1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

Our son owns this car and was told a few months ago that it has a cracked head gasket. There should be a recall on this, because from talking to individuals (mechanics), we've been told that this is a very common defect in these cars. Therefore, if this is a common defect and the dealership knows of this problem, why isn't there a recall? Please let me know who I can write to or call to force a recall on this.

Another problem is the front passenger window. It won't roll up and down correctly, it shattered, had it fixed, and now it's happening again.

Tell him not to beat on it when its cold outside. A cold head doesn't like high temperatures too well.

My driver's side front window started out not rolling back up. However, it would only roll up about 1/4" at a time and it took about 15 minutes to roll it completely up. Now, it doesn't go down at all. Very difficult to pay tolls!

I've been told I need to get the control module (by the arm rest) replaced. What did you all do to fix this?

I have a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE. I purchased it towards the end of June of 2001.

Within a little over three months I've had several problems. It was four days after I bought the car that my fiance and I were sitting in a Best Buy parking lot cleaning the CD player. I had the car running for about ten minutes as I was cleaning the CD player. I doubt that had anything to do with what happened. As I pulled out of the parking space I barely turned the wheel and both my steering wheel and brakes locked up on me, my temperature gauge raised to the top in about 1.3 seconds. My car wouldn't start up after that. I had it towed the following morning to the dealership and they told me there was nothing wrong with the vehicle.

About three weeks after that my car wouldn't start one morning before work. I had to replace the battery.

My windows wouldn't roll up properly on rare occasions.

Now, after only having this vehicle for a little over three months, my speedometer kept fluttering between 30 and 40 mph. I took it in and they told me I have to replace the dash panel. So, I'm waiting for the part to come in and it's going to cost me $300.00+.

In the meantime, I was parallel parking the other night and every time I went in reverse my car kept dying out on me. Probably a good 4-5 times in a row.

In closing, I hope this information will stop someone from going out and purchasing this vehicle and having the same complications I've had.

I own a 1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE as well and have had quite a few problems with it. It was purchased in 1996 by my parents. The power windows kept breaking and my parents had them fixed three times and finally said forget it after that. So now I can't roll down the windows on the front passenger door and one of the rear passenger doors. Luckily my driver's door window still works properly. I've had numerous problems with the cooling system the past 2 years, granted the car reached over 100,000 miles before that started happening. It seems like all the worst possible problems are happening now that the warranty is expired, but I guess that's the way it goes with cars. Right now I'm afraid of hearing that the head gasket is busted since my car overheated again yesterday and I have no idea where the coolant leak is this time. There's also a squeaky and rattling noise on the inside. It sounds like something is loose, but no-one can tell me what it is! That sound has been with my car for awhile, I just sort of got used to it. Basically, just about every single problem listed on this review out of all the possible problems you could have with a car... they match what my car does to a 'T.' The whole thing just feels like it's been falling apart for a long time. I can't wait to get rid of it, but like a previous person's comment I read, I would never sell it to anyone else because I would feel too guilty about all the problems I know they would have with it.

I also own a 1995 Grand Am SE and it has 139,000 miles on it. I bought it in 1997 2 weeks after I bought it I broke down in a parking lot they put a new alternator since then I have put another one. Its had 3 batteries and my windows haven't worked since early 1998, it seems that everyone has problems with the windows. Now I'm having problems with the air conditioning it being 7 years old I guess it was gonna happen. I'm now waiting on the place that's working on the car to call back with hopefully good news I really do not want to hear that my compressor has gone bad $700 is what it will cost to fix it that's about the value of the car. Well good luck to all. I do like the grand am and hopefully the new ones have improved on some of the things that go bad so quick, like the windows. In the future I will not own a power window car.

I have a 1995 pontiac gran am se. I am having the same problems everyone else is having. The driver side window stopped working. That's a $66 dollar motor. My power door lock stopped working. It rough at idle. I hooked it up to an OBD 1 scanner and the scanner said that it was nothing wrong with it. As far as the ride, well its smoothed at times, but it still has a little wobble. I am planning on replacing the struts, and the shocks in the near future. I also found out that there aren't many aftermarket parts for the car, so I will have to go to the dealer for most parts. Unfortunately it has been a high ticket item.

After reading the previous email, I must comment on my 95 Grand Am. I purchased the car on 02/14/02; my first impression of the car was "Wow". The car was beautiful inside and out, and ran excellent. After 3 weeks of ownership, the car started making loud squeaking noises whenever I turned the a/c on or off. After a mechanic took a look at it, I was told I needed a new compressor, and just last week, my radiator hose busted, but other than those two problems (which problems will come, considering the age of the car) I'm very much pleased, and hopefully I won't have to put much more money into the car.

1995 Pontiac Grand Am SE Problems

Power Windows (all, but one went bad) and I know what is causing these problems and so does GM

Cooling System -Overheated and cracked head warped push rods and took the lifters out.

Sad part is I could have prevented the overheating If only I had replaced the bad fill cap.

And someone added cold water to an overheated engine didn't help things

But I still love her (my wife) so over all at 150.000 miles we can't complain too much.

A great car for the price, style and performance.

Laugh Out Loud!!! This would be even funnier if it wasn't so sad! I own a 95 Grand Am Sedan v6 and it's turning into the same piece of junk that everyone else here has. The power window failing if the funniest one of all - 15 minutes to get the window up an inch at a time! - oh yeah, been there, done that. Plus, now the Torque Converter Clutch solenoid is sticking (dealer solution -$2500 transmission replacement), and I've had a wobble at 50 mph pretty much since I bought it new (which has been blamed on just about part of the wheels and suspension). Headlamp/turn-signal replaced, door locks failing, etc. etc. What's even better, the Pontiac dealership where I bought it and to which I take it for repairs, act like they've never seen these problems before! Oh the money I've wasted on this pathetic vehicle. :- (How does one get rid of such burden? I can't in good conscience dump this monster on anyone else; guess I'll just have to take the loss and learn from my mistake.

I too have a 95 Grand Am. It is a 4 door GT V6. I bought it at one year old with a little or 25,000 miles on it. Now it has well over 120,000 miles. I have change the driver front window motor and now the driver side rear window motor.

Just recently it has started to over heat, so I took it to the garage. They replaced the head gasket, plus the drive belt and tensioner. The day after I got it back, it tried to overheat again. Needless to say, I was just a bit upset over this. I decided on changing the thermostat myself and this seem to do the trick, but after a couple months it started over heating again. This time I took it for a flush and fill of the cooling system. The coolant looked brand new and the cooling system didn't seem to be clogged at all.

The mechanic however, pointed out the fact the a valve, used for bleeding the air out of the cooling system was broken, and need to be replaced. No telling how long this was missing, but he said air in the system would cause problems. This valve is located on a metal line that runs from the coolant reservoir to the heater core in the fire wall. It's on the front top side of the engine.

I'm curious if other people have the same problem, a broken valve or perhaps these mechanics don't know that they are there to bleed air from the cooling system.

I'm going to install the valve I got this weekend, bleed air from the system and drive it around for a bit. I'll be happy to leave feedback and let everyone know if the problem goes away.

I have a 1995 Grand Am GT. I was laughing at all of the above comments about the windows. My drivers side window only goes up when it feels like it. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it takes me holding the button for a minute for it to work, and sometimes it inches it's way up. This makes getting into a gated parking lot interesting.

Also, my front passenger door power lock does not work.

I purchased a 95 Pontiac Gran am for my daughter, I have 3 Chevrolet, but this is one they had to wit I thought was a good deal, however I thought the inventor had to be on a high amount of drugs, I have replaced almost everything, and the waterpump and the thermostat is a duse, to where it is located, which the Cheverolet wanted $667.79 to replace the waterpump, was sure glad I was mechanically inclined. I am under the assumption this car was designed that you have to take it to the dealer for repairs, I am now removing the intake head to repair a strip thread in the head. does anyone out there have a shop manual for sale, drop me a line trucon66@yahoo.com thanks Roy.

This is trucon66@yahoo.com I neglected to mention that was a 95 Quad 4 Gran Am thanks Roy.

We just bought a Pontiac 1995 Grand Am with 137,000 miles as a starter car for my daughter. (She worked three jobs and financed 75% of the $2000 off the lot.) We had the car inspected by a mechanic and it checked our pretty good except the front rotors needed replacement ($142.00). The comments on this website make me feel very concerned about the safety of this car.

We just found out from a shop student that there is a recall on the car for a relay kit for the ignition. I looked it up and he was correct. The affected cars were made between May 1993 and June 1995. Our car was made in March 1995.

Problem: If the engine starter fails to engage the engine and the driver holds the key in the start position for an extended period, high current flows through the ignition switch producing heat that can melt switch parts. "A fire could occur in the steering column and spread to the interior of the car". WOW.

Pontiac headquarters was able to check using the vehicle ID that there was no record of repair and I was told that the dealer should replace the part at no cost to me, but he did not know when the dealer would be able to get the part. Happily, the part is available and it will replaced this week.

So I hope to get this problem solved and pray that no other serious problem occurs. I should have learned why Consumer Reports lists this used car as one to AVOID.

I bought my 95 Grand Am Gt in 01-2001. There were a lot of problems with this. First I did the tires then an alignment. Now this car had 80K on it when I bought the previous owners did not take care of it well. I have put maybe an additional 300 into it since then and no more problems. As for the windows, I put new motors in from Auto-zone. I think they cost me about 35 a piece. I had to drill the rivets and put in bolts. But 2 years later, no problems. the only other problem I have is a suspicious odor coming from the catalytic converter. Good Luck.