Is this car really this junky?

Hi,

I've had this car since 98 and now have 69,000 miles on it. I've performed all normal serivce, most if it through the dealer. Indeed, the car is actually driven less than the miles indicate since that includes 3 cross country ventures (moves). In reality it is only driven about 10 miles a day.

Here's the list of things that have gone wrong JUST THIS YEAR:
Both the back windows stopped working (motors went bad)
Tension pulley froze up resulting in the belt busting (thank god this didn't happen on the road since the power steering went out as a result)
Intake manifold is leaking
Rack and pinion is broke and needs replacing
Rear seat belt is broken (won't extend)

This in addition to standard issues like replacing the tires and break pads and the issues I haven't tried to fix like: window trimming all coming off, tape deck broken (I think we used it like 10 times since we've had it), passenger air conditioning vents broke, and the passenger door is sticking and making a god-awful noise when it opens and shuts.

Are these just signs of more (serious) things to come (meaning I should ditch this thing) OR did all the standard problems just happen to happen to me all at once and now I should have some smooth sailing for awhile.

Why is that GM has forgotten how to get even the simple things to work more than 5 years (like doors and seatbelts and tape deck!?!?)

Oy!

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallsearch.cfm

there were a few recalls especially with the earlier year Intrigues (rear seat belts and power steering). The 3.8L engine will last a long time. The chrome trim around the top of the door sometimes needs to be adjusted with a block of wood and mallet--but I think your problem is more serious.

I have a 2000 year model Intrigue. The guys who engineered the thing did not take much care making it reliable and maintainable. It has only 65000 miles on it and is falling apart. I think they made it hard to get to any of the parts on it so their dealership mechanics could make a killing taking half the engine apart and spending 4 hours to change the spark plugs.

It is currently on its third transmission.
The half-shafts need replacement.
The power steering pressure hose leaks.
The left rear power window quit last month.
All the vents for the AC in the dash fell apart last year.

I could go on and on.

Since they screwed up both reliability and maintainability, my repair bills on this piece of junk have far exceeded my payments over the past two years.

I'm just looking forward to getting rid of it. I'm happy to say it will be paid off in two more months and then I'm selling it to the first sucker who makes an offer.

I will NEVER buy another car made by GM (Generally Mediocre)!

one man's trash is another's treasure.

I agree with you that GM needs to put quality/reliability number 1 and are rapidly falling behind the imports like Toyota and Hyundai in quality. Fit and finish needs to be engineered in also.

For someone that buys a 2000 Intrigue for $5K or less they are getting a steal. Few cars/engines do what the 3.5L can, smoothness with a rush of power when you want it. The handling isn't bad either.

If I can get 3.5L Intrigues or Auroras for 3K-5k (or less) I may have found my car for life.

People that bought these cars new and paid full price really got screwed especially when they ran into problems that were costly (transmissions) or couldn't be fixed without a mechanic.

I have had my share of problems also, but I was lucky enough to figure out and fix them myself with the help of online Forums and online service information.

For people that can't do some of the work themselves, these cars can be a real pain in the ass and a headache.

I can honestly say I really love to drive my car and I manually shift it 2-3-OD whenever possible. It reminds me of my 350 Rocket engine in torque/power and driveability. With the 3.5L you need to rev it sometimes and use synthetic oil, buy good tires. Once you have it set-up, it's a blast.

2000 Intrigue owner.

I agree with the fit and finish being very poor on this car.The weatherstripping started falling off when the car was about 1 year old,the plastic interior pieces were popping off around the B pillar area.As far as the motor/tranny,knock on wood it has been excellent with 40K on the car now.Although the front end does seem to make rattling noise from time to time.

one man's trash is another's treasure.

I agree with you that GM needs to put quality/reliability number 1 and are rapidly falling behind the imports like Toyota and Hyundai in quality. Fit and finish needs to be engineered in also.

For someone that buys a 2000 Intrigue for $5K or less they are getting a steal. Few cars/engines do what the 3.5L can, smoothness with a rush of power when you want it. The handling isn't bad either.

If I can get 3.5L Intrigues or Auroras for 3K-5k (or less) I may have found my car for life.

People that bought these cars new and paid full price really got screwed especially when they ran into problems that were costly (transmissions) or couldn't be fixed without a mechanic.

I have had my share of problems also, but I was lucky enough to figure out and fix them myself with the help of online Forums and online service information.

For people that can't do some of the work themselves, these cars can be a real pain in the ass and a headache.

I can honestly say I really love to drive my car and I manually shift it 2-3-OD whenever possible. It reminds me of my 350 Rocket engine in torque/power and driveability. With the 3.5L you need to rev it sometimes and use synthetic oil, buy good tires. Once you have it set-up, it's a blast.

2000 Intrigue owner.

panzer, you and I know that the Intrigue is not a bucket of bolts. I see a number of them on the road and have yet to see one on the side of the road.

Replacement of the Intrigue with a new similar car is about $30k. Could some of these whining posts be phony, people try to damage the reputation of the car so they can buy it cheap? Some of their complaints seem down-right weird. I know every car has problems but is the Intrigue that much worse than the others on the road? For 80k miles, the only serious problem that I have had is a little crank sensor going bad. The car still looks damn good and everything on it works!

Going to be buying new tires for it next week......ComforTreds which are good for about 80,000 miles. Would not be surprise to get 250,000 to 300,000 miles out of the Northstar engine.

1999 GLS Intrigue owner

I own a 2001 with 61,000 a 3.5L and i am very pleased with it. I have had only minor things go wrong such as now i just figured out im gonna have to replace a turn signal light on it for the second time. There is always a few cars that everything seems to go wrong and visa-versa. If i had to do it all over again i would definatley do the same thing.

I own a 2001 with 61,000 a 3.5L and i am very pleased with it. I have had only minor things go wrong such as now i just figured out im gonna have to replace a turn signal light on it for the second time. There is always a few cars that everything seems to go wrong and visa-versa. If i had to do it all over again i would definatley do the same thing.

Mike, if it is one of the front turn signals, the part that holds the bulb is probably bad. I replace about 3 bulbs before replacing the bulb holder and since then the bulb has not burned out. Found the replacement bulb holder (and bulb) at a salvage yard for a couple of bucks. It snaps right into the wire.

the problem with the Intrigue or alot of GM cars now is that people really expect excellent reliability and fit and finish. So when a car doesn't match up perfectly to their expectations they complain. I complain too, but I try to fix the problem myself -if I can. If I can't then it's 40-60$ an hour at a dealer to get it fixed.

Even Toyotas and Hondas with excellent build quality probably have a 10-20% unsatisified rate.

I don't care. If I could get an Intrigue with the 3.5L for 5K, I would probably buy it if it's passes my road test (beating).

The problems relating to the Intrigue are generally true. Some of these cars are very problem-matic. For the enthusiast it's a great car if they are willing to fix and research problems.

Thanks for that Jimmy, i will have to check it out. And yes it was the front turn sigal both times.

Thanks for that Jimmy, i will have to check it out. And yes it was the front turn sigal both times.

Mike, one more thing about that front turn signal light. There is a rubber cover that you remove into to access the holder and its bulb. Some how I lost my mine on the problem bulb and I used duct tape to cover the access hole after I replaced the holder/bulb.

the problem with the Intrigue or alot of GM cars now is that people really expect excellent reliability and fit and finish. So when a car doesn't match up perfectly to their expectations they complain. I complain too, but I try to fix the problem myself -if I can. If I can't then it's 40-60$ an hour at a dealer to get it fixed.

Even Toyotas and Hondas with excellent build quality probably have a 10-20% unsatisified rate.

I don't care. If I could get an Intrigue with the 3.5L for 5K, I would probably buy it if it's passes my road test (beating).

The problems relating to the Intrigue are generally true. Some of these cars are very problem-matic. For the enthusiast it's a great car if they are willing to fix and research problems.

Good post, panzer. I guess that because I drove old used cars for so long that my expectations for problems is pretty high. Yes, I like to work on cars and keep them running so I see problems as an opportunity to figure things out.

Saw an Intrigue for sale on a corner lot and the Mrs. and I were thinking about buying another but decided to go with a different type of vehicle so we bought a 2006 Subaru Forester. Both fun cars to drive but the Intrigue is a heck of a lot easier for me to slide into!