Oldsmobile Cutlass (1997-1999) review: a Chevrolet Malibu in a nicer suit, and not much else
motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy this Cutlass exactly the way you would buy a same-year Malibu, because that is what it mechanically is: check the 3.1-litre V6 for head gasket history, a known weak point across GM's mid-90s 3.1/3.4 V6 family, confirm the 4-speed automatic has had regular fluid changes, and pay a Malibu price rather than an Oldsmobile-nostalgia premium. It is an honest, unremarkable, easy-to-fix used sedan and nothing more than that.
Pros
- Mechanically shares its platform, V6 and transmission with the far more common Chevrolet Malibu
- Roomy, unremarkable cabin comfortably fits five
- Soft, easy-going ride suits Bahrain's patched roads
- Cheap to buy and cheap to keep running through any generalist GM-savvy workshop
Cons
- 3.1L V6 family has a well-documented head gasket weakness — check cooling history carefully
- No performance or driving character to distinguish it from any other mid-90s sedan
- Carries none of the earlier RWD Cutlass Supreme's enthusiast reputation
- Resale value is negligible; buy to use, not to hold
Oldsmobile spent the 1990s slowly losing its identity as GM shuffled its mid-size sedans around, and by 1997 the once-storied Cutlass name landed on a car that was, underneath its own sheet metal and grille, a Chevrolet Malibu. The two were built on the same GM platform, shared the 3.1-litre V6 and 4-speed automatic, and were assembled at overlapping plants. Anyone who remembers the RWD Cutlass Supreme of the 1980s will find nothing of that car's character here.
What that actually means for a Bahrain buyer
Taken purely as a used sedan rather than as a nameplate with history, this is a perfectly reasonable one: the 3.1-litre V6 is adequate rather than exciting, the ride is soft and unremarkable in the way most mid-1990s American family sedans were, and the cabin is roomy enough for five without being memorable in any way. Because it shares its platform and most of its mechanical parts with the far more common Malibu, sourcing brakes, suspension components and engine parts in Bahrain is straightforward through any workshop that has serviced GM's mid-90s sedans.
The one thing to check carefully
GM's 3.1/3.4-litre V6 family from this era has a well-documented reputation for head gasket failures, usually showing up as slow coolant loss or a sweet smell from the exhaust. Any Cutlass without clear service records for a head gasket replacement or a documented clean bill of health there should be priced accordingly, and a pre-purchase inspection focused specifically on cooling-system history is worth more than any other single check on this car.