I have a 1999 Century Limited. I miticulously maintain my cars. All routine maintainance was performed including oil changes, transmission services, brakes, bulb replacements, fuel pump replacement**, water pump** replacement, and other normal wear and tear items.
From my point of view it is the reason GM is in such trouble it is today. Straight out of the factory, a poorly fitting door took 5 trips back to the dealership to fix and only with me standing behind the guy showing him how to do it. That recall to replace the headlight bulbs with dimmer bulbs required booking a 2 hour appointment, only to find my car wasn't ready when I went to pick it up. Within the first 5 years of the car, all 12 wheel bolts had been replaced at one time or another as they had broken.
At about 165,000kms, it was like somebody flipped a switch and all manner of problems happened. The odometer LED display went blank and required an entire (out of warranty) gauge cluster replacement. The engine sprung a leak and required the timing chain cover gasket replaced ($$$). There is still a small leak somewhere but nobody seems to know where. My wet garage floor is the only evidence of the leak. Battery terminal cables found a way to sever themselves. Replaced ignition coil packs as it was not part of the recall, but caused the engine to shut down from time to time (while vehicle was moving) and threw no engine codes. So nobody will diagnose and fix.
In the last year, I have spent more to get the car running and legally sellable (can't even service the car without a mileage reading) than what the car is worth.
Otherwise, the Century is a nice quiet and smooth car to drive the family around in. Especially on those long highway drive vacations.
