In his book, "Snake Bit: Carroll Shelby's Controversial Series 1 Sports Car", Eric Davison says:

"At one point in its recent past, the Oldsmobile division had sold more than 1,000,000 automobiles. Subsequently, poor quality control, emerging Japanese competition, a poorly conceived diesel engine, and myriad other ailments had pushed Oldsmobile to near death."

Of all the things mentioned as contributors to Olds' demise, this is the first SPECIFIC mention of the "poor quality control" and "poorly conceived diesel engine" I've seen. Conspiracies aside, how accurate is this statement? Do any of these things fill out YOUR "Top 5" list of Olds' death-hasteners?

REMEMBER: I'm only the researcher, NOT the author of these things I find. And I am only an Oldsmobile fan, NOT an expert. But maybe YOU are...

Drew

 

As with the Vega, Fiero, V4-6-8, and other GM cars, shortcuts early in production doomed the car in the public's eye long after the problems had been fixed. There are two fundamental flaws in the Olds diesel, the use of only four head bolts around each cylinder, and the penny-pinching decision not to include a water separator in the fuel system. Keeping the four bolts per cylinder made some sense for commonality with other Olds motors and the production line, but the lack of a water separator is inexcusable.

There are other examples of quality problems and engineering decisions made by accountants. For example, on the B-body wagons in the 1980s, GM (not just Olds) made the decision to eliminate the power seat motor relays and instead run the high motor currents directly through the seat switch. Unfortunately, they did not upgrade the contacts in the switch.

I can't tell you how many times I've taken apart the switch in my 86 to clean and adjust the contacts, since replacements are not available.

Other quality issues? Foam-backed headliners that droop when the foam deteriorates. Cracked and warped dash pads (I've never seen that on my 1960s-vintage Oldsmobiles). The overly-complex CCC system that most mechanics can't or won't adjust properly.

The list goes on. Fortunately, for me, it means that I can pick these cars up cheaply.

 

The Caddy 4100, another gem.

 

And I don't think anything compares to 2001-2005 models, especially the Aurora. Instead of just killing Oldsmobile, they let it die a slow 5-year death. There were retired GM execs that warned people not buy an Oldsmobile because quality would be compromised by disgruntled workers. I, like a lot of people, ignored that warning. My 2002 Aurora was the worst car I ever owned, from electrical glitches to oil leaks to rattles and squeaks, it was awful. Didn't surprise me when Consumer Reports placed the last generation of Aurora on the 'do not buy' list. I had a fist full of recall notices. Seems like every month it was back to have something fixed. A real P.O.S.

And then I found out the Aurora was nothing but a re-badged Impala. Then I found a list of all the TSB's and recalls on the web for the Aurora, and that was the end for me. I really wanted to stay with Oldsmobile (my passion), but I guess Shelby was right, there was a reason GM saw fit to axe Oldsmobile. They were truly terrible cars in their final few years.


Avoid the later Auroras at all costs.

 

A rebadged Impala? uh, no it wasn't.