2001 Pontiac Montana review from North America

~150k - intake manifold seal - mechanic says he does these before first tune up on Montanas. Cost $700. Did spark plugs while in there... wires were welded on to tops - took 2-3x longer to hack off wires and extricate plugs - cost ~ $300.

Mechanic thinks DEXCOOL may be the problem, since he has done many GM engines with these gaskets. Replaced Dexcool with regular antifreeze.

~140k - wipers broken again. Froze on to windshield, didn't free them. Could not turn them off fast enough - they killed themselves. $100 for some unknown component. Terrible design, especially where it snows.

~130k - water pump.

~120k - wiper park problem. Up here in Canada, snow collects at bottom of windshield where wipers want to park. If they are blocked at all, they kill themselves trying to park. New wiper module - $250.

~110k - replaced EGR valve. $150. check engine light on again - phantom codes - no diagnosis.

~100k - Dash lights burn out easily. They are also not easy to repair like the old days. Cost a couple of hundred to replace a few bulbs, since dash has to be pulled and new bulbs soldered in.

~75k - Front wheel bearing started howling - found a used one and replaced it...$250.

~20k - check engine light always coming on. replaced a few O2 sensors.

I like the look of the Montana. I bought it because my 98 Chevy Venture has given no real trouble, has 300k and have had no issues at all with it. Get 100k out of fr brakes, never done rear brakes.

The vehicles are mechanically identical, yet I hear and read problems galore for the Montana, and cannot figure out why. Are more sold? Are there two different lines in Doraville, GA - a good one and bad one?

Van is hard to resist with 0% financing and deep discounts. So many on road, lots of mechanics can fix them, although not a lot of knock off parts even years later, which is strange.

All tolled, get the Venture. I don't know why it has fewer problems - I think they sell more too. This forum has few messages on Venture problems, way more Montana issues I see.

Check engine light always coming on in both vehicles - usually O2 sensor or EGR or unknown codes. At least in 98 venture light goes off - Montana stays on til reset.