2002 Oldsmobile Alero: Reliability Data

405
Total Complaints
71,382mi
Median Mileage
Electrical System
Top Issue
14
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

40,000 25th Percentile
71,382 Median Mileage
103,919 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Electrical System
101
Exterior Lighting
30
Turn Signal
23
Engine And Engine Cooling
13
Unknown Or Other
13
Switch
12
Engine
12
Switch
12
Switch
11
Control Module
9

Severity Assessment

14
Crashes
9
Fires
11
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CONSUMER STATES THAT ON TWO OCCASIONS THE DRIVER'S RESTRAINT WOULD NOT RELEASE WHILE DRIVING, CONSUMER HAD TO CRAWL OUT BENEATH IT AND FIDDLE WITH IT FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES BEFORE HE GOT IT TO RELEASE. *NLM *YD"
"WHEN APPLYING ACCELERATOR AT 50-55 MPH VEHICLE WILL NOT ACCELERATE, ENGINE WILL NOT REVV. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO DEALER 4 TIMES, CANNOT FIND A CAUSE. *AK"
"DRIVER'S SIDE SEATBACK WILL FALL BACKWARD ABOUT AN INCH WHEN ACCELERATING OR APPLYING BRAKES.CONTACTED DEALER. THEY ARE AWARE OF PRBOBLEM,BUT WILL NOT FIX IT.*AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Electrical System 101 complaints
25th: 63,110 mi Median: 92,837 mi 75th: 132,500 mi
Exterior Lighting 30 complaints
25th: 64,000 mi Median: 90,000 mi 75th: 135,000 mi
Turn Signal 23 complaints
25th: 36,150 mi Median: 69,582 mi 75th: 86,690 mi
Engine And Engine Cooling 13 complaints
25th: 53,250 mi Median: 73,773 mi 75th: 112,575 mi
Unknown Or Other 13 complaints
25th: 39,275 mi Median: 67,000 mi 75th: 140,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

OH: 34 MI: 25 IN: 21 PA: 18 GA: 17 KY: 17 IL: 17 TX: 17 NY: 16 CA: 15

Who Files Complaints?

16.3%
Original Owners
83.7%
Second+ Owners

Oldsmobile Alero — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
199970220
200081023
200154928
200329427
200417314

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28