On this day, December 12, 2000, General Motors pulled the plug on Oldsmobile.

[Best_man23]

4. I worked as a technician at an Olds dealer in the 1990s

Originally started out working at a Pontiac and GMC truck dealer, then moved over to Oldsmobile for what I perceived at the time as "better working conditions". That's another story for another thread.

What killed Olds were the same things that eventually drove GM into a position where they had to declare bankruptcy in 2009, poor quality and little if any difference between the car lines. At one time, Oldsmobiles had very distinctive styling and their own line of engines. By the time I started turning wrenches on GMs, the level of parts sharing between BOP (Buick, Olds, Pontiac) was pretty high. You could sit inside a 1991 Pontiac Bonneville, a 1991 Buick LeSabre, or a 1991 Olds Delta 88 and there was not much difference in terms of appearance and even less in performance. Quality was an issue across the board. Thirty years later, I still have scars on my hands from replacing cam gears on Iron Dukes and water pumps on 3.8L V-6s while the cars were still in warranty.

The main reason Buick is still around is it serves as GM's brand to transition consumers from buying Chevrolets (entry level brand) to ultimately buying Cadillacs. I'm not sure that sales/marketing model really works anymore, but apparently GM is still using it to this day.

The family who owned the Olds dealership I worked at saw the writing on the wall a lot earlier than others, and bought into a Chrysler/Jeep franchise a couple of years before I left auto repair.