1989 Pontiac Grand Am from North America - Comments

Since buying this car off a family friend, the only thing that has caused me a lot of problems is that I had to replace the catalytic converter with a straight pipe only days after my muffler rusted through.

A question that I have: Is anyone else experiencing the paint on the car 'falling/flaking' off? I have seen a half dozen other Grand Am's the same year as mine, and all have the paint falling off. I had heard that the primer and the paint that Pontiac used when making the vehicle were not complementary to each other... anyone else heard of this?

I really like the 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. I would give the handling 9/10, the comfort 8/10, the reliability 9/10, and an overall rating of 29/30.

I purchased the car in Campbell River, British Columbia in the summer of 1993. The car had 98000KM on it on the date of purchase and we purchased the car for 7000 dollars.

The car was driven on an extremely rough road that most new trucks coudn't go over, on a strech of road 64KM long, once a week for 6 years. The road was very moutainous and lots of times the car was towing more than the towing capacity of the car. The car never once left me stranded.

In 1999 the car was in a pile up with the front and side smashed, and held up extremely well. We continued to drive the car for another 5000KM till 200000KM when the car was sold to a wrecking yard in the year 2000. I expected the car to only last one year. If I could have any car, I would pick the 1988 Pontiac Grand Am.

The GM cars from 1986 - 1991 with Red, Black, and Teal paint is the paint that peels off of the car. The reasons for this peeling is the clear coat is not completely finished. I own a 1993 Pontiac Grand Am and the paint is peeling off of the hood. Mainly the clear coat is peeling, but the paint is fading rather quickly. You can buff your car to where you get a nice shine and then add another coat of clear coat, that should restore your paint some what.

This car has a base coat clear coat finish. Do NOT buff base coat prior to trying to add more clear coat. The base coat needs to be clean dry and dust free, but since it is dull (even when sprayed on at the factory), you should not try to "shine it up" prior to trying to re-add clear coat.