2000 Pontiac Grand Am GT review from North America
"Fun car, but utterly unreliable"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
It has been a walk down memory lane reading all the problems others have had with this particular vehicle. Many things I just thought were dumb luck appear to be common problems. Here are all the ones I can recall:
-First, the ticking sound the turn signal makes. Stays on at random times.
-The mirror control knob popped down into the door. I can pull it back up but it never stays.
-The small piece of plastic that covers the defogging vent for the driver side window keeps falling out.
-Two years ago the gasket on the cooling system failed, I needed to replace the water pump.
-The fan stopped working except on 3,4 and 5. Had to replace the motor there.
-Most fun of all, all four of my windows fell down into the doors within literally a three week span. I still haven't fixed this yet, just have them shimmed closed at the moment.
-The motor on the lumbar support for the driver seat died at around 50K miles, never bothered to fix that.
-The door plastic on the driver side rear door is beginning to bubble.
General comments?
This was a hot car when I fist bought it and it has always been a fun car to drive but it is just poorly engineered for all the reasons I state above. I can get my head around the idea that on a car you may need to replace a water pump or a fan may die. But what gets to me is all of the other little things just falling apart. I have other vehicles with many more miles where this isn't a problem. But biggest of all, you just don't ever, on any vehicle, anticipate replacing ALL FOUR of your power windows. That is just shameful.
I will continue to drive it probably for another 50K miles unless something catastrophic goes wrong. I bought this car when I was a younger, much less mature guy. I have enjoyed it for being a pretty hot car, but now as an older family man I would never again purchase something so unreliable. I have had three other cars since I purchased this Grand Am. All Hondas. That ought to tell you something.
Oh and parting shot, this car holds its value as poorly as anything on the road today. It is for good reason.
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| Great for any Mechanically Inclined People |
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| 2000 - Grand Am GT1 V6 Ram Air My GT1 is one of the nicest cars I have ever owned |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 2000 |
| First year of ownership | 2000 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | V6 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 1 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 6 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 miles |
| Most recent distance | 110000 miles |
| Previous car | Ford Probe |
| Date of Entry | 24th March, 2008 |