1996 Pontiac Grand Prix SE review from North America

Before the car hit 80,000 miles and not even a year of me owning it, it needed a new water pump, alternator, battery, and front brake pads.

There was a period where the car would randomly die while driving down the street. The interior lights would flash and the gauges would jump all over the place. This was eventually traced to bad wiring to the battery, after the dealer insisted on checking the computer and various other electrical components for a ridiculously high fee.

The cable running from the shifter to the transmission corroded and jammed one morning, preventing me from shifting the car into gear. After fearing the worst (the transmission itself), I was thankful it was only an inexpensive cable that needed to be replaced.

A rough idle in the morning was remedied by replacing the fuel pump and several engine sensors.

All four struts and strut mounts have been replaced at various intervals after the increasingly loud thumping and banging over every bump in the pavement wore my nerves to their breaking point.

Both the mufflers and the exhaust system have rusted badly in the 4 years I have owned the car. I looked into replacing it, but for the amount of money the dealer wants, I can live with the noise.

The intake manifold gasket developed a leak and eventually blew, causing several hundred dollars worth of repairs.

The padding in the driver's seat is wearing flat and the carpeted "kick" panel underneath the passenger dashboard is constantly falling down.

The car now requires repeated attempts to engage the left turn signal. Sometimes I feel compelled to break off the lever, as it feels so flimsy and cheap.

I previously owned a 1994 Grand Prix and liked it well enough to look for a newer model when the high mileage prompted me to trade it in after two years of ownership. When I saw this 1996 sitting on the lot, I was drawn to the bright red color, ground effects, and 5-spoke wheels so I was eager to close the deal on it after a (too) brief test drive.

It wasn't until I got the car home that I discovered it did NOT have antilock brakes as my old Grand Prix did and it is a feature I have missed to this day.

I later discovered this car was originally a rental car for the first portion of its life. That knowledge has always bothered me, what with the common conceptions of how rental cars are generally (mis) treated.

This 1996 Grand Prix has not been nearly as reliable as my 1994 model had been. I love the looks of it, both inside and out; however, mechanical and electrical issues (some preventable, some not) have plagued me from my first year of owning it.