About Ray Hudson Expertise technical history, authentication of the 1968-1975 hurst/olds. restoration and parts locating help, including locating a specific year hurst/olds for purchase.
Experience hurst/olds owner and enthusiast
Organizations hurst/olds club of america
Publications thunder & lightning (hurst/olds club magazine)
Question I would like to purchase a 2002 Aurora V8, but I am concerned about the imminent phase-out of the Oldsmobile line. Would you advise against buying an Oldsmobile now? Thank you.
Answer Hi Ken,
Many people have expressed the same concerns as you. When word gets out about a manufacturer to cease a model production it's no big deal. Though when it's the manuafactuer itself, many either buy at a good deal, or avoid thinking that parts and repair if needed will be non exisitent. Far from the truth. Your car will be under full factory warranty and repair if needed is as easy as a buick/pontiac dealer. The reason is many of those models share the basic platform. Parts availability will be easy. The folks at GM today forced Oldsmobile divison to take a back seat to Buick. Many of the Buick features were inspired by Oldsmobile. GM which has a new breed of managers decided to phase out 13 models and 1 division. Of those 13 models include Chevrolet's Camaro and Pontiac's Firebird. We can see those exit in 2006 or so. Now back to the Aurora your considering. Ken, this car is one of the finest you can buy today. Oldsmobile division knew this car would attract buyers and would put the Aurora on the map as a sport/luxury car. It handled better than any Buick, and had plenty of power, and better built. When GM caught wind what Olds was up to, they were told "not to make waves" or compete with Buick. After the debut of the Aurora, GM was afraid it would overshadow Buick, thus would create a problem phasing a car out that was selling well. The stockholders would have never voted out Olds, at least just yet. So, the Aurora was poorly marketed and advertised on purpose. I have known a few Aurora owners. They can't rave enough about the car, both in reliability, ammenities, style, and comfort. One traded his 1999 on a 2001 just to have a newer model. So, if that's any indication, Now is the time to buy. In the future maybe GM will see the mistake of the phase out. By that time, the Aurora will be a sought after collector car.
