Bought used Oldsmobile yesterday, problems already

Tiny
MJA1009
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1992 Oldsmoblie Cutlass Ciera, a little over 91k miles

After looking around for a used car, we bought one from a dealer after test driving it yesterday. Looked great inside and out, sounded great, had low mileage and a pretty good price (we thought) at $2450. The salesman said there was no warranty, but that he would fix problems within a month if there were any. I noticed later that my husband signed a no warranty "as is" paper. So I know that we are pretty much out of luck as far as any legal action.

When we test drove it, it ran fine, sounded fine, everything seemed fine. Then when we drove it home, back out to the store, then back home again, we noticed when we were at a stop the car would make a noise, kind of like the sound of clearing your throat but low, not real loud. And when we got home, I noticed a smell coming from under the hood. We checked the oil and there was plenty of that in there. We didn't see any leaks or anything, but then again, we don't know too much about cars. I had him take the car back to the salesman to get him to look at it. The salesman said that it's probably the new brakes, and if it doesn't stop making the noise and smell within a couple of days to bring it back and he will look at it (and I guess fix it, or more likely say that we are out of luck). Well, today we noticed it is also vibrating the whole car, like riding on a bumpy road. Oh and on top if it all, the fuel gage fluctuates a lot.

Please tell me what to do! We don't have much money to fix it.
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 AT 8:31 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
BRUCE HUNT
  • MECHANIC
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Is the vibration when you put your foot on the brake?

When you park the car, for the next few nights, put a fresh piece of cardboard under the engine and note the location of the cardboard. Check it in the morning to see if anything has dripped on it. Note where any leak is on the engine and let us know.

You need to narrow down better the smell. Does it smell like rotten eggs, burning rubber, oil, coolant?
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Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 AT 10:19 PM
Tiny
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I'm sorry, I actually have two threads going because I started one in the wrong section, and I don't know how to combine them.

Okay, the vibration doesn't seem to start right away, but it's constant and it's not when I put on the brakes. It starts more after I've been driving for a few minutes, and usually when I'm driving constant with few stops like on a highway.

The other noise, that happens when the car is idling, like at a traffic light, happens a lot more when I have the heat on.

As for the smell (which was a little bit like burning oil I guess), I didn't really notice it much today, so I don't know if it is going away, or if the wind is blowing in the other direction, or if it's the cold I have.

I would try that cardboard thing when I get the car back. Right now it's at the dealer. I convinced him to have his mechanic look at it today.
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Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 AT 12:26 PM
Tiny
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The dealer said his mechanic could not find anything wrong with it, and that I just need to get used to it because it's a car that I'm not used to and it's an older car.

The vibration doesn't start right away, it doesn't start until after I've been driving for about 10 or 15 minutes, then it starts to sound like a loose tire or a clunking sound like that, and it keeps doing that no matter what speed I go. 2 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour (haven't really gone higher than that yet), it just does it slower when I'm driving slower, and faster when I'm driving faster.

The dealer said the idling noise is from the heater when it's on defrost. I knew that already, but it makes that sound when the heater is on at all, but the most when it's on defrost.

The smell has pretty much gone away, thank goodness. **I take that back. My husband noticed the smell today, and said it smells like brakes or something.

We are going to try to have a mechanic look at it tomorrow (not the one from the dealer).
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Saturday, February 24th, 2007 AT 4:47 PM
Tiny
CA441970
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BEST thing you can do, he is going to tell you anything to make you stop bothering him. Typical used car lot. Keep us posted.
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Sunday, February 25th, 2007 AT 10:18 AM

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