1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This car was already past it's prime with 260K on the clock when purchased. It now has 282K and pulling strong. Engine runs pretty much like the day it was built save for an intake manifold leak and a slightly rough idle. So far it's only cost basic maintenance save for a couple of sensors in the very resilient and easy to work on 3300 series V-6. It's running straight pipes right now with a cold air intake and is ballsy, especially midrange cruising. Suspension is a bit messed up but that is more due to age than any flaw with the car. It starts without fail every morning, Hot or cold, ride is relatively smooth but a bit soft. This is easily repaired with perfomance struts and load-adjusting rear shocks. Front suspension setup is fantastic and simple witht he McPherson strut system, however it could greatly benefit with an independent rear. Braking is average for a car this size, could use larger rotors and rear discs as opposed to drums. Build quality is typical American car- tank-like and strong exterior with panel gaps just slightly off, Interior is absolutely awful with the dash rattling, ceiling liner falling, and general poor-fitting components. Seats are comfy and vehicle is very well equipped with power everything. It does suffer from a lack of leg room for both the front and back seat passengers. Maintenance is dirt cheap and most parts are off-the-shelf and carried in your local parts store, which is quite rare for a 20 year old car. Any parts you are unable to buy new can easily be found in your local boneyard as there were so many of these built and sold that you're likely to find at least one. The body is perhaps the most boring thing on the road. It's not ugly, and it is proportioned well, but it is basic. Don't expect any beauty contest wins with it. Mechanically, the engine is a work of art. With simplicity in design, and tough materials (Cast Iron block & heads, pushrod design) this motor with last longer than the car itself. It's got a great power to weight ratio, and more than keeps up with today's more powerful cars. The only downside is the engine is a bit weighty which lends itself to some pretty bad understeer. Wider tires help counteract this. Torque steer is pretty bad as this engine is a bit powerful for the suspension. The front end weight does have a huge benefit in the snow and wet in terms of traction, this vehicle will outdrive a lot of 4wd vehicles in the snow. Sadly there is not much available to do to the vehicle in terms of performance parts, if this is your goal, either buy a different car or get really friendly with your local machinist, as pretty much any performance parts will need to be custom made or machined out of the existing parts. Engine sounds wonderfully peppy and spirited in the mid to high range, but a bit dreary and droning at low rpm and light acceleration. Trunk space is awesome for a midsize. Long distance travel is comfortable although you will cramp up a little from the just short of comfy front leg room. It's an easy car to throw around a bit once you get used to the understeer and you have a remarkable sense of control with it, although a floor mount shifter would improve this immensely. Braking is solid albeit a tad weak for the weight in the front. Overall, there is very little that can go wrong with this car so long as it is maintained properly. The engine is very forgiving in terms of overheating, forgetting an oil change or other various mistakes, but be warned that if the vehicle overheats badly enough, you will almost certainly warp the intake manifold as it is aluminum. Gas mileage is fair to good, there are better cars out there similar sized, but this particular car is a 3 speed auto, find one with the 4spd overdrive and the gas mileage improves greatly. There is a certain fun to owning this car now, as they are so plentiful and cheap to buy/run/fix that you don't care too much if it gets dinged up or used for such chicanery as towing an isuzu rodeo 20 miles home, loading a 350 lb TV in the back, towing a uhaul trailer from NJ to SC, using it to move house by tying a bunch of stuff to the roof, the car will just happily continue to putter along as if nothing has changed. It is a car that you despise at first because it seems boring, but within the first month, you will fall head over heels for it and refuse to give it up until it's absolutely time for it to go. It's a car that grows on you and you will end up naming it, glancing at it occasionally and smiling, because you will know something that people who have never driven it don't know... it is perhaps one of the greatest cars ever built. It has something that all car fanatics love to find in a car... a personality. An x-factor. Something that makes it special, but you just can not put your finger on it. You will discover this at some random point. Either loading it up with 300 bucks worth of groceries, or cruising down the highway at 65, jamming the pedal down and 2 seconds later you're doing 85, and that smile will creep onto your face and never leave. You will cry when it finally has to go. This is a car that your children will tell their children about. It stops being a car and starts being a legend, a member of the family, like that drunk uncle who punches bears for fun. It will feel like an old, trusted friend, uncomplaining, friendly, and reliable. Let it take you places. Let it get dinged up a bit and call them battle scars. Race ricers with it at the stop light for kicks and giggles. I have driven many different cars in my life, some would be considered desirable, some would be considered odd, some even more expensive, nice, better quality, but not a single car I've owned or driven ever made me feel this happy to be behind the wheel of it. Every time I drive any of the Olds Cutlass Ciera/Buick Century/Chevy Celebrity A-body GMs, I always end up asking myself why we, as Americans, drive any other midsize car. That's just my 2 cents. It hasn't been without it's frustrations or breakdowns, but any car this age and mileage will have them. But not all of them will leave you this satisfied to own it.Sep 12, 2013