Hello everyone. I know this is my first post, but i've been lurking and reading everybody's tips, tricks, and witty commentary since march 2013 when my brother bought this 2001 Alero from the local used car lot.
legal stuff:
THIS VEHICLE IS LOCATED IN SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI. IT IS SOLD AS_IS, WHERE_IS!! No guarantees, warrantees, or anything about anything whatsoever, at all. That said, she is always kept in proper condition, and [once i swap out the fuel pump-- see below] I would be perfectly comfortable driving her anywhere in north america without issue.
It [is a 4-door sedan and] has the tan/grey cloth interior, the 2.4L 4cyl w/ the automatic trans, and has 'analog' hand crank windows. She runs and goes just fine, but we're moving from the midwest to the northwest, and we don't see the value in taking it with us.
We'll start with this: my brother smokes, so there are two or three *very* minor cig burns. He also has a rather large dog (an 80lb golden Bassador). I detail the car for him every couple weeks, but still find the odd stray fur on occasion. If you're allergic to dogs, this is probably not the car for you. The vehicle does *not* smell like smoke or animal in any way shape or form, and i will likely detail it again before it sells. These are very very minuscule items (to me) and i'm just pointing them out for honesty's sake.
At one point last winter there was a massive ice storm, during which we had to jump start the car. The ice dam that had formed along the aft edge of the hood caused the last half inch of each corner to bend up thus giving the vehicle 'ears' for lack of a better description. Again, not really a big deal.
The frabnabbin' passenger wheel speed sensor.
i could swear all day about this one: the only time i let it go to a shop, the mechanic replaced *both* front wheel hubs, but failed to repair the wiring harness on the passenger side. He then charged almost $1700 for the experience (which my naive little brother just paid instead of calling and asking me to go kick somebody's... yeah) anyway, it has brand new front wheel hubs, and the cruise control works perfectly, but the ABS light is on. (not the big red 'BRAKE' light, just the normal idiot light triumvirate, so it passed inspection with flying colors in missouri a few months ago).
The coolant outlet housing had a leak. I replaced it, and all the rubber associated with it, and now it does not leak coolant. As far as oil goes, there is a small leak somewhere (probably the valve cover, but definitely not the head gasket). I just drain and fill with synthetic every 3000 miles, change the air and oil filters, and haven't had any problems yet!
I currently have the fuel pump out of the vehicle because she wasn't starting on the first click (it took four or five cranks before firing up all last week) and today we can't hear it prime so she gets a brand new VDO pump & filter/filter socks etc this weekend. I dremeled up a redneck-hatch under the rear seat and i'm happy to sell it with the old pump in place and deduct that effort/cost into account in the price negotiation, but no working on it in my drive. Ya best bring a trailer if you want it that way!
New battery, wiperblades, and brake pads were purchased February 2016. Rotors were replaced back in 2013. It has it's unused donut-spare and useless OEM pinch-weld scissor jack in the trunk. I will include a proper hydraulic bottle jack and pair of axle stands at no cost if buyer needs them.
Tires are new-ish, put 2 new fronts in 2014, 2 new rears in 2015, rotation at every oil change. I do all of the maintenance myself in my garage, and other than that stupid freaking wheel hub sensor harness, she is in excellent daily-driver condition, paint is 100% original, clearcoat is shiny everywhere, and the car looks (almost) brand new -- it is missing a hubcap and has a shopping cart ding on the drivers front quarter panel a little smaller than the diameter of a pencil-eraser. My brother is a perfectionist, and we spent like 2 weeks looking at every single car-lot in town before he found one that properly suited his aesthetic.
It has the CD/AM/FM radio with speakers in the doors, dash, and rear-deck (parcel-shelf?) Nothing special, but i have a couple other decent single din stereos and a double-din adapter kit for them (with pocket!) I will give away with the car if the buyer so desires.
mirrors, windows, glass, console, seats, carpets, headliner, handles, and really everything else is immaculate (for a 17 year old car). No window problems, all 4 roll up and down on their tracks as expected. the seats are in perfect condition, and nobody has ever been in the backseat at all (except one very well behaved dog). It has never endured anything gross, we're grown adults and don't really do anything outside of work. We bought it with 130,000 MILES on it in March 2013, it is currently just under 142k. This was used as a spare car, so we've only put 12 thousand miles on her in 3 years. We are the second owners, the first 130k were mostly highway commute from the original owner [the salesman's 58 year old aunt, or something]. I still have his card but ymmv, he *is* a used car salesman that sold my brother a 4200 dollar 2.4L 4-banger Alero.
Anyway, we've dropped probably another 3 grand on this car in the last three years just making sure she's always in the kind of top condition that obsessive-compulsive disorder requires, haha
I know i'm not going to get nearly that kind of cash out of this vehicle, but i also don't care. It's just money, and the car has served us quite well when we needed it.
Realistically, i figure it's worth an asking price of $2000, but that's super negotiable, so don't be shy, just PM and make me an offer. It MUST get sold before June 20th, and the sooner its off my plate the better.
Seriously, we have a hard deadline before it gets left in my dad's barn indefinitely, so if you are in, near, or even headed vaguely toward the Springfield/Branson area, i will entertain *all* semi-reasonable offers. I'd rather see someone enjoy her and i don't want to leave her to rot amongst the junkers, but we can't take her with us, so please please please take the chance to rescue this one while it's available. The title is CLEAN & CLEAR in my brother's name, he lives here with it and will sign it all over to you, or leave it blank, or whatever you need but he *really* isn't a car person.
PM me for a phone number and we can discuss the joys of owning this merry little oldsmobile!
For the record, if you want to fly in and drive home, I will trade for any flyable aircraft from the 50s/60's/70s. I would also consider a tiny RV, any 98-05 BMW 525 or 750iL in any condition, or any non-foxbodied mustang. We will be leaving a very bored dad to tinker on his projects while we're away but he hates GM with an unbridled passion, so while the items above would bring him much joy, i'm afraid that the alero would get no love at all...
I'll add pics this afternoon. It will also be on Craigslist, and considering the vehicle's amazing condition and my willingness to take a solid hit on the asking price, I expect it'll be gone by monday.