roman. My english isn't sufficient enough to express the gratitude i feel
4:34, this man knows his car is gonna be on RCR and doesnt even bother to vacuum it out or clean it up in any way.
they're known for telling owners not to wash or clean out their cars -- they like to capture the natural state of regular cars
@@k.g.alatore355 so? If my car is going to be shown online as a representative of its model and brand you bet I'm going to vacuum that floor
aight, i mean, do that
@@ScubaSteveM45 yea! If it was me I woulda spent like 250 dollars at the car detail shop to get the full interior and exterior cleaned on my 500 dollar car. The entire car company's reputation depends on this video and this video alone!
@@alexyoungberg5232 not everybody drives a grubby shitheap you know. You sound like my buddy who only cleans his Honda when the garbage, empty prerolled joint tubes, fast food drive through bags and empty cans pile over onto the passenger seat
I just got one yesterday . First car I’ve bought with my own money, I don’t even care what RCR says, I love it!
2004 Alero was my first car, lasted 180,000 miles with 32,000 starting. My daughter grew up with it. I owe a lot to it and loved it. powertrain was rock solid. Great video
Nice vid Roman. You had me in stitches from the Audacity line.
Oldsmobile Alero, official car of the Antimemetics Division
As someone who drives a 2004 alero, I felt every part of this video in my soul
Ah yes, the 1st Gen DSM fat sedan
looks like a dsm sedan lmao
Stop saying low key it's stupid
@@ACJ523 I'm not even sure what he means when he says "low-key". I'm accustomed to low-key meaning modest and unemphasized.
All the Alero looks like to me is typical nineties styling cues, found on innumerable cars where the headlights swoop-down into the front bumper cover for aerodynamics. Nothing wrong with the look but clearly automotive designers of the late eighties and nineties all were part of the same school of design.
More like the 1995 model.
chaseman94 I say 1992 because of the headlights and the bumper
Good summary of what happened to Olds... the seeds for their demise, and the demise of Pontiac was sewn way back in the 1970s when GM management decided competition between their brands was a bad thing. And so badge engineering was born, using the same homogenized components to make four or five "different" cars. I contend that GM did much better when their divisions had more design autonomy, and were able to make their own engines. Climbing the GM purchase ladder according to your age and income (Chevy > Pontiac > Olds > Buick > Caddy) made sense, and really would make sense today as well.
RCR - Roman Car Reviews.
His reviews are told like a story; the cars have a character arc, are personified, and have closure. >Great episode
The sad part is, I remember these being attractive cars. We looked at this and the Olds Intrigue. In top GLS trim it looked great and it drove okay. That being said the Intrigue was considerably nicer and was priced accordingly. Sad how their reputation has fallen.
I always thought these were pretty handsome cars.
I liked my 2 door. Body rotted out before the 2.5l engine ever thought about it
Better Hugh 4 You Yep, I had a coupe as well. I really liked that car, but for whatever reason it got cancer pretty bad on the driver’s side between the door and the rear wheel at the bottom of the panel. However, the passenger side never got it.
Me too, grille-less nose, it has some curves to it and giant rear tailights. It all works together nicely, not overdone.
They were stylish along it's twin sportier Grand AM both of them were attractive think had prefer the Alero over Grand AM though it had more features than Alero.
This review is chock full of keen observations about people and life. Good job Roman.
“The Audacity!” I see what you did there.
'01 Alero 5-speed was my first car. I gave it back to my dad 7 years ago and it's still running @ over 200k!
Would love to see one of these about the demise of SAAB.
Me too
I've been waiting around checking this page for anything SAAB & I have a better chance of winning the lottery than him doing a SAAB review especially on something like the 1999-2001 SAAB 9-5 & if he does do SAAB it's gonna be the plastic GM 03-07 9-3
@@toku30 He did a 900 turbo once
@@Eis_Bear that's the old Grampa of SAAB's there's other SAAB'S I had a 97 900 SE Turbo 5 Speed that would leave Automatic 9-5 Aero Wagons
The Raze Do you have one? He’ll probably come and do a review
I think this car looks really good... It's no-grill face looks better than the Ford Taurus, and I think it looks a lot more smooth and appealing than the "look at my aggressive plastic fender panels" Pontiac Grand Am (or whichever Pontiac they made out of it).
I rented a 2-door version of this car back in '99 for a long driving trip. It was surprisingly good for a rental. Good sound system.
Oh, and it was the Olds Intrigue that was in the X-Files movie. Sorry to be 'that guy'.
These will always be special cars to me. When I was in high school I had an absolutely beautiful teacher who drove one. I can't help but associate the Alero with her.
What year was that? How was she? You really caught my interest with this one
@@v8dude609 It was 2006. She was an awesome agriculture teacher who was also our FFA advisor. We all really enjoyed her but she ended up going to work at a district that was closer to where she lived that payed her a lot more.
Love it when Roman voices a video every so often, even better that Mr. Regular did the intro “song”.
Thank you for doing an episode on a late-model Oldsmobile. As someone who spent many young hours in an Achieva my grandma owned, they're just a little nostalgic for me.
I liked the video because it's a regular car for once
Toxic Potato go to bed you triggered tuber.
@Toxic Potato 😂
@Toxic Potato not necessarily, I enjoyed the deuce and a half video
I hope we get more reviews from The Roman! I enjoyed that you guys mixed it up a little here!
My family had a 2000 alero. We put 257k miles and kept it as a back up lol still runs to this day.
Spot on. A sad end to a car line that purposefully targeted the wealthy automotive introvert. I am in the Olds demo now, not rich but comfortable, an old fashioned car guy that doesn't care for SUV's. There is nothing for me to buy.
Reputation matters, and GM wasted theirs, then and now, by appeasing Wall Street rather than customers. The same car across brands, over and over.
The Honda's and Toyota's of the Alero's time were no better and arguably worse. I've owned them. Boring with even less personality and considered reliable ONLY because owners kept telling themselves (and consumer reports) that despite a mounting pile of repair receipts. The Camry's got fixed because they were worth more merely from cognitive dissonance; the Oldsmobiles were junked because they weren't 'worth repairing'.
Hahah the X-Files shout out. I still love watching the X-Files and I love the absolutely forgettable mediocre "motor vehicles" they drive around in the show.
1999 Oldsmobile Alero: When you want something more elegant to drive drunk over the curb leaving Taco Bell at 3am than a Pontiac Grand Am
I love how instead of going off in a tangent during the video, you came in on a tangent...
I've always loved these little things. The appearance is kinda cool, not gonna lie. It's them tail lights tho.
So convenient you upload while I’m on the way to school
My brother has a 99 alero. For the past 5-10 years he's been talking about getting rid of it. He drives it daily and he goes on short (100-300 mile) road trips every weekend (lives in Iowa). It is quite rusty but somehow keeps on going. My other brother has a 99 corolla but we accept that it is great and there's no talk of getting rid of it. I have a 99 rav4 and we act like it's got another 20 years in it. Good video: captures the essence of this beater.
that car screams dont look at me. sounds like the perfect daily beater to me.
is that the reason you got that audi? xD
Agreed
@@patrikkozjak-lesicki8669 you know it lol
Olds deserved a better retirement party
I’m pretty sure my second car is going to be my dream car
It’s seriously just a little fifth generation accord sedan with a manual transmission
Edit: am I the only one who also appreciates cars like this that are front wheel drive, 4 cylinder, typical secondhand cars?
My dream car is an E9 Corolla sedan with 4AGE so yeah
This whole channels viewer base, I’ll never forget my b14 Sentra 5speed, it was such a hoot on dirt roads because it had high ground clearance and a tight turning radius
Ayy, The 5th gens are my favorite ones. I think they sorta look like the JDM integras.
I want to buy a camry
@@AveryatTwoohFive That similarity has been noted. They have almost no common parts outside of fasteners though.
I personally like the 6th generation Accord coupe best, or perhaps the same-era TL.
great to see good ol' RCR again!
Phenomenal writing in this one, Roman!
99-2002 Grand Am Gt was another shitty gem of this era.
This was my first car ever at 17 I drove it into a snow storm went off the road and up a stop sign had no front end after that so I rebuilt it all myself for 116 bucks front bumper fenders headlights n bracket still going on as my 3rd car lol
My first car as a 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue my dad gave to me after he used it as a commuter car from Shenandoah County to the NoVa/DC area. It got to 325,000 miles and I sold it to a friend for 500 bucks. It was a car that was the boring but ever-reliable pack horse. Sometimes I miss it, but not in a driving way. I miss the comfort of its nostalgia.