1997 Pontiac Grand Am SE from North America - Comments

I have to put in my two cents worth... I have a 97 Grand Am, the second owner, and with right at 135,000 miles, knock on wood, have had no problems with the car at all, but I'm a stickler for maintenance, damn near anal, so that makes a difference... My car has crank windows, thank God!!...My 2.4 twin cam runs flawlessly, with no trouble at all, and runs cool as a cucumber, air blows ice cold and no coolant leaks that I am aware of...Overall, I am very satisfied with my car, and would definitely buy another, but will continue to drive this one as long as possible...There, not all are junk!!

1997 pontiac.

I have owned my Pontiac for 4 years now and can say that it has done me well. I do have a misfire in valve #2 and it occasionally wants to overheat. I blame that on "Just brakes" though. Only after I took it in for an oil and transmission flush did I start to see any of those problems. In the beginning I did have to replace the water pump, but expected to replace something seeing as it was used. Currently I'm at 115,000 miles. My windows are going dead and need to replace the head gasket. I'm just hoping that these problems are not just the beginning of what could become my worst nightmare. Other than that, like I said, the car has done me pretty good. I would buy from Pontiac again.

1997 Pontiac Grand Am

Well I now own a 1997 Grand Am and I'm living in a nightmare that seems to never end. I bought the car from this little car lot in Fort Worth Texas. This is the very first purchase I have ever made in my life. I knew there would be some problems, but never expected to have this many like everyone else has commented, my drivers side window motor is shot and goes up and down whenever it wants to, and not on my command. The stereo speaker on the passenger side isn't working and the knob in broken off. Just recently it is starting to blow black smoke and now that I'm reading everyones comments, I'm beginning to get very sick to my stomach cause I can barely afford to pay it off let alone head gasket repairs. I am very disappoined in this vehicle as well as the company that sold it to me. Someone needs to read this and feel like sh*t.

VERY UNSATISFIED PONTIAC OWNER!

Forgot to add: I drive a 1997 Pontiac Grand AM ( (not sure past that) )

Wow, what an interesting read this has been. It seems the CE light that has been randomly showing up may not be a serious problem for me. Ill just have to be cautious over the winter and not strand far from home.

At this point my car has 160,000 miles on the counter.

The engine was replaced at roughly 70,000 and the used engine had 40,000 on it... so 120k driven.

Transmission replaced once, alternator replaced once (I can blame that on me, serious high reving when passing somebody)

Kept daily maintenance up on it otherwise, tires/rotation done all at the same time and its held up pretty well. I came here looking for an explanation on the random CE light just showing up for no apparent reason, but I got my answer. Drive it till it pukes and see what happens.

Oh yeah, my radio button is absolute crap as well. I won't disagree with that one.

Jay.

I thought my 97 grand am gt was the best car for about a year!! I bought it in 2001. So far I have replaced the battery once, the alt 3 times, the brakes (which was routine) once, the heater core twice. the ignition switch twice. and I replaced the electrical coiling?? o yeah and the pully or something like that for the alt...ughhh I will never buy a grand am again!! my driver side window is slow slow slow!!!

I bought my 97 grand am in August of 2006 and I'm here mad as hell cause I'm only expecting the worst after reading this. I got the same problems that you guys are having, but not as bad... I bought the car with 138,000 and running smooth. I was very satisfied at first and even after fixing some minor stuff... Like the rest of you guys the passenger side motor for the window won't work, but I replaced it for about $120...the thermostat thing broke and I had it fixed for around 60 bucks back in october. I haven't spent that much money exept for regular oil changes cause I drive the car a lot. It now has 153,000 and was running great till last week. My tranny started to slip... I thought it was low on oil so I put some oil in it, but its still slipping going from 2nd to 3rd gear at around 1500 to 2000 RPM then jumps all the way to 2500 and performs fine. All of a sudden today I drive it and the check engine light comes on and the traction light won't go off... I was very satisfied with the car up until today and I'm now afraid of driving it..

I don't know what all of you people are doing to your cars that you have so much to complain about. I have a 97 Pontiac Grand Am, bought in 2003 for about $5000... I only changed the battery and alternator when I first got it and have had NO PROBLEMS what-so-ever in the past 4 years. I have only invested maybe 1500-2000 including regular maintenance, an added stereo/Cd player, tinted windows, and replacing two tires (not because of any damage that has to do with the car). I think it's a great car that gets awesome mileage and is much more dependable than any of my friends' cars.

I recently bought a 1997 grand am se.. the car is amazing it runs so nice.. it seems like everyone one of the cars listed on here has high miles.. The car I bought was from a old couple and was never driven like crap.. it only has 90000 miles and runs like its brand new.. keep you car in good condtion, maintain it regularly, don't bag it and it should last you a good while.. any car will have all these problems if it isn't maintained well or is bagged!! drive it like you want it to last and it will.

I bought my 97 Grand Am 2/12 years ago. I have never had a problem with the windows (thank goodness), but I've had to have a new clutch, water pump, and many other small things fixed that tend to add up; and now I think I need a new ignition switch or battery. It acts like it wants to start up, but then it just doesn't "catch." Esp. after charging my cell phone, or when it is damp out. Also, the brakes tend to want to slip a little just before the car comes to a stop; I was told it could by my ABS. I haven't had a tune-up since I bought the car, LOL maybe that would help. Can anyone help me?