There was a time when Oldsmobile seemed to be hitting its stride. After years of attempting to build a car that European brand loyalists could be compelled to buy, GM’s Oldsmobile group seemed to be getting closer than even Cadillac at the time. Did they still have inherent weaknesses? Yes, but sedans like the Intrigue were making a valiant effort to convince buyers of entry-level 3-Series to stop by the Oldsmobile dealer first. This 2002 Intrigue listed here on eBay shows just 36K miles and is offered for $7,999 or best offer.
I want to give a shout-out to Barn Finds reader Curvette, who sent in a honey of an Oldsmobile Alero with low miles and great colors; sadly, it sold before I could post it, showing you just how good of a deal it was. This Intrigue isn’t far behind and has lower miles than that Alero. It’s not the top banana spec with polished/chrome wheels and a leather interior – in fact, it’s more or less a glorified rental car – but that’s OK. There are staggeringly few Intrigues still on the road in clean condition, so this one warrants a closer look. It’s also curiously similar to another tan, low-mileage Intrigue I wrote up in 2018, here on Barn Finds.
But perhaps that comment about it being a rental-car spec example isn’t that far off. If you take that into consideration, and if the rental car companies have a mileage “shelf” where they begin selling off inventory, perhaps both this Intrigue and the one from 2018 were former occupants of your local Hertz lot. The details of the Intrigue are what make me such a fan of this midsize sedan, including the nicely-bolstered seats that were standard equipment; a clutter-free, driver-oriented cockpit; four-wheel independent suspension; and the punchy Shortstar 3.5L V6 under the hood (215 horsepower and 230 lb-ft of torque).
Now, some loyalists will tell you that the pre-99 cars are the ones to buy, since they still had the venerable 3800 Series V6 under the hood, and they’re likely correct. The Intrigue did have reliability issues, and still suffered from the same cheap build quality of other GM products (which is likely why relatively few import shoppers made the switch). However, I will still fondly remember the days of watching X-Files and seeing the Intrigue used as a prop in commercials for the feature film, thinking it was the coolest sedan ever made with Fox Mulder at the wheel. Nostalgia – it’s a hell of a drug!
I had bought a used blue 2001 Olds Alero 10 years ago from the family of the deceased Mom. 2000 dollars and one new battery later I had a work vehicle. It was a good car, got me where I had to go, and never let me down. The interior looked a lot like this one. It was comfortable. This one looks great, and someones going to have a comfortable Olds to drive in.
I bought a 1999 Intrigue brand new. It was a smooth riding car with surprisingly good handling for its size. I really wanted to love that car. Unfortunately, it was the most unreliable car I ever owned. It spent 20 days in the dealers shop over the course of the first year. GM might have been chasing European-leaning buyers, but they tried to do it with British Leyland build quality.
I was travelling all over in 1999, and I rented quite a few vehicles. The Buick Regal and the Intrigue were two of my favorite rentals and served me well in disaster areas along the gulf and Texas. Eventually my wife’s Hyundai Excel need to go, and I bought a 10 month old ex-rental Intrigue with 30k on it. She hated it but I really loved it. Quick enough, decent mileage and utility and compfortable and quiet at 100 mph. Held on to it for 3-4 years and sold it at maybe 75k miles figuring I was at the end of the GM “sweet spot” . Boy was I wrong, that car buzzed around town for another 10 years and another 75-80k miles, and the only issues it had was all 4 windows stopped working. Didnt want it back, but sure missed it.
What would sell it to me is whether it had a sun roof. Nice car otherwise. Intrigued? Yes
What I always thought was a shame is that it didn’t come in a two door, but the Alero did. I wonder if they thought it would look too much like a Grand Prix, which I had a two door 1998 at the time. And for nostalgia it should have been named Cutlass.
Decent cars for a mid market Oldsmobile. I really liked the driving position in them. Perfect for a tall person like me. I did not care for the Short Star engine. Though others seemed to have gotten decent life out of them. Olds should have kept the 3800 in them and then offered the supercharged 3800 as a more powerful option.
.
I liked the 3.5, and it proved to be a good engine in the long run.. to bad it didnt get the generation improvements the 3.8 did. It fit with Old’s mission as a technical innovation leader, and was pretty quick and easy on the senses. I love the 3.8’s, (still have one today) but if I was in the mood for that I’d just rent a Regal instead.
One of a number of solid cars that couldn’t save Olds or GM from reorganization. Nice car.
My cousin is still driving his that was bought new. Being in Michigan it’s surprising how good of condition it’s still in.
My girlfriend still has her 1999 Intrique she bought new. Standard engine was the 3.5, but she got the 3.8. It’s been a great car for her. On the window sticker when it had the 3.8 it was listed as 3.8 delete.
My 2001 Aurora had the 3.5 litre Cadillac derived V-6.
I purchased it with 121K and sold it with 286K.
It still ran great; no oil leaks & none of the plastic intake manifold issues my ’97 ’88’ 3800 had.
At 70 MPH, with cruise, the car consistently gave 29MPG.
I remember renting one of these in 2000 and being totally impressed by it. Good power, good handling, easy to see out of, good looking. I did not think it had cheap build quality AT ALL. What reliability issues? I don’t remember hearing much about that with these. I do think I’d rather have the 3800 engine in the earlier cars, but they switched to the overhead cam V6 because they were being criticized for still offering a pushrod engine – which is ridiculous considering how good the 3800 was. I never buy new cars, but thought this might be one I’d buy as a used car when it was 10 years old. I never did, but I wish I had.