excessive noise

I own a 1999 Olds Intrigue GLS. The road noise in the rear seat of the car is almost unbearable. Is this a common problem, if so is there a remedy?

Tires are usually the culprit in road noise. I recently bought a set of Falken ZIEX 512. http://www.falkentire.com/html/products/ziex/512/ziex512.htm

Consumer reports rated this as the number one tire in a comparison recently for all season passenger car tires. These are H rated tires which will ride firmer than the stock Goodyears but are amazingly quiet. I was worried at first because of the higher speed rating than the T and S ratings usually on Intrigues but am amazed every time I drive the car. No more wallowing ride and the tires are quiet indeed. 60k wear warranty is kudos as well.

Undercoating the wheel wells over what the factory/dealer has done may help. Cans of rubberized undercoating should be available at most auto parts stores. Undercoating the whole car helps out a bunch with deadening the noise.

Sound dampening helps alot. Dynamat is probably the most common name that comes to mind. http://www.dynamat.com/spec_dynamat_original.htm

There is also "Brown Bread" which is a roofing sealer but has similar properties to Dynamat but is cheaper and available at Home Depot or Lowes hardware stores.
http://www.dynamat.com/sound_dbate_Xtreme_comparison.htm

Another thing that comes to mind is perhaps the rear door seals or your trunk seal are not doing their jobs.

Hope this helps!

Your tires may be cupped from a bad alignment. make sure you have your alignment checked when you get new tires

Don't forget the possibility of a rear wheel bearing! It can be very similar to tire noise.

Before winter I had the stock tires replaces with Michelin MVX4+ tires from Costco. I was amazed how much quiter these were.