25th Sep 2001, 13:00

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.

10th May 2002, 23:44

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.

17th Oct 2002, 11:07

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.

22nd Oct 2002, 13:43

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.

29th Oct 2002, 19:35

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.

15th Nov 2002, 22:58

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.

27th Dec 2002, 10:23

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.